Notoriously shy except when on stage, Ella Fitzgerald was born on this day Apr 25 1917 (although Wikipedia insists it was 1918!) in Newport News, Virginia. The “First Lady of Song”, Ella was a self-trained vocalist and premier interpreter of the Great American Songbook (aka GAS). Here she is doing an evocative rendition of Stormy Weather with my favorite guitarist, Joe Pass (Hanover, 1975).
It doesn’t get much better than that.
Ella’s biography is truly inspirational. After the death of her mother in the early 30′s, Ella drifted. She dropped out of school, eventually worked as a bordello lookout and mafia runner, and ended up in reform school. At 17 she appeared in a competition at the Harlem Opera House where she intended to dance. Intimidated by the dancing skills of the preceding act, at the last moment she decided instead to sing Hoagy Carmichael’s “Judy”. She stunned the audience and the rest is history….
Last April we ran the first of our Keeping Up with Sarah Porter (aka KUSP) posts, that one from her travels in India. Then in August Hugh and Katherine shared the photos of their visit with Sarah in Vietnam and Malaysia, posted here. Now, before Sarah’s return to the US to attend Columbia business school in New York, we have two more photos, this time from New Zealand where Sarah has been staying with the Dan Mellamphy family.
Hugh writes:
“Here are pics from Sarah’s hike on the Tongarino Alpine Crossing Track on the South Island of New Zealand. Her group was international, with a Dane, an Israeli, and a Frenchwoman, other countries represented.”
We hope that when Sarah gets stateside she will agree to give us all a photo recap of her time in the Far East and Down Under. Many thanks to Sarah and the Laws for providing us with vicarious travel pleasures during the past year!
A Video Revue for those unhappy few who missed the annual Easter celebration…
Many thanks to Sarah Fehlig, Charlie Judy, and Gina Osborn for the hard work putting this huge success together. The Management would greatly appreciate feedback from those who generously contributed provisions, including quantities supplied and the adequacy thereof. This will be recorded to facilitate next years efforts.
Contents approved by the Iowa Egg Council with the following proviso: correct spelling is ‘omelet’, not ‘omelette’
As the clan exponentially increases its testosterone count with each new addition, I am pretty confident the hunting rules at Moone Athy will be changing in the due course of time. Welcome GEORGE ! Welcome DARREN!
No. 81
