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    Out of Darkness: The Jeff Healey Story
    Out of Darkness: The Jeff Healey Story
    Out of Darkness: The Jeff Healey Story
    Ebook148 pages2 hours

    Out of Darkness: The Jeff Healey Story

    By Cindy Watson

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Short-listed for the 2011 Golden Oak Award

    From the moment three-year-old Jeff Healey first laid a guitar across his lap in what was to become his signature style, it was clear he was no ordinary kid. Losing both eyes to retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer, opened a door to another world for Jeff, a newly adopted infant. Out of darkness he created music, becoming one of the most influential blues-rock and jazz performers of our time, beginning with his first hit album, See the Light.

    In this up-close and personal account, loaded with never-before-seen photographs, memorabilia, and intimate recollections of family, friends, and fellow musicians, we discover this unique music icon’s dynamic career, which saw him collaborate with everyone from George Harrison and Eric Clapton to B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. From Jeff’s lonely start one snowy night at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto to his untimely end in the same building, we come away with a potent message of empowerment and a renewed sense of hope.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDundurn
    Release dateAug 30, 2010
    ISBN9781770704787
    Out of Darkness: The Jeff Healey Story

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    • 1/5
      Story of Jeff Healey is of course amazing, but wished it was written by someone else, sorry. Too much think of this and imagine that. A manual to understand what's going on in a blind man's mind. Leave that to the reader please. I skipped quite some of the explanatory parts. I suggest to do same, then the book is fine.

    Book preview

    Out of Darkness - Cindy Watson

    Introduction: You Don’t Know Jack … I Mean Jeff

    I only met Jeff Healey once. He was already sick at the time, though I didn’t know it. He didn’t show it.

    I picked my way down the dimly lit stairs to his Bathurst Street bar in Toronto that balmy June evening, waiting for my eyes to adjust, not sure what to expect.

    Don’t worry, I was told. You’ll love him. He’s as down-to-earth and approachable as you’ll ever find.

    They were right.

    His easy laugh rang out as he worked the crowded room, making everyone feel welcome, important. Like magnetic north, he pulled all eyes to him. Not because he was flashy or pretentious — just the opposite. He was dressed for comfort, not show, with a muted blue shirt hanging loose over black jeans, the top two buttons falling open casually. Standing six feet two inches, he was taller than I’d imagined, with an air of physical energy surrounding him. A chunk of blond hair kept falling over his eyes, and he absently brushed it back with hands the size of footballs.

    But for all his body mass, he was fluid. He carried himself with a quiet dignity and grace without even trying. A modern prince greeting his subjects, he remembered people he hadn’t talked to for years, calling them by name as he recognized their voices. His voice was liquid gold.

    And then he played. Transported to another time and place, he blasted out his powerful odes to life, and took the crowd with him. Experiencing his music altered me somehow. It hung in the air, surrounding me, as if I could almost touch it, a living thing. My senses awoke, heightened. At least, for the moment, life seemed more in focus.

    Jeff Healey with Joe Rockman.

    But none of that seemed as important as the man, the unstoppable force that was Jeff Healey. Given up for adoption as a newborn, losing both eyes to a rare form of cancer before his first birthday, suffering the return of cancer as an adult, losing his mother to breast cancer, Jeff Healey could have had all the excuses in the world not to succeed, to give up. But he chose to embrace each day, find the good in life, and squeeze every last drop of its juice to pour out for all of us to enjoy.

    From three years old, when he first set a guitar across his lap, in what was to become his signature style, it was clear this was no ordinary kid. He loved music, loved to play, didn’t let anything stand in his way. He cut record deals, made award-winning albums, travelled the world, hosted a radio show, and starred in a major motion picture, all by the time he was twenty-two years old.

    Coming out of darkness, Jeff Healey created music, becoming one of the most influential Canadian musicians of our time. Refusing to use his blindness as a gimmick or marketing tool, he wanted to be recognized for his abilities, not his disability.

    I want to be known as a great musician, not a blind musician, Jeff said.

    And he was.

    Part One:

    Growing Up

    1

    Welcome to the World

    March 25, 1966, snow dumps down in drifts in the biting cold. Clouds mask the stars; visibility is poor. A child is born, a boy, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto. His first cry cuts the lonely night. But there is no celebration, no champagne corks popped. The father, a taxi driver, is probably not there at all. He may not even know about the boy. He is married, but not to the boy’s mother. A sister lies sleeping at home, too, but she isn’t dreaming about her new baby brother. She doesn’t even know he exists. She never will. The birth mother is from a wealthy and well-known family in Hamilton, Ontario. She needs to keep this baby a secret.

    And so Brian Alan Moody was placed in foster care without ever meeting his biological mother, father, or sister. Who could have guessed the future that was in store for this little bundle? He only had to wait three months for his family to choose him.

    Baby Jeff in 1967.

    2

    The Chosen One

    Around the time Brian Alan Moody was born, in an apartment complex only a few minutes’ drive from the hospital, Percival Bud and Yvonne Healey had started to think about adoption. They made a striking couple. At six feet four inches, firefighter Bud towered over Yvonne. Thick, dark hair framed a strong, square-cut face softened by golden-brown eyes that seemed to reflect the light when he looked down at his bride. She had to stand on tiptoe to reach his shoulder. Married eight years, they had no children. They had certainly tried. At thirty-two years old Bud figured it was time to consider other alternatives. Private adoption didn’t work out, so they moved to Plan B. They weren’t about to give up.

    Percival Bud and Yvonne Healey on their wedding day.

    Imagine their excitement when they got the message at their Head Lake cottage, east of Orillia, Ontario, that early summer morning, July 18, 1966. Like most cottages at the time, there was no phone. Luckily, someone boated out to give them the news.

    Bud! Yvonne! A call came in for you. You need to call Children’s Aid right away.

    They wasted no time motoring over to the marina to place the call that would change their lives.

    It’s a boy, Yvonne! shouted Bud. A boy is available. We can see him tomorrow.

    The next morning they poured into their 1961 Pontiac, daring to hope this was the one. Was it their imagination, or did the sun suddenly seem to shine brighter that day? The drive back to the city was quiet, full of promise. In the driveway before heading inside to see the baby, Bud and Yvonne took a deep breath, glanced across the seat into each other’s eyes, and squeezed hands. There was no reason to worry. When the baby reached his pudgy fists out to them, they fell in love at first sight. Ready or not, they were bringing their new son back to their two-bedroom apartment the next day, July 20, 1966. Three-month-old Brian Alan Moody became Norman Jeffrey Healey. He had found his home.

    The smell of baby powder filled the apartment as the entire family rushed to meet this blond, blue-eyed gift. With seven aunts and uncles from Bud’s side alone, and another aunt on Yvonne’s side to coddle the new addition, it made for quite the welcome party. Jeff even peed on Grandma while she bathed him, a perfect golden rainbow arcing high into the air to mark the occasion.

    Welcome to the club, said Bud. You’ve now received your official greeting.

    After eight years of trying, Bud and Yvonne finally had a little bundle of joy to unleash their love on. Jeff had found a home where he would be loved completely, where he was meant to be.

    Jeff Healey on Family

    Judy M. Robinet, the executive director of the Windsor, Ontario, non-profit organization A Life Worth Living, quoted Jeff Healey’s thoughts on family: Today my family still takes precedence in my life. The values and traditions my parents passed on to me are valuable standards in all my day-to-day activities. First and foremost is their love. They daily demonstrated an immeasurable amount of devotion for one another. Secondly, even though I was adopted, I always felt an integral part of the family and was expected to fully participate in planned or spontaneous activities. They were a model for me in respecting people and in appreciating the value of a dollar. There were no broken promises — I could rely on their word. Finally, they always made time for me.

    Jeff’s parents, Bud and Yvonne, in May 1989.

    The Healeys never thought of their family as different. They weren’t a lesser family because it was formed by adoption.

    "It’s just like

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