Armstrong daughter reissues memoir after 12-year wait

Sharon Preston-Folta has waited twelve years to update the memoir she first self-published in 2012. The new edition of "Little Satchmo: Living in the Shadow of My Father, Louis Daniel Armstrong" is scheduled for release by St. Petersburg Press this year. The timing coincides with the 125th anniversary of the birth of Louis Armstrong, the jazz musician widely known as Satchmo.

Preston-Folta, who resides in Sarasota, Florida, confirmed the reissue connects her written work with a documentary film that aired on PBS and won a Southeastern Emmy Award. She described the update as an opportunity to upgrade the presentation of her story. The original book detailed her life as the daughter of Armstrong and vaudeville dancer Lucille "Sweets" Preston, a relationship that remained private for decades.

Armstrong was married to Lucille Armstrong, a woman with the same first name as Sharon's mother, during the relationship. Although Armstrong never publicly acknowledged Sharon, he directed his manager to send monthly support payments. He visited when possible, and the family occasionally joined his entourage for concerts in the New York area. In a letter, he referred to Sharon as Little Satchmo and stated he was saving money specifically for her college education.

The couple’s relationship began in the early 1950s. Sharon was born on June 24, 1955. In November 1962, Armstrong purchased a house in Mount Vernon, New York, for Sharon and her mother. Preston-Folta writes that her mother believed Armstrong would eventually leave his fourth wife to marry her, a promise he made during their time in Harlem and Mount Vernon. Armstrong died in 1971, still married to Lucille Armstrong.

Preston-Folta said the writing process allowed her to process the secrecy of her childhood. She noted that the lack of answers led to shame, but forgiveness allowed her to move forward. Her mother, who died in 2020 at age 98, initially feared public judgment but attended book and film appearances with Sharon. Preston-Folta recalled that her mother told her she had been well taken care of and had a good life.

The updated book ends with a letter to her mother, replacing the original closing letter to her father. Preston-Folta also pursued a legal claim to her heritage but found the estate too small to argue after Lucille Armstrong died in 1983. She said the legal effort helped her gain an intellectual understanding of why her father did not acknowledge her publicly.

Preston-Folta holds a bachelor's degree in communication arts from Iona University and previously worked as an account executive for nine years. She now works as a consultant and voiceover artist. The reissue marks the conclusion of a long effort to share her family history, which she says helped her own legacy pass to her grandchildren without the weight of secrecy.