Stories about the very real and positive impact of mentoring.
Stories about the very real and positive impact of mentoring.
“John L. Smith Jr.’s captivating memoir chronicles the remarkable story of a Black child born and raised in the Jim Crow Deep South during the Great Depression who later became an accomplished, pathbreaking musician and ultimately a distinguished university dean and president. A gifted storyteller with a strong moral sensibility, Smith goes well beyond his personal saga, offering a fascinating blend of autobiography, family lore, and African American history, as well as an enlightening discourse on the importance of mentorship. The result is a highly imaginative and engrossing book.”
—Raymond Arsenault, the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History emeritus at the University of South Florida, and the author of Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice, The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America, and John Lewis: In Search of the Beloved Community.
“Dr. John L. Smith, Jr.’s work offers an intimate and relatable account of the transition from boyhood to manhood, and of the need for role models to make that journey a successful one. By capturing the lessons learned from male mentors, often through actions rather than words, They Taught Me How to Be the Man I Am is a vital guidebook on the bonds between teacher and pupil, uncle and nephew, father and son.”
-—Victor Luckerson, author of Built From Fire: The Story of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, America’s Black Wall Street, a New York Times review and Washington Post Best Book of the year.
“We at Fisk [University] celebrate “Ever on the Alter” where the men and women give our very best. They Taught Me How To Be The Man I Am is not only an Alter but a Rainbow to give us hope. Everyone will love and appreciate these stories.”
—Nikki Giovanni, Distinguished Poet
“This storytelling gives a compelling chronicle of how male mentors impacted the life journey of a professional musician, scholar and University President.”
—Patricia Russell-McCloud, Esq., International Speaker & Author of A For Attitude, An Alphabet for Living and My Journal, Myself, Inside Out
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