Me And My Father's Shadow: A Daughter's Quest And Biography Of Ted Lewis "The Jazz King"

by Dawn Williams

SunriseHouse Publishers (2005)

        To his family and friends in Circleville, OH, he was known as Theodore Leopold Friedman. But to his many adoring fans that spanned over seven decades, he was known as Ted Lewis, "The High-Hatted Tragedian of Song," "The Jazz King," and "The Medicine Man For Your Blues."  With his trademark battered top hat, clarinet and twirling cane and renowned for his famous question, "Is everybody happy?," Lewis was an icon in vaudeville and led one of the most commercially-successful jazz bands throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. In fact, he was Columbia Records' top recording artist during this period, and created such endearing signature tunes as When My Baby Smiles At Me and Me And My Shadow. Lewis boasted such up-and-coming top-notch musical talent in his aggregations as Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Muggsy Spanier and George Brunies. Lewis died on August 25, 1971, at age 81.

But even as successful as he was in show business, Lewis lived with a secret. It was a secret of fathering a child illegitimately during the heat of a passionate moment with a friend's wife. While Lewis' paternity was known only by a select handful of close associates, it was kept hush-hush from the one person to whom it should have mattered to the most  -  the child he fathered and the child he never knew, a daughter, named Dawn. Now, Lewis' only child, Dawn Williams, has written a book about her famous father and how she was able to unravel the mystery of her birth twelve years after his death in Me And My Father's Shadow: A Daughter's Quest And Biography Of Ted Lewis "The Jazz King" (SunriseHouse Publishers 2005) The book recently won the Irwin Award as "Entertainment Book of the Year" by the Book Publicists Association of Southern California.      

In addition to searching for the truth as to who Williams' real father was, the book also gives some interesting and colorful insights into Lewis' rise in reaching the pinnacle of stardom from the early days of vaudeville, to making hit recordings, to his critically-acclaimed stage shows and his to appearances in films and on radio and television. A natural showman, Lewis knew what the public liked and gave it to them flavored with his own unique brand of savoir faire.

Williams, now age 76 and founder of SunriseHouse Publishers, is a mother of four adult children and a grandmother. She holds a Master's Degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California (USC). She is an excellent story-teller who keeps the reader spell-bound to this 245-page book much the same way her celebrated father kept an audience during his performances. An easy-to-read book that celebrates the life of one of the most endearing entertainers of the 20th century, while bringing a tear to the eye of a father-daughter relationship that never was.

- Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

Rating:  *****

Read what others have to say about Me and My Father's Shadow...

"Detective story, history, memoir and biography - Dawn Williams' investigation into the life of Ted Lewis soars above those categories to establish its own unique and affecting genre. Memorable."

                                   - A. J. Languth, author of Our Vietnam and Saki: A Life of Hector Munro

"Me and My Father's Shadow finally sheds light on one of our industry's most prolific recording artists and actors. A Man who was loved by all, a personal friend of our family, and who'll now be immortalized by his daughter in this highly entertaining and factual book."

                                   - Chris Costello and Paddy Costello Humphreys, daughters of Lou Costello (Abbott and Costello)

To order Me And My Father's Shadow: A Daughter's Quest And Biography Of Ted Lewis "The Jazz King," log on to the SunriseHouse Publishers website at www.sunrisehousepublishers.com  or at  www.tedlewisjazzking.com  The suggested price for the hardback edition is $27.95.

*****