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

