“Tommy, do something normal with your life...go into show biz!”
Ruth Lowe Sandler
Yup, that’s what my mom told me as I was searching about trying to decide what adventures life should take me on. Not “Become a doctor” or “Study law” or “How ’bout Accounting?” Nope. “Go into show biz!” Only my mom could have said such a thing. “Something normal,” the world of show biz having offered her so much that it just seemed second nature to her. I am so proud of my mom, who she was and her great musical accomplishments.
In an era of female empowerment, with so many talented women reaching out to share their lives, here is the lady who led them all. Ruth Lowe: the Canadian who has been called one of the “Architects of the American Ballad.” Her music has been recorded by every legend of jazz and is still being recorded today. Even more amazing, we are talking about a woman who, in the 1930s, lost everything. Everything, that is, except her courage, her talent, the love for her family, and her will to survive.
She has always been an inspiration to me with her gift of music and her vaudeville take on life. Mom touched my heart. She moved me in so many ways and filled me up with her music. She shared those gifts with me and everyone she met. She opened up and let people in, to smile, to cry, to be who they were.
“Go into show biz!” indeed. You know, mom faced dangers and heartbreaks during a time when there was nothing but... dangers and heartbreaks: the Depression years. She became the sole supporter of her family, which included my aunt and my grandmother, after her father died. Eventually, when she went on the road, she still took care of them, sending back money, clothes, whatever they needed. She was a great daughter, a loving mom, an amazing grandmother, an astonishing musician, and a loyal friend. Most of all, Mom was a true artist. She always played her piano at home: it was her best friend, the music was always there to fill her heart, making her smile as she always did for me and for everyone she met. She understood the joys and celebrations of life, while at the same time being such a generous and loving spirit who touched the hearts of people throughout the world with her songs and the incredible story behind writing “I’ll Never Smile Again.” I was so lucky to have a mother who was successful on so many fronts: music, family, and personal. She was a woman who was not afraid to open her heart to feel and share the love that we all need so badly. She led by her heart, knowing that everything else would follow. And wherever she went, whoever she met, they loved and respected her, being blown away by her charm and warmth.
Ruth Lowe was loved and respected by the greatest musicians in the world, whose careers were advanced greatly after they covered her music. She still is (as you’ll learn in this book). The standard she composed is, as they say in music, a song that will last forever in the world as well as in people’s hearts. Not many artists in history have done that.
Having lived such an amazing life, Mom passed away in 1981 after fighting cancer for 10 years. She died alone in the hospital on a cold, dark January night, her battle finally over. She was only 66, such a bright light extinguished way too early. I often think her life was like a song unfinished.
Mom, I can’t find the words to say how much we love you and miss you. How much you added to the quality of our lives. How much you sacrificed for us all. You were, and will always be, my heroine. And you gave us a gift that can’t be measured: your music and your love.
I hope you all enjoy this book—until I smile at “you”, Ma.