I saw Alberta perform for the first time in my life - two weeks before the end of hers. At the time I had only a hint of who she was. Her frail body belied her solid and strong performance. She "rocked the castle" (Yale's Woolsey Hall) for over two hours, then got back in her wheelchair and entertained backstage for another hour.

I never forgot her. Her image and presence haunted me for twelve years until I wrote and performed a one-woman show about her life. She was one of the true geniuses of American music.