Paul Ott, the Mississippi singer and environmental activist, has cooperated fully in the creation of the first biography to chronicle his extraordinary life, "Listen to the Eagle / The Lives of Paul Ott" and has penned chapter interludes dealing with his iconic recordings.

Paul's story returns the reader to a Mississippi that no longer exists, when youngsters were sent to a Preventorium on the basis of vague "symptoms" to keep them from the specter of tuberculosis. It was an era when a childhood friendship with a boy who happened to be black had to be kept out of sight of racists who would bring harm, that friend later dying as a teenager in a mysterious fire. This was a time of beauty pageants, record albums recorded in handball courts, and locally-produced television programs that often presented talent that "was not so good".

Initially a singer with moderately successful pop records, Paul Ott evolved into the creator of deeper work, songs and short films dealing with matters of importance to him, and this evolution of character and career form the core of his story.

Royalties from this eBook benefit Mississippi's Talking Book Services for blind and print handicapped readers.