The Lost Supreme

This profile is partly about me, Peter Benjaminson, but it's mostly about the book I've just written: THE LOST SUPREME: THE LIFE OF DREAMGIRL FLORENCE BALLARD. Let me tell you about the book: In the months before she died, FLORENCE BALLARD, the spunky teenager who founded the most successful female vocal group in history---the Supremes---told me and my tape recorder her own side of the Supremes' story. She shed light on all areas of her life, including the surprising identity of the man who raped her before she entered the music business, the details of her love–hate relationship with Motown Records czar Berry Gordy, her drinking problem and pleas for help, her never-ending desire to be the Supremes’ lead singer, and her attempts to get her life back on track after being brutally expelled from the group. Flo's story is all the more interesting and heartbreaking because her life ended at age 32. The reviewers love the book. Following are quotes from their reviews: “Get to know the real Flo, from the beginning to the end. A must read.” -OTIS WILLIAMS, founder of the Temptations and former boyfriend of The Lost Supreme. If this book were a record, it would top the charts. - AL ABRAMS, Publicity Director, Motown Records, 1964-66 “Flo Ballard’s remarkable story is a personal Greek tragedy. In his wonderful THE LOST SUPREME, Peter Benjaminson tells it masterfully, with all the drama and empathy her life deserves. In his talented hands, Flo earns the lasting stardom she was deprived of in life.” - GERALD POSNER, author of MOTOWN and WHY AMERICA SLEPT “What a reader may take away from this book is a new understanding of how cruel the American promise of success can be--and of how that dream can make real life incomprehensible. Except here, as lived out by a woman who has been dead for as long as she was alive, it makes all too much sense.” - GREIL MARCUS, author of LIKE A ROLLING STONE and THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME "A VALIANT...PAINSTAKING...ENGAGING BIOGRAPHY" -Publishers Weekly "...AN UNMATCHABLE SNAPSHOT OF THE EXHILIRATING, YET OFTEN UGLY 1960'S SOUL MUSIC SCENE" Kirkus Reviews. "A CONCISE, COHERENT, ENGAGING, WELL-WRITTEN BIOGRAPHY - Library Journal See my website, THELOSTSUPREME.COM, for the complete text of all reviews. THELOSTSUPREME.COM is also the best place to order the book - it sells for less than $17.00 a copy - and also the only place in which you can hear Flo Ballard herself speaking for six minutes into my tape recorder about her life. I'm now looking for a distributor for the eight hours of tape, which, of course, I've transferred to disks. I'd appreciate any help you could give me.