by Ann Carlson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 7, 2015
An account of the achievements of four African-American brothers; of interest primarily to Pitts family members.
Carson’s book documents the ascent of four young African-American brothers during the early 20th century.
The four sons of Roberta “Sis” Pitts—Willis, Robert, Raymond, and Nathan—all became accomplished professionals when such a thing was rare for even one member of a black family in the Jim Crow South. Pitts’ sons credited their mother with instilling in them the determination and will to succeed no matter the obstacle. The book traces the lives of each of these men and shows how three earned Ph.D.s as educators and one became a federal government employee. Written in a straightforward, chronological style, Carson portrays each son’s life by what he did year to year from childhood to death. The author provides extensive quotes from all; here Raymond discusses moving into a soon-to-be racially mixed neighborhood: “I think we ought to get to know and love our neighbors.” The book is at its best when it details the racist incidents that show the endemic bigotry of the time, such as when Willis was forced out of the carpentry business because he accepted clients from white carpenters or the way the Pitts family became “blockbusters” (blacks who became the first African-Americans to live on a whites-only block) in Pasadena, California. There is one egregious historical error: “In 1917, just weeks after he became the first Southerner elected President since the Civil War, Woodrow Wilson….” (Wilson was first elected president in 1912). The book provides thorough, frank details about one black family’s experiences during the beginning of the 20th century; however, unless someone is keenly interested in the story of the Pitts brothers, there is little here for the casual reader.
An account of the achievements of four African-American brothers; of interest primarily to Pitts family members.Pub Date: Dec. 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9962883-0-9
Page Count: 282
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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developed by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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by Charlayne Hunter-Gault ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1992
From the national correspondent for PBS's MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour: a moving memoir of her youth in the Deep South and her role in desegregating the Univ. of Georgia. The eldest daughter of an army chaplain, Hunter-Gault was born in what she calls the ``first of many places that I would call `my place' ''—the small village of Due West, tucked away in a remote little corner of South Carolina. While her father served in Korea, Hunter-Gault and her mother moved first to Covington, Georgia, and then to Atlanta. In ``L.A.'' (lovely Atlanta), surrounded by her loving family and a close-knit black community, the author enjoyed a happy childhood participating in activities at church and at school, where her intellectual and leadership abilities soon were noticed by both faculty and peers. In high school, Hunter-Gault found herself studying the ``comic-strip character Brenda Starr as I might have studied a journalism textbook, had there been one.'' Determined to be a journalist, she applied to several colleges—all outside of Georgia, for ``to discourage the possibility that a black student would even think of applying to one of those white schools, the state provided money for black students'' to study out of state. Accepted at Michigan's Wayne State, the author was encouraged by local civil-rights leaders to apply, along with another classmate, to the Univ. of Georgia as well. Her application became a test of changing racial attitudes, as well as of the growing strength of the civil-rights movement in the South, and Gault became a national figure as she braved an onslaught of hostilities and harassment to become the first black woman to attend the university. A remarkably generous, fair-minded account of overcoming some of the biggest, and most intractable, obstacles ever deployed by southern racists. (Photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-374-17563-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
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