I started caddying when I was nine years old at a very exclusive country club in Dayton, Ohio. And I saw how the other half lived, if you will.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I was a caddy once and I lost the golfer's clubs. Plus I don't know how to golf, so I was the worst caddy ever. Then I was a mortgage brokers assistant, so that was just carrying around a lot of files - pretty meaningless, mind-numbing work.
I didn't become a caddie because I wanted to be a caddie. I was a caddie because that was how I could make money and feed myself. It was work. It was a dignified job.
I was 25 years old when I arrived in D.C. It was just myself and two people who worked and helped me in the kitchen. I was only cooking for three people most of the time.
When I was in Chicago, I was working as a carpenter while I was doing plays. I thought it'd be a fun set construction job, but it turned up to just be a straight-up factory.
As the years passed, and I was nine, 10, 11 years old, it became obvious I was going to start up a business of some sort.
My first job was singing on the Cas Walker radio show in Knoxville, Tennessee. I was about 10 years old, and I thought it was big time.
The Boys and Girls club was basically a second home for me, and I always credit it with keeping me out of trouble. From the ages of 6 to 16, I was there nearly every day.
My father was a carpenter, a very good carpenter. He also worked for the Jones boys. They were not family members, we weren't related at all. They started the policy racket in Chicago, and they had the five and dime store.
I started at 5 years old in the kitchen table with my family supporting me. I know where I'm from and I know exactly where I'm going.
I lived on the farm with my parents and grandparents. I had no playmates as a young child, and I was indulged. I helped my grandmother piece quilts, and we made pretty albums, an old-fashioned pastime. We cut poems and pictures out of magazines.