Solomon to meet and cover
her family at a reception at the
Manoogian Mansion in Detroit.
“That was a life-changing
photo assignment for me,” says
Solomon, a member of the
Michigan Journalism Hall of
Fame and founder of her non-
profit Pictures of Hope, which
provides digital cameras and
photography tutorials to chil-
dren living in shelters in the
United States.
“
Aretha really helped me with
my career. She knew I was just
starting out, and she gave me
exclusive opportunities. Not
only was she a civil rights activ-
ist, but she was a women’
s activ-
ist. She really went out of her
way to give me access and help
me. She could see I was respect-
ful of her and I would never be
intrusive. I was there to capture
the moments.”
And that was the start of
Solomon’
s treasured 35-year
friendship.
“Everybody in Detroit has
an Aretha story,” Solomon
says. “She was art and she was
‘
The Queen.’
”
“The Queen” is Solomon’
s
inspiration for her just-released
book, The Queen Next Door:
Aretha Franklin, an Intimate
Portrait. Solomon’
s sister, Jill
Rappaport, a well-known tele-
vision journalist, came up with
the book’
s title, an homage to
Franklin’
s quote: “I am the lady
next door when I am not on
stage.” A foreword is written by
composer Burt Bacharach; an
afterword is by Aretha’
s niece
Sabrina Vonné Owens.
“It’
s very important for
people to know that after
Motown left Detroit in the
late ’
60s, Aretha singlehand-
edly brought music back
to Detroit,” Solomon says.
“The book features the part
of Aretha’
s life when she was
giving back to the city in the
most incredible way by hiring
Detroit-based musicians, flo-
rists and caterers.”
When the time came to
publish the book, Solomon
knew Franklin would have only
wanted a local publisher, so she
reached out to her friend, Mary
Lou Zieve, former chairman of
the board for the Wayne State
University Press (WSUP).
“I made a shidduch (match),”
says Zieve of Bloomfield Hills
about arranging the meeting
between Solomon and WSUP.
“Linda is a lovely friend and
very talented photographer. It’
s
only natural she would use a
Detroit printer.”
continued from page 39
Arts&Life
40 | OCTOBER 10 • 2019
JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Until Dr. Seymour Ziegelman
retired in 2009, he was
Aretha Franklin’
s — and
all “the Franklin girls’
” —
gynecologist for almost 40
years. In fact, it was Franklin
who introduced Ziegelman
to photojournalist Linda
Solomon and he became
her doctor as well. Linda
and her husband, Barry,
and Ziegelman and his wife,
Loretta, were regular guests
at Franklin’
s festive parties.
How was it treating the
city’
s most beloved icons?
“It was really quite
easy,” Ziegelman of West
Bloomfield recalls. “I had
this fabulous medical
assistant for 35 years who
was the intermediary when
Aretha came into the office
with six gigantic body-
guards. I found the reason
why our relationship was so
comfortable was because
I treated her like any other
patient I saw.”
Including telling the
18-time Grammy Award win-
ner to quit smoking.
“Of course, she blamed
me for gaining so much
weight after she stopped.
Here she had this zillion dol-
lar voice and she’
d be smok-
ing — even in my office,” he
says.
Ziegelman said he was
her “go-to person” for all
things medical. He last
talked to Franklin a month
before she passed away to
give input on her treatment.
She called him.
“This is a person who had
more cell phone numbers in
her lifetime than the Federal
Treasury has gold coins,”
Ziegelman laughs.
Reflecting on what a
special person Franklin
was, Ziegelman recalls
when Franklin was playing
a concert in Austin, where
Ziegelman’
s daughter, Julie,
lived. Franklin set aside
six tickets for her and his
granddaughters. At the
end of her performance,
Franklin announced “Julie
Ziegelman” to the entire
audience and brought her up
on stage.
It’
s been well-docu-
mented that Franklin had a
long-standing fear of flying
dating back more than 30
years. About 15 years ago,
Ziegelman says, Franklin
was preparing to go out on
tour and started taking flight
phobia classes at Wayne
County Airport.
“Aretha would occasion-
ally call me and ask, ‘
Would
you go to Japan with me?’
I would reply, ‘
To do what?’
She’
d say, ‘
I’
m going to do
a tour.’
I’
d say, ‘
But, Aretha,
you don’
t fly.’
She’
d respond,
‘
Well, I’
m working on it.’
And
I’
d say, ‘
Well, when you’
re
ready, give me a call and I’
ll
go with you.’
”
Aretha’
s
bond
with
her
doctor
Dr. Seymour Ziegelman with Aretha’
s brother, the late Rev. Cecil Franklin
and his wife, Earline, backstage at the American Music Awards in 1986.
“The book is really a tribute
to Aretha and her devotion to her
family and her love of Detroit.
The photos in the book really
capture the side of her she didn’t
share with the public.”
— LINDA SOLOMON