TT 56: Bernice Greenwold, live interview today w John Rogers
Hail and farewell to Bernice Greenwold, 97 years old. (Not from Covid.) I took this photo at Xmas: Five generations in one shot: David on the other end is 5. (In between are Donna, Nikki, and Tyler.)
Bernice was always good for a joke, she could bake up a storm, she remembered WWII history in detail. There were five daughters -- now that’s a footprint -- and her oldest, Ruth, is my wife's mother. It's been a great family to have married in to, and the loss of our supreme matriarch is a solemn moment.
The wheel always turns, there's nothing to be done about it, except to try to weather the vicissitudes with style. On my side, everyone dies young or in terrible condition; on Sarah's side, they live forever and stay in good shape.
Bernice was with it until very late in the game. Just three nights ago, over FaceTime, I played her favorite song “Tea for Two” and she thanked me very sincerely.
Bless you, Bernice! Save travels!
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In the spirit of “live events during the pandemic,” John Rogers is interviewing various folk at 7PM EST each night on his FaceBook page. Last night it was Alan Sparhawk, tomorrow it is Bill Frisell.
I’m on tonight, here’s the link.
John is a celebrated photographer who has done some tremendous work in the jazz world, including photos for my CDs Tootie’s Tempo, Costumes are Mandatory, and Billy Hart’s All Our Reasons.