Getting Citified

I’m not going to tell you how old I am ’cause I’d just lie (and by the way, Wikipedia has it wrong), but never the less, I’ve been in show business for quite awhile. I came to New York to live with my Aunt as a youngster from Spartanburg, South Carolina, to go to school, and I settled in a part of Manhattan called Hamilton Heights on 143rd Street, right around the corner from Alexander Hamilton’s house, which was on Convent Ave before it was moved around the corner to 141st Street. I remember seeing famous people in the neighborhood who were in show business, people like Mantan Moreland from the Charlie Chan movies. When we’d see him, we use to rush up, circle around him, and start chanting, “Mr. Chan, Mr. Chan!”. Then he’d buck, and roll his eyes, and do the character he played in the movies! I’m sure he tired of it, but he never let on to us kids that he was. Then a block over, on Hamilton Terrace, was the great jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams, who went to our church, and befriended my Aunt. And on 145th Street was the one and only Dinah Washington. And of course, down the street on Convent, the Ellingtons! I went to grammar school with Duke’s granddaughter, Mercedes Ellington, who later became one of the June Taylor dancers, and use to be on the Jackie Gleason show. Then there was always that pink Cadillac that use to cruise by on Amsterdam Ave, on its way to Rose Morgan’s Salon on 145th Street, and was driven by none other than the great Middleweight Champion of the world, Sugar Ray Robinson! Oh yeah, he was married to Rose Morgan. So as you can guess I was awe struck.