About Osie's Biographer
Meet author Londa L. Woody

   I met Osie Jackson in the fall of 2002. His sister, Laura Mae, was a friend of mine and she had given me a complimentary ticket to a Blackwood's concert, held at the Fine Arts Center in Franklin, North Carolina. Before the show started, the Blackwood brothers took a few moments to shake hands and speak with people in the audience. They came right over to Laura Mae and gave her a big hug. Ron and R. W. were personable, friendly and though gospel performers, the whole group shared a humorous side of themselves. Laura Mae was unabashed in asking for an autographed picture for me. I sat riveted watching the show as they sang many of their own songs, along with other gospel classics. Part of the show was a tribute to Elvis and J. D. Sumner. Their show was wonderful.
   At the end of their performance, Ron asked Osie to come down front. It was then I realized the depth of friendship that existed between the Blackwood brothers and the promoter who had brought them there. Ron asked the crowd for donations to help defer the expenses of the show. Osie had passed out more than a dozen, $12.00 tickets to his friends and neighbors, and though I was neither, and hadn't met him prior to that night, I had been a lucky recipient of one of those tickets. I soon learned his nature was giving. I sat that night and watched from the audience as a wonderful group of entertainers paid marked respect for a friend.
   This project has allowed me a glimpse into a world filled with teen-age idols and other celebrities: such as Elvis. How I would love to have been at Graceland, riding in Elvis' golf cart at one o'clock in the morning! What a thrill it would have been to sit in on a recording session with him. Osie never lost his enthusiasm for attending so many of Elvis' concerts. And that old pirate, Colonel Parker, running the whole shebang with his power stogy stuck between his teeth.
   J. D. Sumner and the Stamps...Way Down. I have watched J. D. sing with Elvis and on the Gaither's Home Coming show, his bass voice reverberating through me. The Blackwoods, LeGardes, the list was endless.
   We left many pages in Osie's career unturned, simply because the book would have been too long. He shared many wonderful things with me, and taught me a little about the world of entertaining. Osie's thirst for the entertainment business was never quenched. He soaked it in like a sponge from every one he worked with. And although he has been faced with many temptations, he's been able to resist. I think this says a lot for his character.
   I feel I am a better person for knowing him. What a humble soul he is. The experience of writing his memoirs has enriched my life. Now, some of what he learned, he had passed on through me to you, the reader. Thank you, Osie.

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Londa Thomas Woody grew up in Monmouth, Illinois. She and her husband retired to the Smoky Mountians in 1996. Beautiful western North Carolina has inspired many of her short stories. She was a guest writer for Mountain Ideals Magazine for one year. Currently, Londa has her first novel, Rose Upon the Sea in editing and her fourth, Dancin' On The Woodbox will be finished by the end of the year.