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Reading, a city of some 88,000
souls, lies in the southeast of
Pennsylvania and is the seat
of Berks County. It is also now
famous as the birthplace of Taylor
Alison Swift. Her father Scott was
an alumnus of the University of
Delaware where he graduated in
business in 1974. He went on to
become head of the Swift Group,
a financial advisory service under
the umbrella of Merrill Lynch, the
wealth management division of
the Bank of America.
On February 20, 1988 he
married Andrea Gardner Finlay.
Andrea also worked in finance,
as a mutual fund marketing
executive, but opted out of her
career to give birth to Taylor on
December 13, 1989. Music ran
in the family, since Andrea’s
mother was an opera singer.
“I can remember her singing,
the thrill of it,” Taylor said of her
grandmother. “She was one of
my first inspirations.”
Scott Swift bought a Christmas
tree farm from a client in
Montgomery County, 37 miles
from Reading, and Taylor spent
the early years of her life in this
idyllic rural setting. Her first love
was horses; the family owned
several, and she competed in
shows at a young age. Scott
recalls that his daughter first
showed musical ability as an
infant. “She was always singing
Beginnings
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