Marianne Thamm, co-author of Here I Am, assisted in portraying this music icon's life perfectly, allowing Powers' sense of humour to shine through.
"I was so flattered when Cape Town Book Lounge's Mervin Sloman said that my book is an important book to read," said Powers.
"This book is not only about me, but about our country as well." Powers explained how her career as a white rock singer had stretched over the most turbulent period in South African history (1982 - 1993). According to Powers, her career and identity were defined after Radio Zulu invited her to perform in Soweto on May 31, 1982.
"I must have been mad. A white woman heading into Soweto on Republic Day." Although the police tried to prevent her from entering the township, she finally took to the stage. "I started the show with I'm Coming Out. When I finished I looked at 40 000 black faces staring blankly back at me. I immediately sang You're So Good to Me and that was the moment that defined who I was to become. It was a sacred moment in my life. In that moment I was renamed Thandeka (the loved one) and taken under the wing of the black community."
Powers told audiences at the Sedgefield Wild Oats Community Farmer's Market and its neighbour, The Mosaic Market that she had rushed through life, receiving awards, "shoving them" up on her wall and rushed ahead in pursuit of her next accolade. "I didn't live in the moment and didn't enjoy the moment," she admitted. Powers had her audience eating out of her hand when she candidly told them how she became the "furniture store aunty" after her fame and song-writing career had dried up.
Although Powers received a letter from the world's best loved icon Nelson Mandela in 1989, she kept the letter close to her heart. Now and excerpt from the letters is quoted on the back cover of Powers' book: "You have made a tremendous impact both on and off the stage, and you are one of those young people on whom the country pins so much hope."
"I have suffered dark times, I was deeply depressed and self-destructive, lonely and sad," she admitted. Here I Am is an honest account of the highs and lows of Powers' life."I have been sober for five years now," said Powers to rapturous applaud.
In concluding her talk she told her audience that if they could not love where they lived, "then don't live here", and added: "Be in the moment, acknowledge your achievements and live in the now."
PJ Powers had visitors at the Sedgefield Mosaic Market spell-bound as she spoke about her life and her new book Here I Am. Photo: Fran Kirsten.
ARTICLE: FRAN KIRSTEN
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