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| From the Blues to the Gospel: R&B Crooner’s Daughter Sings Her Own Song In her new book, "I Never Had a Golden Spoon" (published by iUniverse), Veda Pickett Neal, the daughter of legendary R&B singer Wilson Pickett ("In the Midnight Hour, " "Mustang Sally"), shares her story of creating harmony out of the discord in her life. "Despite my connections with fame, as the daughter of one of the greatest soul singers of all time, this is not a book about the high life and fortune, " explains the author. "It is instead a story of survival." Even as her father was recording chart-topping hits, Pickett Neal says she often struggled to survive. In the book, she recounts how her father drifted in and out of her and her mother's lives, and how later she found her way through an abusive marriage and poverty, among other hardships. "It doesn't matter your background - you can be rich or poor… (yet) you are going to make some bad choices in life, " she says. "But you can learn from them or fail from them. The choice is yours to become successful." She continues, "This is the story of how I made it, on my own, with the love of my children, Kentica and Kyra, and my husband, William Dernell Neal. This is a story of faith, because it is my enduring faith in Jesus Christ that gave me the strength, the courage, and the guidance to survive and to find my way - to Him, and to peace, and even back to my father." Wilson Pickett died of a heart attack January 19, 2006. About the Author Veda Pickett Neal is a graduate of Cambridge Business College, although the author says that working with children is her true passion. She has worked as a preschool teacher's assistant and also as children's minister at Word of Faith International Christian Center of Southfield, Mich., where she attended Layman's Bible School. Pickett Neal continued her education at Grand Rapids Community College, specializing in youth services, before she moved to Colorado to help start Copeland's Gym, a program for at-risk youth. She currently continues her service efforts by fighting child pornography on the Internet. This is her first book. write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Jazz News :: home page |