Little Miss Dynamite: The Life and Times of Brenda Lee

By Brenda Lee with Robert Oermann and Julie Clay

When Brenda Lee published her autobiography in 2002, I purchased a copy to use as source material for my Faron Young biography. Little Miss Dynamite: The Life and Times of Brenda Lee was co-written with Robert Oermann and Julie Clay. Her first-person story is interspersed throughout with the italicized quotes of those interviewed for the book.

What I remember most after reading it all these years ago is how she lived in such poverty when she was so famous and bringing in so much money as a teenager. Her manager worked to make her a star and took over her mother’s parental authority in the process. Because she was a minor, Brenda became a ward of the court.

When “I’m Sorry” reached #1 on the pop charts in 1960, she and her mother were living in a run-down trailer park.  Brenda writes, “I was so humiliated that I’d walk down the street to catch the school bus in the morning so no one would see where I lived.” She was the breadwinner at age fifteen, living on a court-ordered weekly allowance of $75.

Her guardian petitioned the court to authorize a Decca advance of $10,000 so she could buy her family a new house. Her manager and her guardian continued to tightly control her personal and financial life; they benefited much more than she did from her substantial earnings.

She has lived an amazing life, and her story is well worth reading. Ronnie Shacklett, 75, and Brenda Lee, 73, will celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary in 2023.