Topsy M. Durham was born in Harlem and raised in Brooklyn, New York.

A paralegal by profession, she spent five years working on this labor of love, a comprehensive biography of her father, the late jazz pioneer Eddie Durham. In 2004, she was granted Honorary Citizenship and the Key to the City of San Marcos, Texas, Eddie’s birthplace. She emcee’d and co-produced the second, third, and fourth outdoor Eddie Durham Music and Heritage Festivals in San Marcos. As president of Swingin’ the Blues! Durham Music Publishing, she oversees many of Eddie’s copyrights on such hits as “I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire”, and “Topsy”. As an activist in the jazz community, she has served on the Board of Directors of The International Women In Jazz, The Harlem Swing Dance Society, and AmSong, Inc., a grassroots organization that spearheaded the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1996. She co-produced and designed the cover for several CDs by NewYorkBlues Hall of Famer Michael Powers, and, although she is not a musician by trade, she played percussions on a few of the songs. Articles about her have appeared in The New York Times, Just Jazz Magazine, and the Swedish publication, Jefferson Blues Magazine.