Born in a musical family in 1925 in New Orleans, Renald Richard spent his childhood filled with music. At the age of 13, he went to see a band perform at a church where he fell in love with trumpet. So he started lessons on it, and later played it in the high school band. After high school, he was sent into military service and played his trumpet in the United States Navy Band. After ending up studying music at Xavier University of Louisiana, he played clubs on the famous Bourbon Street and also toured with many bands.

In 1954, Richard was approached by Jeff Brown, the manager of musician Ray Charles. He invited Richard to join Ray Charles’ new band. “To be selected by Ray Charles was an honor to me. Ray Charles was exacting.” said Richard, “He was a perfectionist and was rather demanding about his music.”

Renald Richard toured all over the South and West with Ray Charles. Sitting in the back seat of the car on the way to a concert, Richard wrote the song “I Got a Woman” for Charles, which became Ray Charles’ first number one radio hit. In 1954,Renald Richard left Ray Charles’ band. However, he stayed friendly with Ray Charles over the years. He became the high school’s band director in his hometown until 1962. Four years later, he moved again to New York City. Over the years, Richard has written many other songs that have been recorded by artists including Joe Turner, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley to name a few. Living now in Southern Florida, Richard is still active at the age of 92. As you can see, Renald Richard’s musical days are by no means near an end.

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One morning a deer rushed into a courtyard where a little boy was playing. The deer hooked the boy’s clothing with its antlers (角). This scared the little boy so much that he let out a loud cry which brought his mother running out to see what was happening. She came out just in time and saw the deer running off towards the mountain s with her little boy.

The mother was so afraid! She ran after the deer as fast as she could, and not too far away, she found her son sitting on the grass safely. Seeing his mother, the little boy laughed and reached out his arms to her. His mother held him tight. She was so happy that she cried.

She hurried back with her dear son. When she got home, she was amazed at what she saw. The huge tree behind her house had fallen down while she was out running after the deer. The whole house was destroyed under the tree’s great weight.

Then the mother remembered the day about a year before when a deer, fleeing from a hunter, had run into her house. She felt sorry for the frightened deer, so she covered it with some clothes and let it return to the forest.

The deer seemed to understand that she had saved its life. When leaving, it kept bowing its head to her, as if it were thanking her for her kindness.

She never imagined that the deer could remember her help. It somehow knew the tree was going to fall and kill her and her son, so it came back to save them.

When the mother remembered all this, she said, “Saving the life of another is the same as saving the life of your own.”

Have you heard of the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? In one programme in the series, model Jodie Kidd learns that she is the great-granddaughter of the newspaper owner Lord Beaverbrook, who was a politician during both world wars. Jodie also discovers that her great-grandfather on her mother’s side of the family built ships during World War I and received letters from the King of England and Winston Churchill. And on the subject of kings, Olympic athlete Matthew Pinsent finds that he is related to Edward I, one of the most famous kings in British history.

Davina McCall, presenter of Big Brother, knows her mother’s side of the family is from France. She goes to Paris and finds out that her great-grandfather, Celestin Hennion, was famous throughout France as head of the French police. He once received a medal from King George V for organising security for the king’s trip to France in 1914.

However, Jerry Springer learns that his parents escaped from Nazi Germany three days before the start of World War II but other family members died in the war. And actress Kim Cattrall discovers that her grandfather, from Liverpool, the UK, left his family including three young daughters. He didn’t go far. Forty miles down the road in Manchester, he started another family.

Finally, Nigella Lawson, a famous cook whose father was a British politician, discovers that her grandfather was a thief from the Netherlands. After being sentenced to prison, he escaped to England, which is how the Lawsons ended up in London.