October | 2011 | Words We Speak

In my twenties, thirties and forties, I held authors in the highest esteem. I wondered why there were so many books. In my fifties, I began to understand that everyone has a story to tell and that’s why there are so many books. Some people have multiple stories to tell, thus, increasing the size of the Universal Library.

In 2003, I moved from Florida to Georgia and, in 2004, I began compiling my poetry and memoirs. For 13 months, I wrote my first book IN PURSUIT OF A MELODY, which includes my memoirs, photographs, poetry, songs and two lectures. That book was published at TRAFFORD in Canada.

In 2006, I spent 5 months in China and Japan. When I returned to Georgia, I knew it was not the place for me, so I returned to South Florida. By the end of 2007, I was teaching 8th grade Music at a charter school. But I was laid off in January 2008. I received unemployment compensation for the remainder of the year and discovered www.lulu.com online.

***
I republished my first book there and broke out the poetry into three books; the song book; Amazing Musiwomen; and So, You Want To Be A Singer?

Today, all of my books are available in soft and hard cover format, as well as ebooks. This is my book store.

***

It has been my supreme pleasure to teach children about the Amazing Musicwomen who brought blues and jazz music to the forefront of American society and abroad! Also, I have taught students about the intricacies of the Music Business.

Through a grant from BankAtlantic to my non-profit organization, I was able to visit summer camps at three elementary schools to present my children’s songs.

Many of my songs have been recorded on CDs by my group Jazz Hotline and by other artists like Freddie Hubbard and Sandy Patton. My CDs are available at www.cdbaby.com/jcartwright and www.cdbaby.com/jcartwright2