Pioneer: A person who is among the first to explore or settle a new country or area

Trailblazer:  A person who makes a new track through wild country.

Andrea Crouch has passed away.  I read an article that said Pastor Crouch composed “The Blood Will Never Lose It’s Power”.  I come from a baptist church background and that is one of the songs I knew by heart.  But I never knew who wrote the song.   Pastor Crouch was also a gospel singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer.  I found a video that shows Pastor Crouch at a crusade in New Mexico in 1975, where he got a standing ovation.  In the video he said that he found the inspiration that started him on his path at about 11 years old.  Pastor Crouch was a man of many talents.  In a statement from the Office of the Press Secretary, the President called Pastor Crouch a pioneer.  According to one definition a pioneer is a person who is among the first to explore or settle a new country or area.  Pastor Crouch certainly explored and settled new areas.

My father, Eddie Green died in 1950 after a career as a comedian.  In Eddie’s own words in 1938 “I am known in big time radio from coast to coast having appeared many times on the major chains and television programs.  I am a government licensed radio operator.”  Eddie was also a songwriter, producer, actor and director.  Eddie was a man of many talents.  Eddie was a trailblazer.  His inspiration was poverty.  A person who makes a new track through wild country.  And America in the early 1900’s was a wild country for black folks.

My mom, to me, was a pioneer and a trailblazer.  She went through most of her childhood and early adulthood believing she was adopted by a task master mother, and she was not sure what her ethnicity was.  My mom trained  to become an opera star from about the age of seven. By age 18, she was on her way.  Before she became Mrs. Eddie Green she was Norma Amato.  Here is an article I found in my research for the book on my father:

The California Eagle, June 29, 1944

Talented Protege Of
H. McDaniel To Sing
For Garner Dinner

The beautiful and talented protege of Miss Hattle McDaniel, the first Negro actress to win an academy award, will sing at Garner Music Center tonight.  Her name is Norma Amato, and she has a voice as lovely as a tune by Jerome Kern!

She had the voice.  But, she chose to marry my father and put her plans on hold because by 1945 Eddie was a “star”.  My mom’s life changed drastically when Eddie died five years later.  Her years from then on were filled with a lot of drama and personal chaos, while raising five kids, working as a waitress, going back to school.  My mom was a woman of many talents, when it comes to living life.  As a pioneer, my mom was one of those people who explored new areas in 1944 as an opera singer, as a trailblazer she showed me how to get through life, no matter what.  She was 87 when she died.  And feisty.

One of the reasons I started this blog is to write about those who have provided inspiration, who have paved the way for the coming generations.  I want to remember these pioneers and trailblazers because they contributed to my progress.  My father was an accomplished man but he has faded way into the background.  The biography that I am writing is my way of bringing Eddie back into the light, to honor him for showing me what can be accomplished in wild country.

Let’s not forget.