Asheville Native Goes ‘Back Down Memory Lane’
New book inspired by late singer Minnie Riperton.
On July 12, 1979, music lost one of its most cherished and recognized voices with the death of Minnie Riperton. But the singer’s impact lives on, including in the heart of Asheville native Sheila Simmons, who returns to her hometown this week to sign copies of her newly released book, Memoir of a Minnie Riperton Fan.
Simmons, who graduated from Asheville High School and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will read Saturday, August 15, 2015 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Firestorm Café & Books, 610 Haywood Road in West Asheville.
“Writing this book was a lovely, musical and personal journey for me—one filled with adventure, music, laughs, frustration and faith. I hope Minnie fans and music fans everywhere find in this book the same comfort and inspiration I drew from the late, great Minnie Riperton.”
The book ($12, CreateSpace) covers the life and times of Riperton, best-known for her five-octave range and 1975 hit song “Lovin’ You.” Riperton died of cancer at the age of 31. Simmons documents Riperton’s early girl-group years, her tours with a multiracial rock group, her brilliant solo career and her acceptance of a Courage Award from President Jimmy Carter.
But in the book, alongside the singer’s life, runs the details of the author’s own background as well as the lessons she learns in tracking the songstress’s life, family, and famous acquaintances like Pam Grier, Stevie Wonder, and Muhammad Ali’s wife Khalilah, in such places as Chicago, New York, Gainesville, Fla., Acapulco, and Los Angeles.
Dyana Williams, a veteran broadcaster and celebrity strategist who served as a music consultant for “The Soul of VH1,” called the book “an illuminating and compelling exploration of the life of one of the most underrated and exquisite voices ever to grace a microphone. It also shares the amazing life journey of mother, journalist, educator, community leader and cultural advocate Sheila Simmons. This book is for those who appreciate great music, artistry, romance and living an impressionable life.”
Simmons currently runs a writing and consulting firm in Philadelphia, and worked as a Communications Director for Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter. Her extensive newspaper writing spans two decades and such publications as Philadelphia Daily News, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Raleigh News & Observer, and Asheville Citizen-Times. She is the mother of a 12-year-old son.
Memoir of a Minnie Riperton Fan is available on amazon.com.
