 In his last year, as he was dying from brain cancer, Mercer became extremely fond of Manilow, in part because Manilow's first hit record was of a song titled "Mandy", which was also the name of Mercer's daughter.After Mercer's death, his widow, Ginger Mehan Mercer, arranged to give some unfinished lyrics he had written to Manilow to possibly develop into complete songs.Among these was "When October Goes."