My Name As A Prayer -- About Troyanne Ross

Troyanne Freeland Ross ( July 27, 1927 - August 21, 2003) was a well-known figure in Charlotte, North Carolina in the 1960s and 70s. She was a pioneer female weather reporter in the county in the 1950s with her show, “Weather or Not With Troyanne,” on WSOC-TV. A longtime actor at the Mint Museum (now Charlotte Rep), Charlotte Little Theater (now Theater Charlotte) and the Flat Rock Playhouse, she never gave up her dream to be internationally famous.

Troyanne acted in the stock-car racing movie, Thunder in Carolina, opposite Roy Calhoun; this movie was the forerunner of the Tom Cruise movie, Thunder Road.

She founded the Troyanne Ross Institute of Modeling in the 1960s in Charlotte where she taught poise, charm and yoga to many of the city’s young women. Troyannr Ross Institute of Modeling was well-known in Charlotte as TRIM, and hundreds of the city's girls and young women went through its doors to learn more about the social graces. In addition to teaching skills in manners, cosmetics, hairstyle, moving and speaking gracefully, Troyanne also included in her curriculum one class on yoga, healthy eating habits and understanding that a woman is more than what is viewed on the outside. Many a woman today can thank Troyanne for inspiring some aspect of her self-growth.

When she reached her sixties and sold Troyanne Ross Institute of Modeling, Troyanne Ross traveled to Russia, to Africa with the Chuck Davis Dance Troupe and to Egypt, where she kissed a camel. Not long afterwards, she was with her younger brother, Robert Freeland, when he died. After Troyanne died, her younger brother, Alan Freeland, said of his sister, “She was a seeker, no doubt about that…always looking for the next adventure.”

Her older brother, James Freeland, said, “She was different, and that’s an understatement. That’s what made her: her dreams.”

My Name As A Prayer is a memoir account of Troyanne Ross' last great performance: her dramatic end-of-life experiences and passage, as chronicled by Troyanne's daughter, author Sheridan Hill.