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Oh in person is brought to Marylanders through general support grants made possible by Waverly Person corporator added that Williams and Wilkins company merit gasoline stations and the members of the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting. In the 1960s a youngish reporter was sent to do a feature story on a famous singer. He was impressed and justifiably so because the singer was a musician of world renown and a lady with a special kind of philosophy. The interview clearly turned into a conversation and the conversation is still going strong in person one of Maryland's best known couples Ethel Ennis and Earl Arnett. Ethel Ennis was born in Baltimore. She was the only female member of a jazz
octet when she was barely adolescent and at 17 she wrote her first successful commercial song in one thousand fifty eight. She toured Europe with the all star Benny Goodman band and in 1064 she knocked them dead at the Newport Jazz Festival. She's performed with Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington Miles Davis Arthur Godfrey David Frost and that's just the beginning. Meanwhile her husband Earl Arnett was graduated from Wash college in Indiana served for three years with an Army intelligence and was for many years a feature writer for The Sun papers he's been a columnist for Maryland magazine a part time faculty member at the Peabody Conservatory a book editor a record producer a lecturer a television personality and career enthusiastic of. That's all a.. ETHEL. Most musicians of your kind of renown started young. What was it in your family that was musical. Mother father uncle. Was there a lot of music around lot of music around. My mother of course was a church organist and singer and pianist. Like grandmothers
sagging you know the hymns by Uncle violinist who was a stevedore really had really large hands with this poor little Violet you know and he would put on concerts for his for the family and he would. You couldn't say a word. You just had to listen to him played by Dylan multiple And oh. Hell. Yeah. So we all had to be quiet. I mean you couldn't just you know snuggle or anything just be quiet and listen how they feel about your going out professionally when you're so young. Oh are you kidding. Come from a very religious family. Terrible working in the beer garden yeah playing all the pop stuff with the Yeah Yeah I didn't like it at all but said well she has a very good strong upbringing. She probably can go do a little bit of the devil's work as well as to call it the devil's work. Meanwhile was there music in your house or are there some kind of encouragement of that sort of thing. Father always quite to be talking to for me probably was true and we will be one of the few people who
actually was trying to have my mother's somewhat musical support the parent I want to want to be an actress and musical theater at one time and her younger years. Music has always been important to me I listen probably to more music than awful but you went into writing it was half conscious or did it just sort of happened that you were born in was in Iraq I guess with me just as singers Conover. For I thought we were talking about that before we came here to talk with you that we sort of fell into the things that we've done you know we didn't consciously pursue writing or singing as careers but these were things that we enjoyed doing that we just did and it ended up in a job kind of a situation. But when you were sent to do this a feature story and you undoubtedly did dozens and dozens and dozens. So you hit the streets and the lady's name is Ethel and I saw the interview and. What happened. Well that's not quite how that happened I was a police reporter at the time and I didn't meet her on that.
You know I mean Robin I want to caulk I used to get off work and go in to listen to music and drink a beer. Ethel I came in when she was on the road would sing in a place called the Red Fox and sometimes I would walk into the red fox to listen to her sing. Relax from what I was doing and it occurred to me Well this is what is this remarkable singer doing on occasion in this real or rather funny little Baltimore nightclub. When I became a feature writer I decided that's going to be one of the first stories and when I write I want to find out what she's doing and because it was unusual to see this level of talent in that setting it was a backing for. Rhythm Section. You know one of the people who works here is my friend Jimmy Well I was working there but not present you know my main man. OK. So you asked for an interview them. Yeah I called Ethel up and said I want to write a story about you because I'm just becoming a feature writer for the
paper what struck you. What I mean something something obviously. Well we talked that's what happened you know I would talk for hours and I came back the next day I had more than other information to write my story commonality. But we kept on talking and the dialogue has never stopped I never did write the story. It's not I mean constant conversation for 15 years. I would imagine you're already ready to write it. I probably have lost all perspective now. That's OK. Undoubtedly you've been cross-examined a million times in what's called your career which neither of you has. Pursued is the verb They always use to pursue a career in the two of you apparently. Have a knack for your TRUE. Arts and so you sort of did them. But there must have been a point. Between the time when you were singing in small wish Baltimore family like it or not. And the point at which you hit the big time. Where was that.
OK it started in New York I was recording. Well I guess I was a big time resident Right right. Saw my first recording contract at the age of 23. Is George Fox a Baltimore was my manager at that time. And I sang with ability. And that of course had a national distribution so that makes you national. And that's when. Billie Holiday heard on the recording in New York. And that's when I got my first phone call from Billie Holiday who of course a writer knows when I lift the phone and he says hello I was kind of funny the phone rings about four o'clock in the morning right. And he had this one hello this is oh this is a joke get out of believe this so that's how it was similar to Jack leads and I gave the phone to Jack. Someone's on his phone playing games so he got into a conversation and it was Billie Holiday It was a friend Sherry Baker my headdress at that time was visiting
Billie Holiday in New York and his effort is really true it is Billie Holiday and she gave me words of encouragement. And yeah when she was working at Tijuana Pennsylvania Avenue when her last I heard live yes she was ill for so long. Yes. Yeah. Was your voice as beautiful as ever off. Not no no. She was the worst. Not the music what the words were more beautiful because she paid it words. I mean you could see what she was saying you know who else was great with the lyrics and I think that Nat Cole. Yes. Who are his handling of lyrics is just that magic. What was he like. Well. I think he knew more about me than I knew about him. I later talked to his wife and she said that he had great things to say about me and. We always we were compared by the people in the business in the record business that we were you know what we had the words warmly and colorfully and we were good
Fraser's you put it that way and I think made that made that same statement that she likes my phrasing. So I guess we had that in common. She nice of what King Cole Hanson So I was yeah you know I love all that warm sound. Yeah was he is as pleasant a person as you seen when you're on with things. I would I would say so about her Another way is just bubbly sweet and just you know it's as wonderful a sing song and a song you know as I she says who have the greatest musical influence and probably people you never heard of. Now I'm going to name some names Savannah Churchill. Had her books Camille Howard. And of course these are people Sara listened and I listen when I was young when I was a teenager and. I wasn't allowed to bring any blues records into the house like Dinah Washington or was too
heavy you know. So to live yeah yeah this is a little too heavy into the misery and the blues and I guess I never really sang the blues because. My grandmother's influence was to look on the bright side you know turn the negative into something positive. So. I listen to how Brooks and Camilla how and I lecture how to books these people who are singers and pianists. And I guess that's why I like it because I was playing plinking Cole. Yeah. Right person was interesting to me were equipped because I guess of the color of awful skin people sometimes expect her to sound a certain way. They identify black music and quote with the blues or with gospel shouting also comes from a different musical tradition. Not so much blues and shouting as oh and positive then soft jazz influenced but but not
sad you know what it is like Billie Holiday's is very plaintive singer you know her sad singer because Universidad life that's all singing is much more upbeat and positive because she looks at life much differently. Yeah a lot of times I would show up and they would just expect a white singer because I sounded white. I like I get into this for us and I listened I saw you on the phone it sounds like to me so right. Now it's crazy that how did you get to sing twice and for President so you did one for Michelle and I'm not a funny phone call again for I am like you know I wasn't for AM I was washing dishes at home my little kitchen phone rings I answer the phone and. On the end of the line this female voice says as well and this is it yes. Well you heard over the vice president. The vice president here we go. And as a vice president of Russia the vice president of these United States I said Oh thank you.
Husband next time someone is playing again right now and then I don't think it's really the vice president it was Agnew who was calling to ask me to sing the anthem in Florida I think was one of the conventions in this ethyl would you like to sing the answer was yes and that was the first time I sang an acapella and the response was so great I just kept it in the book Never. No not really because I find. I try to do what I can do at that moment and if it's not received well that's not my fault you know my family is going to get in you or to the ups and downs of nervousness and post performance high and that sort of thing and I can understand a professional approach to singing but somehow when the president is in the room. It would doesn't matter as it is that other life and. That doesn't faze Ethel. I'm one of the most remarkable things about her. One things that attracted me
to write a story about her 15 years ago was the fact that here is a remarkable talent brought someone who is very on effect a very unpretentious who would just soon talk to. I want I want the street or the janitor as Frank Sinatra the person I stayed the same in any kind of context. What about Carter you're saying. For him yes. I doubt if I go invited to that one. No you're right. No I like I got a chance to sing a song that I rode. And it was Hey you I you do what you want to do because life such as your time is at last become that again I just can't get away from I just made you sing for Mr. Carter at the White House. I think you had to be in office or something like that. That was interesting period as I was singing in Washington in the White House called. So at the last minute and said that he was entertaining some Democratic governors and people that he wanted to say goodbye to in the waning days of his administration. And. So I thought we all
packed up in a car with her group and went to the White House and entertained and led a group where there were little amount to. I think I had two bass players just you know upright and the fender and I had a percussionist a female you know covert. Pianist Charles Covington Now you might know Charles got an A bass bass and drum. Yeah it was. Well she was playing the percussion the Congos and Bongo is that little hopeful set of drums and guitar. I read the two of you and here's the quote getting ready now to take some risks close quote. You just had a major birthday recently we don't. I love that why not. It is a major this wonderful is 30 it was several years ago. Now what what. Happens what has happened to you so that you go from a period where apparently you feel you weren't taking risks to this that I read where you can open up a thing called Ethel's place which I wanted.
And yeah. One of these risks you thought it was somewhat conscious decision a couple of years ago we looked at our lives and said well we're comfortable we're happy we have sort of fallen into doing what we do. We could be like this for the rest of our lives. We have no children and we thought well what is our legacy going to be in terms of this world is it just going to be a record of our conference or is it something more. So we decided that we would try to share in a little more ongoing Why what we've been able to experience together. I quit a job off the Baltimore Sun. We are. In person is brought to Marylanders through general support grants made possible by Waverley
press incorporated that Williams and Wilkins company gasoline stations and the members of the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting. In. Brighton felt the state's attorney for Baltimore County has a reputation for combining toughness with a sense of fairness that's desirable no doubt because the areas of interest to someone in that position are among the most sensitive and yet the most critical in our lives. Areas such as gun control the death penalty juvenile crime crime prevention. If we want someone in that office with a sturdy legal background experience with criminal trial management and a knowledge of law enforcement Well we have or in-person the state's attorney for Baltimore County. Sandra O'Connor. Sandra O'Connor who is no relation to the Supreme Court justice of the same name was born
in Kentucky but grew up in Maryland. Both her undergraduate degree in economics and government and her jurisprudence degree are from Indiana University. She was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1987 after a year and a half as a legal manager for the McCormick company she worked for seven years in the Baltimore city state's attorney's office assisting in the management of the criminal trial division. She's been in her present position in the county since 1975 and has initiated a number of new programs in 1905 she was named Woman of the year by the town and town business and professional women's club and in 1987 she was chosen one of five outstanding young Marylanders by the Jaycees. She's also recipient of a national VFW certificate commending her for quote a needle ding adherence to the highest ideals of law enforcement unquote. She's also the mother of two children. Sandra how did you happen to go all the way to Bloomington Indiana for an undergraduate education. I'd like to say because it was the basketball here in Indiana has that reputation. But my mother had
gone to Indiana and we were from the Midwest. I was interested in a large school and I had the opportunity to see Indiana through Junior Achievement I was very active in junior achievement here in Baltimore and I won the salesman of the year. Award from Baltimore and represented the companies out there and so I saw the campus fell in love with it. That's why when you represented the companies each of the local areas metropolitan area from Baltimore. And there's a regional. Contest and the salesman of the year for the ones which I happened when I went out and represented than this I guess it was the. The Eastern Division junior tournament. Was sick ashtrays. Pounding on doors or no you sold it in front of I think it was the Chamber of Commerce you did sell I mean this was our product. But then that was how well you did your presentation to these strange people the immediately said but I don't smoke or I don't allow it my house so you had to overcome those small obstacles. When you were six you're still on the board of that
yesterday. Yes I think it's really an excellent opportunity for young people learn business and learn by doing. So I have been supporting it ever since I was in it. So you followed you. Why did you go right directly into law school when you know that we're going to like the school and I had wanted to go to law school there I had an opportunity to do what is called three in three program in other words get through in a total of six years you get in on a boat and get your other degree. And when you're young you always seem to be in such a hurry. I never understood why but you know they you you find yourself pushing and pushing and pushing so I was out of law school. When I was 23 years old and in fact I was in law school when I was not the legal age to drink which was kind of funny when people ask you that because they always say I want to go down for a beer after exams. You want anyone who I wasn't 21 and they carded. So you didn't even pretend to not be there and that people always looked Edgell funny what are you doing in law school.
Not even I understand that you have a sportswear business when you're in law school. What did that amount to. We sold what were called Blast jackets and glass jackets I guess where we came from beer blast jackets they were asked. Blast right. Like the bomber blasts they were kind of a nylon jacket. You had no zipper in the front I had a pouch I guess where you kept your beer I'm not really sure but they had were very popular on the East Coast and when I was at the ocean in the summer they couldn't keep him in song. And I just kind of observe the fact that they would literally was like Pac man's coming it would be blast jackets are coming Tuesday and he will be in line. And I got Indiana which is a little bit slower than things here. I said there might be an opportunity to bring some out and. Two fellows myself got together and we found out where we could buy in the east and shipped him out there and then we got into putting Stansell fraternity sorority dorms. Athletically moved into sweatshirts and and all those other things. But it was interesting and it was fun and it helped a little bit with the spending money and a little bit extra capital and says you need money to buy stuff. Well we sold it to
our fathers. We had the idea. We have sold the idea and we really only started I think our original investment was like $200 per father there were three of us so we had $600 which we did pay back. And. That's really what we needed for the inventory and as you said they sold really quickly so you had a quick go. Once you have you know you have your cards that TA is cash only and you and you did was just a budding lawyer within you when you were very young you just decided on that six year program when you were what 17. Probably right before I went into college I had wanted to be a pharmacist so I thought you know how you get these ideas that that's what you're going to bay. I don't know why. I had decided that I was going to go into pharmacy and then I kind of read ran head on into senior chemistry. And it was I mean I got through it but I thought I would do five years of this no when my interests really were more and people and government and lending the selves more towards the area of law. And I kind of decided that if not for me to say what then Lawler was
not one of these great decisions that someone thinks that you sit down and ponder. Well there are so many branches of law. And for a while you practiced what I could guess you could call corporate lobbying the House council and McCormick company what led you to this public law the question of criminal law. When I was in law school again I said you make the decisions at least I do and I find this when I talk to a lot of the youngsters today in high schools that their parents are saying what do you want to be. I mean you have to decide has no Sure. And. And you really don't know how you know when I was in law school I said there were three things that I would never do. I would never do criminal law. I would never work for the government. And I would never be a trial lawyer. I mean and that was settled that was it. And I came out of work for McCormick and company for a year love the company but I hated the law did not like it was stilted. There were very few. Again there's no people contact because you're working with taxes and insurance and an area that is
just not as fun as the criminal law area. And I here I end up doing exactly the three things that I said I never would. Left McCormick to take a job in the city's state's attorney's office because I was not enjoying my career as much as I thought I should and have loved it ever since. What is an enjoyable about criminal law. You know that's a hard question to answer because it is is such a simi area. You're always dealing with the worst problems in society. It's an area where no matter what you do that. Seems to be good. It may have a horrible murder and you work very hard to get a conviction. But as you're convicting that 24 year old man of a first degree murder and rape you turn around and there's the wife and the three children sitting there. That they are now without the father and they didn't ask to be in the situation so that family is sort of destroyed by his actions but you're kind of part of it so we could say well what do you like about it. I think number one it's
different every day is different. You never see two crimes are exactly alike. It's scary what the human imagination and human mind can come up with as far as inflicting pain or doing bodily damage or property damage. But the types of cases that we have the fact that you are dealing every day with victims from all walks of life I mean direct investment or evil. It's it's fascinating and it's. What people watch on television. They watched the cop shows they watch Kojak they watch Hill Street Blues that's it's a part of life that the adrenaline gets going and then it is. Interesting to see the case unfold it's interesting to watch the adversary role in the courtroom. Don't you get tired of deceit lies and distrust and malice and straight evil and greed and that's on the other side we're on the good side. Yet you defend your right you know.
I mean every every issue has to do with some tored characteristic of the human animal. I think that at times you do you get saturated and that's one of the things you have to watch one of things I have to watch in a prosecutor's office is there's a tendency to define burnout particularly in an area where you're only dealing with one pipe of crime for instance we have a raid unit which is rape and child abuse and the prosecutors that are in that you know that's all they do are the rapes and the child abuse and after about 18 months of that they really you get totally saturated there's nothing in there that is diverse and there's nothing that's a little bit different and so we try to rotate people through there so that they give them up. We get to look at other things like robberies and arsons. I don't know whether or not it doesn't sound good but it is it's exciting it's why does a placement Why did you run for office you are working for the city right. State's attorney and then you decided to go for elective office which is its only kind of
Dr Edgar Berman describes it as having a flame in your ability to go out and be elected what made you make that decision. I don't know that it was really the election. And when I look back on I think it was my desire. To continue and at least some form of administration in the state's attorney's office. I've been in the city seven years. The office in Baltimore County had just undergone a trial where the former elected district attorney or state's attorney had been prosecuted and was imprisoned at the time and they had an interim state's attorney. It was an election that was more or less wide open that was the time when in fact the county executive just been tried in Baltimore County was not at best reputation for its politician. But it was the office I wouldn't run for anything else it was not the idea of holding elective office it was the idea of being able to be a state's attorney but running for something is so often different from doing something else.
Do you enjoy the writing. I enjoy it more now I know it's something that probably if you'd known that much about if I had known everything is involved with running you would never have got it. I mean thank God you go into it naively because when I look at the odds first of all I was the first Republican I believe that was ever elected to that position and the first woman and the combination of the two when I think to me that it did make a difference. I just went right into I mean you were a fascination to the electorate. I don't know what it was about was happy that it worked. But it really wasn't the office it was the chance counts. Well one of the things you did was set up a 24 hour liaison on call Sandra O'Connor is available 24 hours a day from the police. Well we met Yes the office our office. I thought one of the first things that we should do is obviously professionalized the state's attorney's office I had come from a very professional office in the city note now and Judge Moreland had made that type of office. And that's what I wanted for Baltimore County and we have 36 attorneys that work there and I think it is the
size and need to save our county has a crime problem where you need professionalization and you only get. Two. An area where you're able to make an office as good as those cases that you prosecute those people that you work with which are the police the police are the ones that make the cases. And we have to be there they're not lawyers. They can't make decisions as to what to search how to take a statement when they should tell you that was the case on a technique or a worse. And when you're coming into it for months afterwards is not the time a prosecutor should be involved. So we set up on an on call where the police had the prosecutor had access to prosecutors 24 hours and they quickly became accustomed to using us and we're still there are still good. What about the child abuse and sexual offense unit there. It was just a group of lawyers and it's a group of lawyers an investigator a law clerk that deal as I said exclusively in that area. And it was the need to give away that in the most sensitive treatment to victims
that by the very nature of the crime require special handling. That the crime itself. Does not lend itself to the regular type of victimization. If you were a rape victim we are fortunate if you tell the police a lot of times you won't tell anybody. It's not a crime that you get out of your system by talking about it. You know if someone were to rob you this evening as horrible as that would be you would repeat that story at every cocktail party at every group meeting every lunch and you would probably even embellish it I think that's human nature as we go along. But not if it were a sexual assault that something you never tell and you keep it within you and because of that I think the victims are more difficult to work with than they need special handling and that was the reason that unit was set up and the children obviously of child abuse the same type of thing. It's awful there's a lot of counseling. Sure. That's it's counseling it's encouragement It's telling people what is to be expected of them and what services might be available elsewhere.
Right. Well you have a victim witness assistance unit right on through. Yes. Isn't there an overlap there. No there's not an overlap because the rape unit handles the victims from the sexual assaults and rape crimes the victim witness unit was set up shortly thereafter to take the rest of the victims of major felonies that happen in Baltimore County and attempt to give them the service that we really think the victim should have filed. A.
Series
In Person
Episode
Ethel Ennis and Earl Arnett/Sandra O'Connor
Producing Organization
Maryland Public Television
Contributing Organization
Maryland Public Television (Owings Mills, Maryland)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/394-687h4dth
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Description
Episode Description
Ethel Ennis & Earl Arnett/Sandra O' Connor
Broadcast Date
1980-06-17
Created Date
1982-03-29
Asset type
Episode
Topics
Music
Law Enforcement and Crime
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:31:46
Embed Code
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Credits
Copyright Holder: MPT
Producing Organization: Maryland Public Television
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Maryland Public Television
Identifier: 35209.0 (MPT)
Format: U-matic
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:30:00?
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Citations
Chicago: “In Person; Ethel Ennis and Earl Arnett/Sandra O'Connor,” 1980-06-17, Maryland Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 29, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-394-687h4dth.
MLA: “In Person; Ethel Ennis and Earl Arnett/Sandra O'Connor.” 1980-06-17. Maryland Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 29, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-394-687h4dth>.
APA: In Person; Ethel Ennis and Earl Arnett/Sandra O'Connor. Boston, MA: Maryland Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-394-687h4dth