WELCOME

If this is your first visit, welcome to my blog of memories and observations. If you wish to be notified of new posts, enter an e-mail address above, and click on "Submit." As we move through a seventh year of this venture, I thank all who have made regular visits, as well as fellow bloggers who have found Stomp Off worth linking to. Doing this sort of thing is time-consuming, but I try to post fresh material at least once a week—let me know what you think. There is a Commentary option at the end of each post and a Guest Book can be reached by scrolling down and clicking on the quill image. I welcome your observations, reaction and/or suggestions in either spot—or both. As for blog content, the most current posts are on the home page, starting at the top. Earlier items are listed by month, year and title in the archive index. To zero in on a particular key word or subject, use the search option that is located directly beneath the blog's masthead. Most images can be enlarged with a mouse click, and there are links to some of my favorite blogs, etc. Since visitors have come from 150 countries, a translator with numerous languages is located below. You can at any time revert to English with a click at the top left of this page:

Search This Blog

5/8/15

Abbey Lincoln and I Thirty Years Ago...




1989 Interview with Valerie Wilmer


I first met activist attorney Flo Kennedy in 1962 when Timme Rosenkrantz and I rented an apartment from Billie Holiday's widower, Louis McKay. The rent was to be paid to Flo Kennedy, who represented the Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker estates, among others.

Flo and I became close friends, which is one reason why she occasionally asked me to host her public access TV show. Here is a June 6, 1989 interview I conducted with writer/photographer Valerie Wilmer. Val lives in her beloved London and is still around and writing interesting books.

I hope you like this half hour I spent with her on camera. It and a vast number of Flo's shows are now online as part of the International Archive's Schlesinger Library.