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The Extraordinary Life of Nina Simone was Tragic and Empowering

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

37. She began playing the organ when she was just two and a half

Nina at the piano, 1960s. Flickr

Nina’s home was poor, but musical. Her pious parents had a keen appreciation of music, and the tiny, overcrowded family home was full of religious songs. Aged just two and a half, the intrepid Nina learned not only to climb up onto the organ stool at St Luke Church, where her mother preached, but taught herself to play the instrument. One day she even surprised her mother by playing her favorite hymn, ‘God Be with You Till We Meet Again‘. ‘We knew she was a genius by the time she was just three’, recalled her brother Carrol.

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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

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