Published May 11, 2010
![NPR's Sonari Glinton](http://archives.wbur.org/hubbub/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Sonari-Glinton.jpg)
NPR's Sonari Glinton
Sonari Glinton is an NPR producer on loan to WBUR. He has reported on Lena Horne, the iconic soul singer who died Sunday at 92. Horne made a deep and lasting impression on Sonari, so I asked him to share his memories with us.
Andrew Phelps: Sonari, in your obituary for NPR, you wrote that Lena Horne’s career “began with frustration and ended in celebration.” And here you are, celebrating her career. Why?
Sonari Glinton: I should have said: “ended in triumph.” I guess this is my chance for a do-over. Lena Horne’s career ended in triumph. There. Redone.
Anyway, moving on. I think her cultural importance is equal to and may even outweigh her actual artistic importance. (She was no slouch artistically.) I mean, for decades she represented black beauty. By the way, here’s a hilarious bit by Lenny Bruce about Horne’s beauty: