Little Evelyn Sings The Glory of God LP private Xian Ohio in Shrink Wrap RARE

$

30

Rare Lp from the late Evelyn Talbert. In open shrink wrap. Ex shape.*******

A rare disorder broke her bones, but it could not shatter her spirit.

Evelyn Talbert was a ray of sunshine on the gloomiest of days. A cheerful soul with an upbeat personality, she inspired others to smile with her.

Only 34 inches tall, Talbert had a genetic condition that made her extremely susceptible to broken bones. Osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease, created a collagen deficiency that fractured her life, stunted her growth and prevented her from walking.

''I felt there was a reason for me being this way,'' she once told the Beacon Journal. ''I accepted it. There wasn't anything I could do about it.''

Born in 1921 in Richwood, W.Va., ''Little Evelyn'' was so fragile that her parents, Milam and Ullainee Talbert, carried her to church on a pillow. The family moved to Akron in the late 1920s as the Depression dawned.

Talbert's parents nearly exhausted their finances while taking their daughter to see medical specialists. X-rays revealed dozens of fractures in her tiny body. The girl had four major operations on her legs at Shriners Hospitals, but none succeeded.

Following one surgery in Philadelphia, Talbert all but gave up. She lay in a hospital bed and prayed for death. Instead, she found a new life.

''I believe a miracle happened,'' she later recalled. ''I think the Lord touched my body because I accepted him. My affliction was for a reason. God made me this way so I could be an inspiration to others.''

During the 1930s, the Beacon Journal championed Talbert's cause with a series of articles. Her older brothers, Franklin and Garland, worked as newsboys to help keep the family afloat.

''Evelyn Talbert wants a little wheelchair, needs one badly, so that she can get about better and tend to her dolls and flowers, and she has asked the Beacon Journal to help,'' reporter Harold J. Taylor wrote in June 1930.

''Evelyn deserves her wheelchair. It is about all that she asks of life, which has not been generous to her. She will be 9 years old in September, but weighs only 25 pounds, and has 31 broken bones in her body. If she falls down, and it is harder for her to keep from falling than it is for a normal child, she almost invariably breaks a bone.''

Community pitches in

Jeanne Schulman, 10, saw the article and begged her father, Alex, founder of A. Schulman Inc., if she could withdraw money from her savings account.

With her father's blessing, Jeanne ordered a special gift and had it delivered.

Little Evelyn was all smiles in her new wheelchair.

Other donations poured in: a doll from Mrs. Eugene Rudler, a Victrola from Mrs. Nerah Hoffman, a canary from Harry Robison and a piano from First Methodist Episcopal Church.

That summer, the Volunteers of America treated Talbert to a summer camp near Tallmadge.

''It's good to get out like this,'' she told a reporter. ''And I love going down to the duck pond and watching the ducks paddle around. Aren't they funny little things?''

Akron teachers volunteered to tutor Talbert at her home on South College Street. At age 13, she started taking classes at Goodrich Junior High, but administrators wouldn't allow her to continue past the eighth grade because of her fragility.

By then, she had suffered 70 fractures. Doctors didn't expect her to live past her teens.

Uplifting message

Music, religion and art were Talbert's great escapes. She sang in church, made ceramics and played the ukulele and piano.

Talbert's large voice belied her tiny size. Billing herself as Little Evelyn, she sang gospel songs, performed on local radio and delivered motivational talks at local churches and schools.

Everywhere she went, she carried an uplifting message.

''Be thankful for what you are,'' she told audiences. ''Don't be ashamed of it. If you accept what you are and make the best of it, everything will work out for you.''

As she got older, Talbert taught ceramics classes and worked as a receptionist at Goodwill Industries of Akron. She belonged to Chapel of Prayer Baptist Church.

Highly independent, she rolled around in a custom-made wheelchair that she maneuvered with her feet. Talbert moved to a Stow twinplex with her parents and furnished her home with a tiny stove, sink, refrigerator, desk, kiln and sewing machine. She made all of her brightly colored clothes.

Little Evelyn's fame grew and grew. She recorded gospel music and performed at churches across the country. She was booked for months in advance.

Her wry sense of humor made strangers feel at ease with her size. When she flew to out-of-state engagements, she liked to joke with concert promoters who met her at the airport.

''I'm Big Bertha,'' she'd say in her introduction. ''My sister, Little Evelyn, couldn't come.''

On the big screen

One of Talbert's claims to fame was belting out a gospel song in The Believer's Heaven, a 1970s religious film starring Mississippi minister Estus Pirkle. Actress-director Diane Keaton later used the footage in her 1987 documentary Heaven.

Talbert never lost faith in God or humanity. For the rest of her years, she continued to travel, perform and inspire.

''God gave me talent,'' she said. ''If I can help one person through my lifetime to get enjoyment out of life, then my afflictions will not have been in vain.''

Little Evelyn Talbert passed away in 1986. When her big heart finally gave out, she was 64 years old. The gospel singer was buried at Mount Peace Cemetery in Hartville.

She never walked a day in her life, but she expected to take her first steps in the afterlife.

With a wide smile and twinkling eyes, she sang of that joyful moment in concert:

''One of these days, I'm going to walk with my Lord,'' she sang. ''One of these days, I'm going to talk with my Lord. And when this life is over, I'll live forever more on that bright celestial shore. One of these days.''