There aren’t many people left from the jazz scene of those days. Probably Freddie Greenwell is gone, but I have not heard about it. Larry Rockwell died a few years back. I heard about his death on the internet. Recently I spoke to Eddie Diehl and Ted Wald. Also, Peter Ind and Bill Crow are still with us. Several years ago I called Al Leavitt long-distance in France and talked to him for awhile. A few days later I mentioned Al to G. T. Hogan here in Houston. He said, “Al died.” I said, “No he didn’t; I just talked to him.” He replied, “I just read it in the [international jazz newsletter].” I forget what he called the periodical; but, of course it was true. Here today; gone tomorrow. As far as I know, he was not sick. And, now, G. T. is gone.

Take care of yourself. You’re one in a million.

Tom

I was raised in an upper class family and attended Grosse Pointe High in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, an affluent suburb of Detroit. Needless to say, it was a very segregated environment. Dr. King spoke at Grosse Pointe High when I was in New York; and he referred to Grosse Pointe as being one of the most racist environments he had ever experienced.

My experiences in the loft had a tremendous impact on my cultural, social and political values and were totaly life-changing. I recall watching TV with African American friends Alice Coltrane, Joe Henderson, and Ira Jackson, and witnessing the demonstrations in the south– people being hosed and attacked by dogs– and being “blown away” by what we saw. I had many opportunities to talk to various musicians when they were not playing in the loft.

I also learned to play chess.

When I left New York in 1967, I returned to Detroit.(ironically during the riots in our city) I became very involved in the civil rights movement. I started a drug program for addicted females (also gleaned from my experiences in the loft) which was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Because of this work I was accepted into Graduate School, bypassing two years of undergraduate work, and received a Masters Degree in Social Work. All of my professional life was spent working in Detroit, ending in 11 years in the Detroit Public Schools.

I was about 23 when I moved into the loft, and although it was hard in many ways –four flights of stairs with a baby, a baby carriage, and laundry, and for a while, no hot water– I survived and grew. I truly believe I became a much richer person because of my life in the loft. I am so grateful to, and have such warm feelings toward, all the people that I met at that time, especially Ira Jackson for his patience in putting up with the simplistic questions of this naive white girl from Grosse Pointe. I also am grateful to Sam Stephenson for this wonderful book and to the blog (to which I am addicted) and to you, Ron, for your wise words which inspired me to write this People have said I should write a book. How do you put all those life experiences on paper? I should have had a tape recorder –and a camera.

Thanks,

Sandy