Judy Collins I REMEMBER…
Reader's Digest UK|August 2020
Seattle-born singer Judy Collins, 81, has been in the business for more than six decades. She looks back on a musical childhood, dating Stephen Stills and meeting John F Kennedy
Simon Button
Judy Collins I REMEMBER…

…MY FIRST MEMORY IS DANCING WITH MY FATHER on a street corner when they announced that the Second World War was over. I was three years old at the time and I recall him carrying me on his shoulders as everyone around us seemed so happy and elated.

…I WAS THE OLDEST OF FIVE SIBLINGS and I like to say I was “trained” rather than “raised” because I was taught to play the piano from a young age. When I was five, I was taken to a dance class and I did poorly so I then went to a piano teacher and I did well. My father was a singer, songwriter, performer and radio show host so I heard all the great songs and I sang in the church and school choirs. It was a very busy childhood.

…MY REPORT CARD AT SCHOOL SAID “NEEDS IMPROVEMENT.”

Both in Seattle and Denver, where we moved when I was ten years old, I was always being pulled up for my behaviour in class because I guess I didn’t pay much attention to subjects I wasn’t good at, like algebra. But I was pretty good at geometry and singing.

…MUM WAS AN INCREDIBLE WOMAN. She sewed our clothes, cooked our food, drove a Red Cross van during the war and had her own book club for 40 years. Both my parents had ethics and they were disciplined but kind.

This story is from the August 2020 edition of Reader's Digest UK.

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This story is from the August 2020 edition of Reader's Digest UK.

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