 Werner recounts that his first two music students were the daughters of George M. Cohan, whom he taught in their home.As a teenager Werner remembers hearing the first renditions of "Over there" from across the fence between the houses.Cohan reflects on those days writing to Werner's father, "those were golden days when you were singing songs and I was trying to write them down next door—they were in fact the happiest of all any days as I look back on them now."