Nellie Monk, 80; Wife, Supporter and Muse of Legendary Jazz Pianist
Nellie Monk, 80, the wife, supporter and muse of jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, died of a cerebral hemorrhage June 25 at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Born in St. Petersburg, Fla., she moved with her family to New York City as a child, living first in Brooklyn and then in the San Juan Hill section of Manhattan. She met Monk at a local basketball court when she was 14 and he was 17. They were together from 1947 until his death in 1982.
During the 1940s and ‘50s, she worked as a seamstress to supplement the income he made as a jazz musician. And while not officially his manager, Nellie Monk did handle many of the financial burdens associated with the jazz life--paying musicians, arranging air travel for band members and collecting money from promoters.
Monk wrote the ballad “Crepuscule With Nellie” for her in 1957, while she was facing surgery for a thyroid condition.
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