Why I Sing the Songs of Grace Jones -- Literally and Figuratively

From the age of three or four I knew I was different from the other little girls. I had a very low, husky voice; even lower than all the boys in my pre-school class. I used this to my dramatic and comedic advantage, with constant encouragement from my theatrical parents. At the dinner table I would morph into this sophisticated, older British woman, or a weathered, Southwestern cowboy. I had this Joan Crawford-esque alcoholic character I would step into (before I knew what an alcoholic was). An ...