Loss

The part of the Oscars that recognizes those in the movie business that have died within the last year has me thinking of one of the people I have loved since I was young: Lena Horne.    I watched her in any film I could find, even as a child, because I found her beauty, style, and voice enchanting.    She could make you laugh, she could make you cry, she could make you love-sick, but she was rarely given a chance to display her talents in the ways they should have been.     She was a victim of the racist views of her time--a story many people know.    This is a tragedy, but I am still grateful for the indelible images she did leave behind.     I will never forget her singing Stormy Weather, a favorite song by a favorite singer.  Nor will the power of her one-woman show leave me (until everything has and I am at a loss for my own name.)    If you see on TCM that one of her films is being shown, do yourself a favor and watch it.   Even if her part is but a song, she makes it memorable.    Miss Horne, I will miss knowing you are in the world but I am happy you still live in some way, if just in image and sound.