A glance at the Wikipedia site for ATV's "New Faces" (1973-78) will reveal that the only artiste to ever get one hundred percent from the tough panel of judges was Patti Boulaye. A truly original talent, from Africa she blazed the trail for other black performers in the burgeoning British entertainment industry of the time. Her performance as Yum Yum in "The Black Mikado" at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End was said by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society Magazine, to be "the performance against which all others must now be judged." As Carmen in "Carmen Jones" also in the West End, Patti restored the show from being dropped from the top ten back to number one "Best Musical" in the Daily Telegraph poll. Her beauty is legendary and throughout her long career she has always had a unique relationship with her audience and an energy that is difficult to emulate. This book is about the remarkable, tragic, exciting and inspiring life of this African child from birth in a taxi on the way to a small town in Nigeria to brilliant success as a star in Britain and Nigeria. Her life's journey plunges the reader through her parent's violent divorce, utter poverty and virtual slavery in a backward town to wealth in the turmoil of elections in independent Nigeria and near death in the genocide of the Biafra War. Her redoubtable mother instilled enormous strength and the love of God in her heart through her own many examples of faith and fortitude. She observed, when Patti had grown up, that hers was still "The faith of a child". Patti Boulaye has given a lifetime of service to many charities not least her own, Support for Africa, and was awarded the OBE in 2016 for this charity work. Since the first time that we met in 1975 I have admired Patti's unique talent and beauty and envied her energy. I am honoured to be asked to write this preface to her book. This book is written by Patti with candour and integrity unfolding her life's journey with clarity, humour and stunning honesty. I am sure you will enjoy reading this book as much as I have done. Stephen Komlosy