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Big Star Fallin' Mama book cover
Big Star Fallin' Mama
Five Women in Black Music
1974
First Published
3.75
Average Rating
160
Number of Pages
An updated edition of a popular collection of biographies of five of the most important, influential, and respected African-American female singers profiles Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holliday, and Aretha Franklin.
Avg Rating
3.75
Number of Ratings
12
5 STARS
17%
4 STARS
42%
3 STARS
42%
2 STARS
0%
1 STARS
0%
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Author

Hettie Jones
Hettie Jones
Author · 7 books

Hettie Jones (born 1934 as Hettie Cohen) is best known as the first wife of Amiri Baraka, known as LeRoi Jones at the time of their marriage, but is also a writer herself. While known for her poetry, she has received acclaim for her memoir, How I Became Hettie Jones (published 1990 by Grove Press). Jones held various clerical jobs at Partisan Review and started the literary magazine Yugen with her husband. Jones is currently on the faculty in the graduate program in creative writing at The New School in New York City. From 1989-2002 she ran a writing workshop at the New York State Correctional Facility for Women at Bedford Hills, which included inmate Judy Clark as a student, and which published a nationally distributed collection, Aliens At The Border. Jones is a former chair of the PEN Prison Writing Committee and is currently a member of PEN's Advisory Council. (from Wikipedia)

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