Sarah Vaughan Is Not My Mother

"In the tradition of The Bell Jar and Girl, Interrupted comes a stunning autobiographical account from a 29-year-old New Zealander. A creative, intelligent young woman with a loving family, in her first year of university MaryJane starts to experience nightmarish delusions and hallucinations. Her journey into madness has begun. She drops out, turns to drugs, and spends eight years in and out of psych wards, police cells, drug hangouts and on the streets. In this book she vividly describes what it is like to live with voices in your head, to lose your freedom, and to despair of ever being well again"--Publisher information.

“The early years of Sarah Vaughan’s career coincided with the waning of the swing era, and this biography shows how the change both fuelled and limited her career.” — The New Yorker “Queen of Bebop explores the hard choices of many a jazz singer when rock ‘n roll began stealing audience focus, relying on a variety of performers to shed light on Vaughan’s mindset. A welcome and well-researched accounting of Vaughan’s life story. ” — NPR.org “Necessary and exciting. . . . Queen of Bebop models a way of understanding the lives and artistry of jazz musicians — one that establishes their importance and centrality in creating the best that America has offered the world.” — Washington Post “Elaine Hayes’ vivid portrait of Sarah Vaughan’s life, times, and indelible musical legacy reveals why she was indeed called The Divine One.” — New York Journal of Books “As a biographer, Hayes strikes a difficult balance between discussing Vaughan’s art and illuminating the tumultuous relationships of which Vaughan rarely spoke.” — Women’s Review of Books “A lively and moving portrait of the passionate and tenacious jazz singer. Hayes gracefully narrates Vaughan’s life… a detailed look at a fearless singer who constantly moved into new musical territories and left a legacy for younger musicians.” — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review “Hayes’ interviews with musicians, meticulous jazz history, incisive coverage of the ridiculous publicity campaigns the performer endured, and frank coverage of Vaughan’s emotionally and financially disastrous marriages and her repeated rising from the ashes cohere in a deeply illuminating and unforgettable biography of a true American master.” — Booklist, Starred Review “ an informative, meticulously researched biography. . . . a fine homage.” — emissourian.com “Inspiring. . . . traces Vaughan’s life and its intersection of music with race and gender.” — Library Journal “You may think you know Sarah Vaughan, but this book reveals how much you don’t. Queen of Bebop is a much-needed addition to music scholarship.” — Tammy Kernodle, author of Soul on Soul: The Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams “A richly contextualized and beautifully researched listening guide for the career of Sarah Vaughn. In respectfully treating Vaughn’s unflagging artistry, drive, and the social justice stakes involved in working within and against the new kinds of hit-making strategies and technologies, Hayes’ treatment lifts us beyond the bop/pop divide.” — Sherrie Tucker, author of Dance Floor Democracy “With an eye for detail and an ear for nuance, Elaine M. Hayes takes us on Vaughan’s journey from shy church girl to the sassy, masterful “musician’s singer” she became. This book is a must read for fans and scholars of the ‘Divine One’s’ singular contribution to American music.” — Guthrie P. Ramsey, author of The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History and the Challenge of Bebop and African American Music “Hayes brings to life the story of one of America’s most musically gifted, creative, intelligent, and productive women. An enticing and essential read for anyone drawn to the sounds of the inimitable Sarah Vaughan and what it meant to be strong, talented, beautiful, and black in 20th century America.” — Carol Ann Muller, author of Musical Echoes: South African Women Thinking in Jazz

"In this novel, a doctor is faced with an ethical dilemma when her friend's child lands in the emergency room"--

As a young lad visiting Jackson, Mississippi, during many summers, Portia sat on the front porch and listened intently as her great-grandmother and grandmother told stories of perseverance, triumph, blessings, and strength. This experience and the richness of their recollection of love and family while also enduring the obstacles of oppression and segregation shaped the fiber of who she is. A full understanding of her identity and knowledge of family history kept her strong and resilient and gave her a foundation for survival to weather any storm.Portia was born at the very beginning of the civil rights era to parents who migrated from the South, and she was a teenager at the height of the '60s movement. This incredible and insightful next generation story you will read, Invisible, Invincible Black Women Growing Up in Bronzeville, is a combination of history that has been handed down along with an eyewitness account of the things Portia saw during and after the Great Migration to the north.Portia is a woman of compassion, vulnerability, toughness, and wisdom; this combination makes some see her as complex at first glance. She is a trailblazer for positive change and has a keen discernment of people.After many sacrifices for others, Portia completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in education. She is currently an adjunct professional and is a special education teacher with the State Board of Education. Portia's work as a student learning advocate has been featured in the local newspapers.The end goal of the book and its story is to remind anyone that you can overcome and survive and know that, amid any and all the broken dreams in life, you can still achieve your life mission and have happiness and contentment.

A unique memoir that takes you from the Harlem Revival and the Golden Age of Jazz to the New Millennium, I Wish You Love is an account of the African American Jazz Experience from one of the voices that led it. Born and raised in Harlem, Gloria Lynne lied about her age and won the Apollo Amateur Hour at the age of fifteen. Launched into a career that would span four decades, I Wish You Love is the story of her roller-coaster, trouble-filled life. It is an inspiring story of a courageous woman overcoming terrible adversities--a story of triumph over tragedy, of heartbreaking and heart-mending, and a jazz career that would span four decades. It is also an important piece of American history, a first-hand account of the African-American music experience during the second half of the twentieth century. "This is a moving tribute to the crucible of Harlem jazz." - Publishers Weekly At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The performer and first winner of Star Search presents a collection of essays about friendship, the celebrity life, and getting sober, exploring such subjects as growing up gay in America's Bible belt and attending Liza Minnelli's wedding.

Music lovers, researchers, students, librarians, and teachers can trace the personal and artistic influences behind music makers from Elton John to Leontyne Price. Individual entries on over 400 of the world's most renowned and accomplished living performers, composers, conductors, and band leaders in musical genres from opera to hip-hop. Also includes an in-depth Index covering musicians of all eras, so that readers can learn which artists, alive or dead, influenced the work of today's most important figures in the music industry.

From the author of NETFLIX SENSATION ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL There are many reasons to bake: to feed; to impress; and, sometimes, it has to be said, to perfect. In 1966, Kathleen Eaden published The Art of Baking, her guide to nurturing a family by creating the most exquisite pastries. Now, five amateur bakers are competing to become the New Mrs Eaden. There's Jenny, facing an empty nest; Claire, who has sacrificed her dreams; Mike, trying to parent after his wife's death; Vicki, who has dropped everything to be with her baby boy; and perfect Karen, who knows what it's like to have nothing and is determined her façade shouldn't slip. As unlikely alliances are forged, making the choicest choux bun seems the least of the contestants' problems. For they will learn - as Mrs Eaden did before them - that while perfection is possible in the kitchen, it's very much harder in life. 'Delicious . . . Friendship, rivalry and exposed secrets, all gorgeously told' - Elle 'Clever and compelling. I loved this' Nina Stibbe