[Dixielandjazz] Only for Bix specialists.

[Stan Brager]

Mike;

Phil Evans published his Bix bio after the Sudhalter version. He told me several times that Sudhalter relied heavily on Phil's years of research. Phil's biggest complaint was that Sudhalter revised some of his (Phil's) information and created conversations and statements for which there were no factual basis.

Phil's  "The Leon Bix Beiderbecke Story" was self-published in 1998 and contains information and pictures not in the Sudhalter book. Phil also had the assistance of his wife Linda in the writing of this last book.

I read the book 10 years ago so my memory of an abortion is quite vague. Do you have the date of the abortion as given in the Sudhalter version and I'll look for it in Phil's book. I did a quick scan of the statements given by Ruth in an interview or published in her diary, but nothing was mentioned or even suggested about an abortion. Neither do I remember reading anything related to a child molestation accusation.

Stan
Stan Brager

> -----Original Message-----
> From: M J (Mike) Logsdon [mailto:mjl at ix.netcom.com]
> Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 1:27 AM
> To: DJML
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Only for Bix specialists.
> 
> And considerably tangential, at that.  (You are warned.)
> 
> I'm finally working my way through to the end of the 2004 French bio of
> Bix, which is quite good.  But one thing that has always hung in my
> memory from the Evans-Sudhalter volume, the Ruth Shaffner abortion,
> shows up nowhere in this current bio, which goes into nitty-gritty
> detail on both the child molestation case that resulted in him being
> sent to Forest Lake, and a supposedly supposed homosexual moment later
> on.  None of this matters, of course, but Mr French Biographer is
> apparently "warts and all", yet not one word about the abortion.
> Plenty of references to amorousness, but not a word about the other.
> Is this topic either taboo even for Mr French Biographer, or is this
> story amongst those that garnered Mr Sudhalter his negative Evans
> reputation?  In other words, is it fiction?
>