I think I always sang, I always used to listen to old Bessie Smith records, and Kate Smith. And Billie Holiday. Before television when there was radio.

It's a very small operation, there are five of us traveling, and I like working with different audiences, seeing how different it is from one night to the next.

I'm here now in Chicago doing my own show, and I think Golden Girls is shown three hours a day here, and everybody loves it.

They just assumed I was the Joan of Arc of the women's movement.

It's so rewarding when you hear the audience respond.

There are moments, I'll be home cooking or something, and it comes to me all at once, and I can't believe it.