Saying Goodbye to a True Lady

I know its been a couple of weeks since her passing, but I couldn't not (incorrect grammar I know) mention the passing of the unbelievable Eartha Kitt.

I was priveledged to see her perform last year on her 80th birthday tour. It was nearly two hours of non-stop pedal to the floor entertainment. I went with a friend, and the whole time we both kept saying "she can't REALLY be 80 years old". I mean FLAWLESS.

The director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra told a story to introduce her. As he met her the afternoon of the performance for rehersal he asked if she had time to visit around town since her arrival. She glibly replied that she'd just gotten in as she'd been performing the night before at the Caryle, as she had performed consistantly for years.

Kitt was best known for her role as Batwoman, but it was far from her top achievement. She had a difficult and impoverished childhood in the country hills of South Carolina. Kitt worked hard to get to the top, but when she was a child, she had to fight prejudice within the African-American community because of her light skin color.

Eartha Kitt's career took a huge turn in 1968 after she was invited to a celebrity luncheon at the White House by Lady Bird Johnson, who asked Kitt about urban poverty. Kitt replied: "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam." The first lady reportedly burst into tears. She was investigated by the FBI and CIA. For years afterward, she was completely blackballed and performed almost exclusively overseas.

Unafraid of controversy, Kitt performed in South Africa in 1974. Heavily criticized, she responded by pointing out that she had managed to get two schools built there for black children. She had raised the money by selling autographs at department stores. Traveling around the country and performing in an integrated show, Kitt felt she did a little to weaken the apartheid system and raise awareness among South Africans of all colors.

In 1978 she was nominated for a Tony award for her starring performance in another Broadway show, Timbuktu. It was her first major performance in the U.S. in ten years. When the show opened in Washington, D.C., Kitt was invited to the White House, where President Carter met her, saying, "Welcome home, Eartha." The show was a success and ran for two and a half years.

She lived an amazing, powerful life and was an amazing, powerful woman. She will be greatly missed.