Winner

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Bea Arthur-Heads a Winner

Maude was a 1970s TV sitcom created by the brilliant Norman Lear. Brilliant because all of his TV sitcoms were hits. Back then there was one big similarity in his shows, they were all so loud. When I was researching The Jeffersons, another Lear creation, I found many newspaper articles complaining about how loud the Jeffersons characters were, loud and rude to each other. People wanted to know why a Black family had to be portrayed in such an unfavorable light. Well, starting with the very first episode of Maude, I had to turn the volume down on my laptop. Maude hollers at Walter, the husband, Carol (the daughter, hollers at Maude, when their neighbor Arthur, comes over, they all holler at him-during the second episode Arthur shouts that he will never set foot in their house again! The sitcom went on from there for six seasons. Crazy! Of course, 30 some-odd years later I am probably a lot more sensitive to loud noises. Be that as it may, Maude was indeed a hit comedy show, and Bea Arthur was exactly the right choice to play her.

Bea Arthur was an accomplished actor by the time she was chosen for this part. She made her TV debut in 1951 on Once Upon a Tune a weekly half-hour television series that aired on the Dumont Television Network, and had started acting on stage in 1947.

This post however is about how one of the very first episodes helped make this show of relevance to its viewers. On September 19, 1972, the episode “Doctor, Doctor” aired. In this episode, Arthur, the next-door neighbor (who was a doctor), found his granddaughter and Maude’s grandson playing doctor behind the garage, without a stitch of clothes on. Arthur was incensed. He wanted the grandson, Phillip, punished. Maude and her daughter, Carol, played by Adrienne Barbeau, poo poo’ed the idea saying they were just kids and interested in their bodies. Big loud argument ensues. Should Phillip be punished or not?

This episode was relevant to me because…….one day I went out into our yard where the owner had a shed and I found my six-year-old daughter in the shed with my neighbor’s little son and they were both naked. I was aghast, but I didn’t know what to do so I called my mother. She said to me what was said in the Maude episode, that I should not spank her because that could make her ashamed of her body. Just tell both kids that it was not the right thing to do to take your clothes off outside and then take the little boy home and get on with my day.

I’m going to have to call Melony and ask her if she remembers that day. Probably not since she did not get a spanking. Haha.

Anywho, stick around, this sitcom’s topicality was varied and controversial and the portrayal of the characters was right on. As in “Right on, Maude.” Bea Arthur is a master of timing and provides a lot of laughs. I hope I can write a book on this show that throws out good vibes from the 70s.

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Bea Arthur-Heads a Winner

Bea Arthur-Heads a Winner

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Father Knows Best

Lizzie Miles version of my father’s song. I love this version.

One hundred years ago in August my father, Eddie Green, would have been 27 years old. On June 5, 1917 he signed up for WWI. In the same year he copyrighted his first song “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Twenty-eight years later when he was  55 he married my mom who was 22 at the time. After a long and fruitful career as an entertainer and entrepreneur Eddie died in 1950. If he were still alive in August he would have been 127 years old.

I have since written a book about Eddie, had the book published, done a few interviews, had an article written about myself and the book; won an award-WooHoo!!! Winner, winner, winner! And I am looking forward to more interviews and writing an article on my father which will garner  more exposure.

I did a presentation at a local library and when I mentioned the title of Eddie’s first song the ladies in the room began to talk out loud: “It’s still like that today!” “You better believe it.” My brother, who was in the room, kind of cringed and the ladies apologized but they were all laughing.

This incident and the fact that this song was used in a 2014 Woody Allen movie, the HBO movie “Bessie”, and the award, show me that my father is still relevant today, 127 years after he was born.

Hey, thank you, for stopping by.

Visit Eddie Green, The Rise of an Early 1900s Black American Entertainment Pioneer https://www.facebook.com/elvagreenbookpage/

 

 

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AND THE WINNER IS…….

 

Bestselling author, Dean Koontz said, “I really believe that everyone has a talent, ability or skill that he can mine to support himself and to succeed in life.”

I permanently posted this quote onto my blog, and I said in my first blog post from November 12, 2014:

“I found this quote while doing some research for a book I will eventually complete. I began my research in about 1998 because my then small grandson’s favorite words seemed to be “I can’t”.  Usually in regard to why he did not finish his homework.  His homework was always too hard.  I came up with the bright idea to enlighten him on what a person can accomplish by telling him about, and by writing a book for him about my father, his grandfather, who was a black man born in poverty in 1896 and who rose to prominence despite many obstacles. What I hoped to impart to my grandson morphed into a desire to share inspiration to any person who feels they “can’t”. A desire to talk about what motivates people, about determination and about how much work actually goes into achieving one’s goals, and how that work can be extremely rewarding.” Or maybe even Awarding.

Well, the book has been completed. Eddie Green The Rise of an Early 1900s Black American Entertainment Pioneer was published in July of 2016. On June 24, 2017 I and my book became the 2016 Foreword INDIES WINNER in the Performing Arts & Music (Adult Nonfiction) category!! Me!!

Mr. Howard Loy, Executive Editor said in a congratulatory article: These were the publishers and authors enabling alternative voices. Many in publishing might disagree with me, but I believe there is no such thing as too much information. Stories, true stories, need to be written down and preserved for many reasons.” He says to me,  “Congrats Elva on being a winner!” Me!

For those of you considering writing a book. When I learned I was a winner, I was excited and I wanted everyone to learn about it right away. Of course, things take time. You’re waiting for a personal email, a personal tweet with a picture of your book and your name in big letters. But the convention at which the awards were held was 3 days long. The awards were held on the 2nd day. And there were a lot of awards.

Saturday and Sunday passed. I went from being excited, to being amazed. The research I did, the many public transportation trips I made, all the time I spent on the net and at museums, all of the people that were involved, the fact that people thought my book was worthy of an award was and is mind-blowing.

On Monday I crashed. I cried Monday night, Tuesday morning. I slept all day. I watched old detective shows and fell asleep and woke up and went to bed. Slept late Wednesday, Thursday got up to pay the rent, buy some chili fries and an Orange Bang (large) and I slept. I could not blog until today. I think this may happen to a lot of writers. I tend to think of myself as a person who wrote a book, period. But as my brother Brad keeps telling me, I am a writer. Me.

So, I am finally sharing my GOOD NEWS. I am a WINNER, WINNER, WINNER. You have all helped me in one way or another. You have definitely helped me keep going. And this is only the beginning. Today I heard from the Award committee and my publisher will send out a press release in July. Stay tuned!! I am totally thanking the Universe today. And if you feel so inclined, write a book and tell us about your journey.

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