BING CROSBY - COUNTRY SONGWRITER WALKER DIES

Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter CINDY WALKER died on Thursday (23MAR06) in Mexia, Texas. She was 87. According to her niece, CAROL ADAMS, Walker had been ill for several months, but continued writing songs. Her music was recorded by stars from BING CROSBY to ELVIS PRESLEY. Among her most famous songs are YOU DON'T KNOW ME, DREAM BABY and GENE AUTRY's hit SILVER SPURS. WILLIE NELSON recently released a collection of her work, YOU DON'T KNOW ME: THE SONGS OF CINDY WALKER. Late last year (05) Nelson said of her songs, "I loved her music. Even before we met I felt like I knew her from listening to BOB WILLS and the TEXAS PLAYBOYS do her songs. "Every night as a teenager I was playing things like MISS MOLLY and I WAS JUST WALKING OUT THE DOOR somewhere." Walker was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville in 1997. She was also an inaugural inductee into the Texas Music Hall of Fame in 1998.