I'm sure there are those who will disagree with me, but what a woman.
I’m talking about Lena Mary Calhoun Horne, who passed away yesterday. Born June 30, 1917, she gained renown as an singer/actor/civil rights champion and then some.
At the age of 16, she began dancing at the world-famous Cotton Club in NYC, later singing with jazz legends such as Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington. During WWII, she refused to perform on a USO tour when German prisoners of war were seated in the front rows even as African-Americans were relegated to seats further back. Needless to say, she was cut from the tour, but continued to perform for troops, paying her own way. She embraced the civil rights movement in the 1960s, becoming an ardent supporter of Martin Luther King.
Style, class, grace... Lena Horne. Now she sings with the angels.
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