"Lena Horne biography tells of a star shaped by rejection, racism

'Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne'

By James Gavin

Reveals a woman whose life reflects the civil rights struggles of the times.

By Susan King - Los Angeles Times

According to James Gavin's new biography, "Stormy Weather: The
Life of Lena Horne," the legendary singer-actress was never comfortable being an
icon.

"As I say in the introduction of my book, icons are not
allowed to be human beings," explains Gavin, a lifelong fan who interviewed
Horne in 1994. "Once you step up on that pedestal . . . and everyone is
scrutinizing your every move -- how do you function as a human being? You have
to cover up mistakes you made."

Lena Horne was born and raised in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.