The first is from a famous musician:
What an incredible job you did, Terry. Pops is not only the best biography of a jazz musician ever, but you really reclaimed Louis from that sad, brown, PBS-y place that Ken Burns & Co. sat him down in that took all the life out of him and used him as a prop to tell their same-old same-old. This book was about Louis and brings his incredible life and music back to full luster. And I learned so much too, of course. Knowing the basics and a few details, your book straightened me out on a few things and, best of all, sent me listening anew….
The second is from a soldier:
I wanted to write a thank-you letter for the wonderful book Pops. I had been looking forward to reading it since I first read about it on your blog. I am serving with the Army in Afghanistan, and I had to order it as soon as it was published. It was a great read on my long shifts, and I wanted to tell you that being able to read about Armstrong’s sunny disposition keeps my spirits up. I only have a few recordings of his music here (luckily one is “West End Blues”), and now I listen to them almost every day. We can’t actually download music here, so I will have to wait to hear “Potato Head Blues” and “Snafu”, but because of your book, Armstrong’s music is one more thing to look forward to when I get back….
These two e-mails came on the same day. I can’t tell you how proud I felt as I read them.
Time: five p.m. on New Year’s Eve. Place: the living room of a rural farmhouse in Connecticut.