In 1909, W.C. Handy wrote The St. Louis Blues, and
Isadora Duncan danced barefoot before startled theatre patrons. Marconi
and Braun won the Nobel Prize for Physics, and the radio was born. Teddy
Roosevelt was bagging wild game in Africa, which would later be displayed
in the Smithsonian. Sigmund Freud changed the way we would look at each
other and ourselves forever. William Howard Taft was president, and the
world realized that flight was possible because of the Wright Brothers. In
1909, another historical event occurred that is not recorded in history
books: Sylvia Gott was born, and the world became a better place.
She has entertained thousands with her musical talents,
having grown up in Long Island, NY, the daughter of bandleader H. D.
Worth. At 12 years old, "Miss Sylvia," as she is affectionately called,
was playing trumpet with her father’s orchestra in Stuart, FL. She later
became a percussionist and had her own band. Now she lives on Tybee Island
and continues to play her tambourine with perfect rhythm. She understands
that music is universal and reaches people in the dark recesses of their
souls.
Experiencing horse-and-buggy and space travel, world
wars and peacetime, the Great Depression and "irrational exuberance,"
Prohibition and the Era of Excess, quarantines and the relative end of
Small Pox and Polio, the
invention of ether by Crawford W. Long and stem cell
research, Sylvia Gott has witnessed almost a century of mayhem and
miracles. To embrace life is to take all that it offers. Miss Sylvia
understands that life is not about seeking happiness but understanding the
joy of pain.
After 93 years of good times and bad, she still
possesses a child-like enthusiasm for life and optimism for the human
condition.
Miss Sylvia has been called an "inspiration," "a lady,"
and "the Queen of Doc’s Bar," where she reigns over her subjects at a
table near the door whenever live music is being performed. She is the
unofficial ambassador of good will to those she knows and those whom she
will meet.
Miss Sylvia is also "real" in an unreal world of
plastic smiles and neon. She serves as a magnet to those of us who are
searching for something we do not possess. The English language does not
contain words that adequately describe her perhaps because Anglo Saxons do
not possess the same perception of life as the French. She has a joi de
vivre, a joy of life. She has found her raison d’etre or "reason to be."
Philosophers throughout the centuries have wondered, "Why am I here?"
Where am I going? What is the point?" The wisdom that can be seen in Miss
Sylvia’s eyes shows that she has found the answers and is pleased with
them. She serves as a symbol for hope that "it’s all worth it." She has
found what others are seeking: the ticket of admission to life is
gentleness of heart.
