October 12, 2016 elvagreen123

NOSTALGIA PIECE

eddiegreenandgrandmanorma

I am feeling nostalgic today. With my first book signing for the biography I wrote about my father, Eddie Green, coming up on November, I have, of course, been thinking about Eddie and my mom, Norma. Through a second marriage Norma is also the mom of my three brothers and one sister, Nathaniel Lance (who has passed on), Brad, Brian and Donna. Through them (and me) she was also grandma Norma and great-grandma Norma. Mom passed away this month in 2010. Her birthday month is November. My brother Brad’s birthday is in October. So, I think I just figured out why I am nostalgic. Plus, November is BIG for me in another anonymous way but I’ll save that for another post.

Back to mom. I showed my youngest brother Brian this picture of Eddie and mom and he did not recognize the lady in that fur. Our family does not have a lot of pictures from 1946, and mom didn’t talk to much about those years. As you can see, those years were pretty good for Eddie and Norma.

While doing my research for the book I found an article in the Los Angeles California Eagle newspaper by J. T. Gipson in her “Notes from a Newsgirl” column, that “Eddie (Duffy’s Tavern) Green and wife, nee Norma Amato, are vacationing in the East. Norma plans to relieve New York of some of their latest creations”.

Such as this ensemble or these hats from 1946: womensfashion1940 hats

In those days mom was always in the news. Before she married Eddie she had aspired to become an opera star. Here is what was printed in another article in a 1944 Los Angeles California Eagle newspaper: “Keep your ears on Norma Amato’s delightful thrushing…she has the kind of voice you hear only in a dream”.

dreamscometrue

Together, she and Eddie liked to entertain at home. Jessie Mae Brown of the Los Angeles California Eagle reported in her column “What’s Doing in the Social Set” that “Television with all its newness will be the incentive for an exclusive soiree at the Eddie Green’s Second avenue home. After waiting several years in suspense for television, I look forward to this party with keen interest as well as pleasure.”

I found a picture of a 1946 television set. I don’t know if this was the same one or even the same day, but mom told me that Eddie cut a hole in the wall between the kitchen and the dining room and set the tv in the hole, leaving the ugly back of the set sticking out into the kitchen. tv1946

Eddie did not start out in life this way. He was born in an alley house in Baltimore (no sewage system and disease) to struggling parents. He ran away from home when he was nine and by the time he was seventeen he was working but still lived in an alley house on Ten Pin Alley (an actual alley listed on a map).

svf_b_streets_biddle_alley

Eddie worked his way up. He taught himself to read. He discovered what he liked to do and he determined to do it the best he knew how. My father was thirty years older than mom. By the time she met Eddie it was all about traveling, nightclubs, parties, dinners, she did not talk much about what she knew of Eddie’s early life. He took her to Baltimore to show her his old living situation. She met his daughter from a previous marriage. But it was necessary for me to do extensive research in order to write the biography Eddie Green The Rise of an Early 1900s Black American Entertainment Pioneer. And thank goodness I did because my father’s story radiated inspiration for me. I’ve heard that others have felt the same after reading the book.

My next post will be from my new, updated blog which will feature news of the book, purchasing and what not, and it will also feature reviews I have received (all wonderful so far!). Thank you so much for being a part of my journey here on this blog.

And thank you, for stopping by.

May 30, 2016May 30, 2016 elvagreen123

In REMEMBRANCE

jubileeotr — Old Time Radio Program 1939-1945

During WWII the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) decided to create a program specifically geared toward Black soldiers. Today it is said that some of the best jazz shows came out of this program with greats such as Fletcher Henderson, Lena Horne, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Fats Waller.

Jubilee was conceived and programmed to present African-American artists and their music to the Armed Forces personnel of the United States and allied nations around the world.

During the history of the program, eventually other artists were invited to participate, but Jubilee is remembered as a showcase for African-American talent. In addition to big bands, small jazz groups and singers, many talented dramatic and comedic performers appeared on Jubilee. Aimed as a morale-building service for black troops and aired for military personnel, The show was hosted first by Dooley Wilson, the piano player in the movie Casablanca, then by Ernie “Bubbles” Whitman, a well-known comedian. Most of the shows were recorded before live audiences in Los Angeles.

By 1942 Eddie, my father, was fifty-one years old, too old to be drafted (although the government chose to sign up “men of a certain age” just in case), however, he was asked to perform his comedy routines along with Lena Horne in 1942, Ernie Whitman in 1944, and Hattie McDaniel in 1945, on the Jubilee radio program.

Here is one routine Eddie and Ernie did on a Jubilee program for the troops in October, 1944. Ernie introduces Eddie Green from Duffy’s Tavern. Eddie says he is bored and is looking for something exciting to do in his life. Ernie suggests Eddie become a volunteer fireman:

ERNIE: It’s Saturday morning at the station house and the alarm goes off. I can see you now, sound asleep up there in the firehouse.

EDDIE: So far, I like it.

ERNIE: Four in the morning the fire alarm rings, what do you do?

EDDIE: I get up. Then I take a sleeping pill and go right back to bed.

ERNIE: No, you don’t. You grab your fire hat, run to the pole and slide down.

EDDIE: OOOO!!

ERNIE: What’s the matter?

EDDIE: The pole is cold, I forgot my pants!!

Lucky me, someone sent me a CD with this Jubilee program on it, so I get to hear these shows.

In 1942 Memorial Day had become the popular title for a day to acknowledge all of our military personnel who died while in service.

This post is just a glimpse into how other citizens, along with our government, were helping to keep up the morale of our soldiers.

In Remembrance

May 19, 2016 elvagreen123

Laughter, Love and Respect

elj

In 1936 my father had been in show business for nineteen years. He was forty-five years old. He had done so well that one newspaper wrote: This brings up the subject of Eddie Green, the fine comedian who appears occasionally on the Rudy Vallee hour. Eddie who specializes in burlesques of famous plays and men of history, is one of the few people of color ever to win such radio recognition as a comic.

By 1937 Eddie was appearing on a radio program with Louis Armstrong which was announced in a local New York newspaper: Standard Brands Inc. (Fleischmann Yeast) through J . Walter Thompson Co. yesterday announced the full talent line-up of its all-negro show which will make its debut over 30 NBC-Blue network stations, April 9 at 9-9: 30 p.m. Eddie Green and Gee Gee James, a comedy team, with Louis Armstrong and his orchestra will be the regular talent.

In 1938 the papers reported: Eddie Green, well known Black comedian of the stage and screen, with a long line of appearances to his credit, jumped into screen favor last week when he was given a screen test for the role of ‘Pork’ in the 20th Century Fox production of Gone With The Wind.

In the 1939-1940 Eddie was making, writing, directing, producing and starring in his own movies. (Back then they were called ‘race’ movies, meaning everyone associated with the movie was Black, at least that is what it meant to Eddie.) The Eddie’s Laugh Jamboree poster was from 1947, but the movies were made earlier.

During the time Eddie came to Hollywood for the screen test he met my mom, Norma. In my last post I showcased Norma, as in Norma Amato Green Beasley Washington. Amato was her maiden name and Green was her first married name. For those who have just found my blog and for all of the newcomers in the Green Beasley Washington families I will just share a bit about Eddie and Norma’s marriage, back in the day. They met at Clifton’s Cafeteria in Los Angeles when mom was about seventeen. They were married in 1945. Mom was twenty-two, Eddie was fifty-four. One article in the paper read:

Eddie Green Takes Bride – LOS ANGELES – Coming as a pleasant surprise to even his closest friends, Eddie Green, former New Yorker and one of the Nation’s top-flight comedians, and a member of “Duffy’s Tavern” radio show eloped with attractive Norma Amato, concert vocalist, last Wednesday. The couple were married at Yuma, Arizona, where they spent a brief honeymoon before motoring back to Los Angeles.

They were married a little short of five years because Eddie died in September of 1950. Mom married two more times. The book I have written will introduce Eddie to all the members of all the branches of my family who have been born since 1950. My hope is that they can find Eddie’s life story of success relevant today, because as a Black man coming up in the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s Eddie’s life is a good example of personal achievement that I hope resonates with anyone, no matter what color, who thinks because of this or that obstacle they will never be able to fulfill their dream.

One piece of knowledge that Eddie found in regard to dealing with one’s colleagues and achieving success was, “you get respect if you know your business.”

Thank you so much, for stopping by.

January 26, 2016 elvagreen123

49,957 words

untitled (34)

49,957 words.

Need to cross some more tees and dot some more iiiis (eyes). I’m feeling a little silly, cause I’m nervous. It has come time for me to begin my search for readers to proof my manuscript. I could not, for the life of me, come up with an idea for a post, so I decided to post Chapter Two of my tentatively titled book:

Eddie Green: Star of Stage, Screen, Radio and Television

A Biography

Chapter Two: A Good Man Is Hard To Find

While continuing to perform as a magician, in 1916, Eddie wrote a silent movie titled, Eddie Green’s Rehearsal, which gives an early indication of the direction in which Eddie was heading. This movie was directed, produced and distributed by Eddie, the cast was Eddie. The movie was about a man by the name of Eddie Green, who is desperate to get into show business. Eddie borrows a friend’s clothes and car, and goes to an audition. He tells jokes, sings and generally performs to an encore. This scenario proved to be prophetic.

The movie did not actually make it to the big screen, at least not in its original format, and not until 1939, but it had enough merit to warrant a mention, in the form of a “clipping,” which was placed in a folder at the Margaret Herrick Library, a non-circulating reference and research library devoted to the history and development of the motion picture as an art form, where I found it in 2015, sixty-five years later.

About a year after Eddie wrote his silent movie, The United States entered World War I. Eddie was twenty-six years old when he reported to his draft board. I have not found out yet, where he may have been stationed. However, the information on his draft registration card provided me a good source of information. Listed was Eddie’s address at the time, 1405 Ten Pin Alley, in Baltimore, Maryland. Research showed me that Ten Pin Alley was, literally, an alley, located in what was then Ward 5, a part of East Baltimore, which, though dirty and crowded, was basically the only place in which poor blacks were allowed to live. Noted also on the card, was his occupation, actor, his place of employment, the Standard Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the fact that he was married and had a child.

Eddie’s place of employment in 1917, the Standard Theater was owned by a Mr. John T. Gibson, a native of Baltimore, who also ran Gibson’s Auditorium Theatre on South Street and made good money booking Black vaudeville acts on the national “chitlin circuit.” Stars such as Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters, also performed at the Standard. Ticket sales at the Standard helped make Gibson the “richest black man in Philadelphia.”

While at the Standard, Eddie dropped the magic tricks from his act. After catching one of his shows, a stage manager told Eddie to, “Get rid of the paraphernalia and just do comedy, you are really funny.” Eddie took the man’s advice and began performing strictly as a comedian, eventually adding singing and”soft shoe” dancing to his routine.

It was during this time, that Eddie wrote the his first of his twenty-nine songs, “A Good Man is Hard to Find, “ which he copyrighted on December 28, 1917, in Chicago. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a bluesy type of song, explaining what a woman should do when she manages to get a “good” man. Six months later, Eddie sold his song and on June 2, 1918, the song was copyrighted by Pace and Handy Music Publishers (Home of the Blues), and went on sale as a piano roll in the Fort Wayne Gazette.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” became a hit. January 4, 1919, Eddie got his first top billing as an entertainer, though his name, as the songwriter, was in tiny print. The name of the song was in big, bold letters right at the top of the Billboard page. The Billboard listed the song as “a 1,000,000 copy hit, sure fire applause getter for any singing act or combination on the stage.”

Marion Harris, a popular singer, most successful in the 1920s, the first widely known white singer to sing jazz and blues songs, recorded the song in 1919 for Victor Records. Miss Harris’s recording has been digitized at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation.

Eddie decided to put together a company of eighteen actors, which he called the “Deluxe Players,” and as owner and manager of the “Deluxe Players,” he began to tour the south, featuring his song, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” performing in places such as Tampa, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri. Eddie and his company were a sensation in St. Louis at the Booker Washington Theater, as was printed by the St. Louis Argus, January 9, 1920: “Green with his droll humor, and his coterie of performers made a big hit during a previous performance at this house.” The show bristled with tuneful melodies, graceful and eccentric dances and a barrel of side-splitting comedy.”

Eddie’s song caught the attention of Miss Sophie Tucker, one of the most popular entertainers at that time, known as, “the last of the red hot mammas.” While performing in the Sophie Tucker Room in Reisenweber’s in New York, Miss Tucker sang “A Good Man is Hard to Find” every night for ten consecutive weeks, and “will continue to use it until her engagement terminates.” Miss Tucker said that, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is “the best blue number she has ever used.” {Photo 1. Caption: Sophie Tucker Says.}

This song has been recorded as a blues number, a fox trot and a swing number, by such greats as Wilbur C. Sweatman’s Jazz Orchestra, Les Brown and his Orchestra, Louis Prima and his Orchestra, Jess Stacy and his Orchestra, Dorothy Loudon with the Honky Tonks, William’s Cotton Club Orchestra, Muggsy Spanier, the Alabama Red Peppers, “Fats” Waller, Bessie Smith, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Cass Daley, Big Maybelle, Brenda Lee, Nancy Wilson, and Carol Channing, to name a few, and a version of the song has been heard in Woody Allen’s recent film Blue Jasmine, and even more recently in HBO’s 2015 presentation of Bessie. As was Sophie Tucker before her, Bessie Smith was instrumental in popularizing, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.”

As I write this, I am realizing that, as the years went by, Eddie must have been aware of the impact this song had on people. At the time he wrote this song, though, he probably had a need for whatever money he received when he sold it to Pace and Handy. The popularity of this song, did, however, announce the arrival of Eddie Green, and with his talent for getting laughs, and his willingness to work for what he wanted, Eddie was on his way up.

End of Chapter Two

Hey, thanks for stopping by.

September 21, 2015 elvagreen123

IT JUST KEEPS ON GETTING BETTER

You’ve Screamed at Him on Duffy’s Tavern – In Person – EDDIE GREEN!

This headline was from an article in 1945. Eddie was scheduled to appear at the Orpheum Theater, in Los Angeles, on May 1st, along with The King Cole Trio, and, Johnny Otis and his Orchestra.

In case you are new to my blog, Eddie, my father, is the Black gentleman with the big smile on his face, in the above photo. Kinda like my smile. The gentleman in the hat, is Mr. Ed Gardner, creator of Duffy’s Tavern, the gentleman next to him is Charles Cantor and the lady is Florence Halop.

In the seven years prior to 1945, Eddie had owned two barbeque restaurants in New York (specializing in southern bar-bee-Q), he had made four of his own movies, and, he was on The Executive Board of the Negro Actors Guild of America, Noble Sissle, President, along with Mrs. Noble Sissle, and W. C. Handy.

images (8) — Ben Bernie, 1938 Google Advanced Image Search

Eddie had also appeared on the Ben Bernie Music Quiz radio program. Ben Bernie was a jazz violinist, and a bandleader as well as a radio personality, who was born in 1891 (like Eddie.) He originated the term “yowsa, yowsah, yowsah,” that became a national catchphrase, and which was used in the movie, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

I thought They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, was very “deep” when I saw it, a movie about a depression era dance marathon, with contestants desperate to win. I mean, these people stayed on their poor feet a long time. Now, I am writing a book, years later, about my father appearing on a radio program starring a man associated with this movie. It just blows me away. Small world.

Eddie had appeared on many radio programs, including a radio special titled, “All God’s Children,” with Paul Robeson. Eddie was even a guest on The Jell-O Program, starring Jack Benny. In the following episode titled “Columbus Day,” (cause it was), Jack is talking on the phone to Rochester who needs $50 dollars to pay off some debts and he sends his friend, Columbus Smith (played by Eddie), to pick up the money from Jack.

jackbenny — Jack Benny Google Advanced Image Search

Knock, knock, knock.
BENNY: Come in.
COLUMBUS: Excuse me for intruding, Mr. Benny, but I got a note for you.
BENNY: I’m sorry, I’m busy right now, come back later.
COLUMBUS: I would advise you to take a quick gander at this communique.
BENNY: All right, what’s the note, what does it say?
COLUMBUS: I’m only a carrier pigeon, we ain’t much on reading.
BENNY: Oh, ok, let’s have it.
MARY LIVINGSTONE: Who’s it from, Jack
BENNY: It’s from, Rochester. Listen to this, dear boss, please give bearer, Mr. Columbus Smith – Columbus?
COLUMBUS: Yea, that’s me.
BENNY: Oh.

MARY (to Columbus): Happy Anniversary.

Loud laughter from the audience.

Eddie would find his greatest fame, however, through the popular radio show, Duffy’s Tavern.

The show aired March 1, 1941. Once a week, Duffy’s Tavern entertained America’s citizen with the antics of Archie, the bartender, played by Ed Gardner, the creator of the show, Eddie, the waiter played by my father Eddie Green, and the tavern regulars, Finnegan, played by Charles Cantor, and Miss Duffy, (the tavern owner’s daughter), played by Shirley Booth. Duffy of Duffy’s Tavern was never seen or heard, but the show would start off with Archie having a telephone conversation with his “boss”, Duffy. The phone would ring, and Archie would answer: “Hello, Duffy’s Tavern, where the elite meet to eat, Duffy ain’t here, Archie speaking, oh, hello, Duffy.” Usually, the show featured a different celebrity guest each week.

Archie, the bartender, tended to misuse the English language and Eddie would usually call subtle attention to this fact:

EDDIE: Mr. Archie, what happened to the sign?
ARCHIE: What sign, Eddie.
EDDIE: The “watch your hats and coats” sign.
ARCHIE: There it is, only I rephrased the words so Clifton Fadiman would feel more at home here. Read it.
EDDIE: Maintain scrutiny of thy chapeaus and hats, umm, nice and confusing, ain’t it?
ARCHIE: Yes, isn’t it? It’s a quotation from Shakespeare. Did you ever see any of Shakespeare’s

plays, Eddie?
EDDIE: One, As You Like It.
ARCHIE: Well?
EDDIE: I didn’t like it.

Eddie would appear in every episode until his death in 1950, as well as appearing in the same role in the 1945 movie.

After Eddie got the role in Duffy’s Tavern, he was able to fulfill another dream of his, The Pittsburgh Courier reported “Eddie Green, comedian of radio and stage fame has opened a dramatic training school with services and classes for both amateurs and professionals. The School is called Sepia Artists.”

Thank you for coming today. I hope these stories of my father and his ambitions inspire you to go after your dreams, no matter how unattainable they may seem.

July 20, 2015 elvagreen123

GENERATIONS – GRANNY AND TANISHA

Granny and Tanisha #generations — Granny and Tanisha
#generations

Hi there.

My niece, Tanisha, posted a picture of herself and her Granny on a social website the other day and when I saw it, it struck a chord in my soul. Tanisha’s hashtags were “generations”, “genes” and “spongecurls”, obviously referring to the similarities in the two pictures.

What struck me the most about this post was the fact that Nish had put up a picture that absolutely speaks to one of the points I am trying to make in writing a biography of my father, Eddie Green.

As some of you know, I have been sharing stories on this blog about my father who was a star of stage, radio and screen in the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s, but had basically become absent from the entertainment memory. And had become a distant memory in the familial sense. The biography I am writing is to bring Eddie and his numerous achievements back into the light. To remind those who have come after him what can and has been accomplished by a black man when times were tough during racial segregation, world financial troubles and war, and to remind his descendants, such as my grandson, from whence they come.

I am talking black people here because we (I and mine) happen to be black (with a little bit of this and that thrown in, but that’s for another story), but the idea of remembering those who came before us and continuing to acknowledge and celebrate them is something that can be done by anybody, anywhere.

What we have today is directly linked to what the generation before us did. Any progress we have made is due to the generations before us. Rap, electric cars, Black movie directors, space flight, smartphones; in order for these to have been available for us, someone had to start the ball rolling.

Because our past generations have passed on, as Granny has, or whether they may just be getting to the place we call “old age”, ought not mean they are forgotten.

Thanks Nish, for helping me put my thoughts into words.

And thank you so much for stopping by.

April 16, 2015 elvagreen123

CONNECTING THROUGH HOPE AND TECHNOLOGY

Connies Inn - Harlem New York

In 1923, Conrad “Connie” Immerman, a Latvian immigrant bootlegger, transformed the club in the picture on the left, into one of the most popular clubs in New York, where early morning jam sessions carried out to the Tree of Hope that stood in front.

I looked up the “Tree of Hope” and at first what I found were articles about the Sycamore that had been destroyed on September 11, 2001. One article was by a person who worked with St. Paul’s Church. It stated that the tree had been located in the northwest corner of the old graveyard of St. Paul’s Chapel near the World Trade Center. There is now a smaller Spruce tree in that spot, which is known as the “Tree of Hope, which symbolizes peace for our world and which gets lit up with spotlights and decorated with doves for the Christmas season.

Then I found an article that refers to the “Tree of Hope” in the picture, above, in front of Connie’s Inn.

The legend and tradition of this “Tree of Hope”, began outside the famous Harlem Lafayette Theatre once located between 131st and 132nd Streets on Seventh Avenue, known as the Boulevard of Dreams. Some performers believed the tree to be the purveyor of good luck to those who stood beneath its branches. The tree came to symbolize the promise that Harlem held for millions of aspiring African-Americans.

Around the time that the Apollo Theater first opened in 1934, the City of New York widened Seventh Avenue and the trees that had once lined the Boulevard of Dreams had to be removed. One of the trees doomed to this fate was the famous Harlem landmark, the “Tree of Hope”, across from Connie’s. Someone saved a section of the trunk of this very tree, and it now stands on the Apollo stage.

The connections here are mind-blowing.

My father, Eddie Green (for those who are new to this blog), performed on stage at Connie’s Inn in 1929 in “Hot Chocolates”. Not only did he perform, he also wrote the comedy sketches and he wrote the “talking” song “Big Business.” On the album cover pictured above, Eddie is listed under Thomas “Fats” Waller. I must point out again, Eddie is listed with Armstrong and Waller, two gentlemen a lot of people know-but Eddie’s recognition factor is almost nil. And as the years went by, Eddie became a well-known star of stage, screen and radio. I hope to change this recognition factor, because I think my father deserves it and my grandson will benefit, and I will feel better.

The talking song “Big Business” was also a prize fighting skit for the in-between-weight Championship. Jazzlips Richardson was in the opening and of course, “Fats” Waller did the piano passages.

I found this on-line:

Victor matrix BVE-56782. Big business / Ed Green, Billy Higgins and Company
Connie’s hot chocolates (Work title) Disc label (RDI)

Ed Green (author)
Composer information source: Disc label.
Personnel

Ed Green, Billy Higgins and Company (dramatic group)
Ed Green (speaker)
B. Higgins (speaker)
B. Maxey (speaker)
J. E. Lightfoot (speaker)
D. Campbell (speaker)
J. Willson (speaker)
T. Hall (speaker)
Jazzlips (speaker)
A. Haston (speaker)
L. L. Watson (director)
Fats Waller (instrumentalist : piano)

This was the show that boosted Eddie’s career. “Hot Chocolates” went on to Broadway. Eddie was cast as a performer over the radio for Commander Byrd in Antarctica and he wrote a few more songs. Warner Brothers featured Eddie in a Vitaphone film titled:
“TEMPLE BELLES”
With EDDIE GREEN
Featured Comic of “Hot Chocolates”

Four Happenings in March 1929

Charles Curtis(R-Kansas) becomes 1st native American Vice President

March 23 1st telephone installed in White House

March 28 Eddie Green copyright’s “We All Want What We Want When We Want It”.

Ain’t that the truth. I want my computer to act right. So I am logging of now. Thanks, for stopping by.

April 2, 2015 elvagreen123

To Coin a Phrase-PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION

Hi there. Cutting and pasting is extremely easy. I should try it more often. The above is a recording of a song my father, Eddie Green, wrote in 1924. This song’s copyright was renewed by Eddie just before he died in 1950, and is still in copyright. Soon, I hope to have the moola to get copies of the paperwork in regard to this song, and a few others. I have only learned of these songs in the past five years and I did not realize the Copyright Office wanted so much money to do a search for materials and file new documents! Anyhoo, I get a kick out of listening to this song. I haven’t found much information on the lady singing with Eddie, Billie Wilson, but I think this is the only Paramount Recording she did.

I wanted to start this post with something that gives me pleasure, because lately I have begun to feel so confused in regard to the writing I am doing, meaning this blog and my book. I forget what I wrote where and when. I have found that in writing these posts, I have gone back and forth, from 1949 to 1917 to 1923 and then to 1945, when, of course, my book, as a biography, is chronological, and this all gets mushed up in my head.

This has been a real learning process for me. Today, I sat down and tried to put my thoughts and words into some kind of order.

The blog is supposed to relate the progress of my book. To share portions of the book and any other stories I find inspiring or funny, and to, hopefully, enourage others to research their own family members.

The book is about Eddie, from birth in 1891 to death in 1950. As of today, I have begun Chapter V – Takes Broadway By Storm. I will include an article from the Brooklyn Eagle dated July 18, 1929 that begins with this sentence: “The Whole Town Is Talking About Eddie Green.” I will also include an article which was written by Eddie in 1949 about this period of 1929 and which I first posted in my second post “Screaming Sirens Can Be Inspiring”.

My chapter titles have changed and I have discovered new information that has had to be inserted into earlier chapters, such as the discovery of a fourth wife. I will be blogging about Eddie’s wives.

Hey, thanks for stopping by and I hope you get as much of a kick out of “I’m Sorry For It Now” as I do.

March 22, 2015 elvagreen123

SEEK and YOU SHALL FIND

Hi there, welome back.

I have started writing my book on my father. I find myself spending hours verifying, cross-referencing and typing said information into my new laptop. My first laptop. The most up-to-date device of this type I have used since acquiring my mom’s desktop that we bought in 2007. Have you ever lost whole pages of typing? It is maddening. And takes time away from my blog, which I hate, because writing this blog has helped me believe in my ability to write cohesive sentences.

In cross-referencing Eddie’s whereabouts from year to year, I discovered THIS:

Edward Green

in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.

I pulled up the draft card and checked the signature. Yep, Eddie’s signature. Two years ago, I could not find this for the life of me. This document yielded good cross-reference information, an address, his occupation as an actor and the street on which the theater used to be that Eddie worked in I at the time. It also provided some surprising information, Eddie had a wife and child. I have always known I had a sister, I just didn’t know she was born that long ago. Of course, Eddie was 25 years old.

The card also included the age of each person’s first marriage, 18. So Eddie had gotten married for the first time at age 18 in 1909. In 1909 Eddie was performing his magic act and had added a comedy routine. I guess he was earning enough to get married. He was performing in various theaters, one of which was the Horn Theater, which opened in 1909 and stayed open till 1920 when it was closed for repairs.

Two days before this 1917 discovery, I found Eddie (actually Edward) listed in the 1930 census married to a woman named Anna. Anna was 29 years old, born in 1901. Eddie was listed as 37. Anna was an entertainer in a nightclub, maybe in Connie’s Inn, which is where Eddie performed. He was appearing in a musical called “Hot Chocolates” for which he wrote the comedy sketches.

I also have the 1940 census report of Eddie being married to a woman named Constance. He is listed as an actor in the theater and she is listed as a housewife. Constance is 29 years old, born in 1911. Eddie is now listed as 43. (Somewhere along the way Eddie changed his birth year from 1891 to 1896, and the census is not always accurate.)

Eddie married my mom in 1945. She was 22. He was 54 in reality but claimed to be 50.

This is so much fun, but I have to stop, because I have lost this document four times and each time my stats line grows, very funny.

Till next time.

March 18, 2015 elvagreen123

Name Dropping

Eddie Green-Getty Image — My father-Eddie Green

This is going to be short and sweet. In my quest to find information on my father, Eddie Green, I have encountered a few blank areas in his life. So far, I have found nothing about Eddie between 1910 and 1917. So today I got the bright idea to check out what was happening in the world 100 years ago, this month. I figured I might be able to connect with Eddie’s life somehow. Basically, what I found was information about the War. All about the War. Eddie was 24 years old in 1915, he had yet to write his first song, nor had he begun making any headway in his career as a magician. He was not in the service for this War. He was married but, so far I don’t know to whom he was married.

One interesting fact I found out was that Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1915.

Well, Frank Sinatra would, years later, record the first song that Eddie wrote in 1917 “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, as you can see below: