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Ethel Waters: I Touched a Sparrow
An inspiring book about a woman, Ethel Waters, who never had a singing lesson, but sang beautifully. With her God-given talent she appeared in films and lived a Christian life. She sang for numerous Billy Graham crusades.
- GenresNonfictionBiography
156 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 23, 2016
This is Twila Knaack's account of Ethel Waters life when she knew her. Not bad, but I think I'll read Miss Waters' book "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" to get a more inspirational account of her life. This read seemed a bit watered down and too nicely packaged.
April 5, 2023
I only knew of Ethel Waters from a peripheral point of view so I was fascinated in learning her history, her down-to-earth philosophy of living, her strong faith in God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Her is a woman who had walked in many worlds [poverty, privilege and the pavilions of faith] shown in her humanity with foibles, folly and friendliness. If all you know of Miss Waters is from a distance I recommend this book to get to know the lady a little more intimately and perhaps get to know her Lord more intimately as well.
The author, a personal friend of Miss Waters is quite frank in her own humanity and the joy and sometimes "irritation" that came with that friendship. I appreciated her honesty and her warm writing style.
I had intended to read one of the 10 chapters every day until done but the book was so interesting I finished it earlier.
The author, a personal friend of Miss Waters is quite frank in her own humanity and the joy and sometimes "irritation" that came with that friendship. I appreciated her honesty and her warm writing style.
I had intended to read one of the 10 chapters every day until done but the book was so interesting I finished it earlier.
May 5, 2024
I've been on a non-fiction kick lately and I'm kind of reading...everything? I just want to read whatever I can get my hands on really. So when I got this book for free, I decided I'd read it. I didn't know who Ethel Waters was. I would've never heard of her if it weren't for this book, even though she was quite a popular entertainer for a while. This book is snapshots of her life through the eyes of someone who became very close to her. It's quite a beautiful testimony to life and the way people impact each other. I'm really glad to own an old, tattered copy for my growing non-fiction shelf.
June 1, 2013
This book was a good read! A good read in the sense or authenticity, realness, relate-able! It reflected the life of Ethel Waters. I cannot imagined what it was like to live in a time period of such discord and blatant misery. Maybe I am there now, in the same predicament just a different period of time.Struggle is inevitable success is not", is what I took from reading this book. The story spoke to me. I enjoyed it!
June 21, 2013
This was written by a lady who spent a great deal of time with Ethel, and got to know her as her 2nd Mom.
Ethel's life was not an easy one in many ways. But no matter what the pain or the problem, when she stood to sing and testify for her Lord Jesus, she came to life! I truly believe this was God's enabling, going way beyond mere "showmanship."
Ethel's life was not an easy one in many ways. But no matter what the pain or the problem, when she stood to sing and testify for her Lord Jesus, she came to life! I truly believe this was God's enabling, going way beyond mere "showmanship."
July 30, 2025
Book Review: Ethel Waters: I Touched a Sparrow by Twila Knaack
★★★★☆
Reviewed by Michael Adam Reale
For readers of queer spirituality, Black cultural history, and hidden lives reclaimed
Twila Knaack’s Ethel Waters: I Touched a Sparrow offers a deeply spiritual portrait of one of the most important—and most complex—Black women in 20th-century American culture. Ethel Waters was a jazz and gospel legend, a Broadway star, and the first African American woman nominated for a Primetime Emmy. But beneath the surface of her fame lies a life that resonates with many queer readers: one shaped by marginalization, reinvention, and quiet resistance.
While this evangelical-leaning biography emphasizes her later-life conversion and work with the Billy Graham crusades, it only lightly touches on the more elusive truths of Waters’s personal life. Notably, the book omits explicit discussion of her romantic and emotional relationships with women—relationships that have been long whispered about in both queer and Black cultural circles. For those familiar with the coded lives of many queer historical figures, the silences in this biography speak volumes.
Waters lived in an era when being out was rarely safe for Black women, yet she cultivated a bold presence, a powerful independence, and a chosen family that suggests queer belonging. Her queerness, while unspoken in this book, pulses beneath the narrative—through her unapologetic artistry, her refusal to conform, and her deep emotional entanglements with women like Ethel Williams, her longtime companion.
I Touched a Sparrow is valuable not just for what it says, but for what it leaves unsaid. For queer readers, Waters’s story can be read as a sacred text of survival—a testament to the ways Black queer women carved out space for themselves even within religious and cultural institutions that denied their full humanity.
This book is recommended reading for anyone exploring the intersections of faith, queerness, Blackness, and the lives history tried to erase.
★★★★☆
Reviewed by Michael Adam Reale
For readers of queer spirituality, Black cultural history, and hidden lives reclaimed
Twila Knaack’s Ethel Waters: I Touched a Sparrow offers a deeply spiritual portrait of one of the most important—and most complex—Black women in 20th-century American culture. Ethel Waters was a jazz and gospel legend, a Broadway star, and the first African American woman nominated for a Primetime Emmy. But beneath the surface of her fame lies a life that resonates with many queer readers: one shaped by marginalization, reinvention, and quiet resistance.
While this evangelical-leaning biography emphasizes her later-life conversion and work with the Billy Graham crusades, it only lightly touches on the more elusive truths of Waters’s personal life. Notably, the book omits explicit discussion of her romantic and emotional relationships with women—relationships that have been long whispered about in both queer and Black cultural circles. For those familiar with the coded lives of many queer historical figures, the silences in this biography speak volumes.
Waters lived in an era when being out was rarely safe for Black women, yet she cultivated a bold presence, a powerful independence, and a chosen family that suggests queer belonging. Her queerness, while unspoken in this book, pulses beneath the narrative—through her unapologetic artistry, her refusal to conform, and her deep emotional entanglements with women like Ethel Williams, her longtime companion.
I Touched a Sparrow is valuable not just for what it says, but for what it leaves unsaid. For queer readers, Waters’s story can be read as a sacred text of survival—a testament to the ways Black queer women carved out space for themselves even within religious and cultural institutions that denied their full humanity.
This book is recommended reading for anyone exploring the intersections of faith, queerness, Blackness, and the lives history tried to erase.
November 11, 2017
this book was hard to put down! It brought tears to my eyes for she was such a sweet, godly woman who dearly loved her Savior. So glad i read this book.
May 21, 2020
I didn't know much about Ethel Waters life. So glad to read this take from Twila Knaack's journey with her as a close friend.
April 15, 2017
I hadn't heard of Ethel Waters before I read this book, but I feel like I know her after reading it.
Ethel was a singer, actress, and an amazing woman. She didn't have children of her own, but would 'adopt' young people that came into her life. Twila Knaack was one of the young women who came into Ethel's life and they formed a mother-daughter bond even if it wasn't by blood.
Twila was with her at the end of her life and knew her well.
Ethel Waters was an African-American woman, who paved the way of many African American women after her. She was a woman of God and an inspiration. I highly enjoyed reading about her life through the perspective of one who knew her well. I recommend you try and get your hands on this book, as Ethel's is a story that should be read.
Ethel was a singer, actress, and an amazing woman. She didn't have children of her own, but would 'adopt' young people that came into her life. Twila Knaack was one of the young women who came into Ethel's life and they formed a mother-daughter bond even if it wasn't by blood.
Twila was with her at the end of her life and knew her well.
Ethel Waters was an African-American woman, who paved the way of many African American women after her. She was a woman of God and an inspiration. I highly enjoyed reading about her life through the perspective of one who knew her well. I recommend you try and get your hands on this book, as Ethel's is a story that should be read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews