← Back to the front page

The Extraordinary Life of Nina Simone was Tragic and Empowering

Tim Flight September 16, 2019 26 min

Nina Simone - Jazz — Nina Simone in October 1969. Consequence of Sound

7. Her relationship with her only daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud, was strained and, at times, abusive

Nina and Lisa, late 1960s or early 1970s. Irish Mirror

The tumult of Nina’s life started to show in her private life after she left the US. Although her daughter, Lisa, eventually joined her in Liberia, Nina was so cruel to her that she was soon on a plane back to New York to live with her father, aged just 14. ‘She [Nina] went from being my comfort to the monster in my life’, Lisa reflected in a 2015 interview. ‘My mother was angry with the world and often the only person around to blame was me’. Their relationship was so bad that Nina left Lisa out of her will.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk

The Extraordinary Life of Nina Simone was Tragic and Empowering

7. Her relationship with her only daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud, was strained and, at times, abusive

Keep reading

D-Day Death Toll: Why the True Count of 4,436 Took Decades to Confirm

Fall of Constantinople: How Mehmed II’s Cannon Broke the Walls in 53 Days

8 French Revolution Facts That Changed the World