I started a thread, a while back, about singer Betty Carter.
It turned into an obit thread because
no obit thread existed for her, up to then;
she has in fact been dead for the better part of twenty years I believe.

She started out, my homework showed me,
a most compliant young thing, willing to compromise and harmonize.

She turned militant and high-spirited,
and her career was as divisive as it was attractive.

For me, Betty Carter is not perfection, and did not have to be --
she is one of those who push the limits of what is possible.
And I admired the courage of her convictions
and her tenacity in publishing her own recordings when
no one else would produce her or offer her a contract.

I couldn't be Betty Carter if I tried,
and I don't expect everybody to hold to her standards.
For all that, I'm awfully glad she came, and stayed, as long as she did.