He taught at M.I.T. and Santa Cruz. He is an authority on the American Musical Theater.
He teaches classes in it. He met Steven Sondheim at summer camp. I think there is a music/lyric connection somehow there.

My understanding is that he stopped writing songs because what he was writing about
came to pass and he no longer considered these events funny any more.

Also, music was a fling. He produced his own recordings, wrote his own songs, played piano accompaniment for them, did well in the music field and got bored with it. Can't blame him Although I was never bored or had a time wasted with his brilliance.
He likes math a little better and is an accomplished instructor. A math class with Lehrer
should be great fun.

His song Lobachevsky about the mathematician is modeled after "Lady In the Dark" as a patter song "Tchaikovsky" sung by Danny Kaye.

When it comes to the music biz, I think he would be the first to tell you:

"What goes up must come down.....says Werner Von Braun"