Vernon Can Read! A Memoir
A memoir tracing Vernon Jordan's path from civil rights activism into national politics and law.
Work Information
A memoir that follows a civil-rights leader into the corridors of power.
The book moves from Jordan's Atlanta youth to his work with the NAACP, the National Urban League, and the wider political world.
Book Information
- Publisher
- PublicAffairs
- Published
- 2001-10-16
- Pages
- 352 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 16.51 x 2.86 x 24.13 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781891620690
- ISBN-10
- 189162069X
- Price
- 9499 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Politics & Social Sciences/Politics & Government/Specific Topics/Civics & Citizenship
The civil rights leader, attorney, and former head of the National Urban League recounts his boyhood in segregated Atlanta, his career, and the social changes he helped to bring about.
Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., one of the major civil rights figures in American history, is now a senior managing director of the investment firm Lazard Frres & Co. Annette Gordon-Reed is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School and is a professor at New York Law School. She is the author of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy. She lives in New York City.
Reviews
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"... I have stayed the course"
"Vernon Can Read!" is a joy to read for anyone with the slightest interest in the serious issues in American life for the past fifty years. This is an amazing book. As a very young man, Vernon Jordan deftly understood what America's potential could be. He continued to express the ordinary angers at the injustices commonplace after only "one biblical lifetime (seventy years) after slavery". But, most importantly, he had the savvy and personal intuition that constitutional democracy and life's natural transit through time-space could be leveraged in ways yet unattained. Here is an engaging memoir of the personal journey through that reality. Like others who knew Vern from old school days, we can attest that it is told with modest, personal authenticity of those events and relationships and their choices that shaped the future of a brave, decent and honorable man who has become a legendary figure of our time -- too often a rare combination. In addition, some readers may find here another testament, "food for thought" in his family's tradition, on nurture versus nature. It is one of the greatest stories of Coming of Age in America, and America is by far the better for it.
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Four Stars
good book and good service.
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I want hard copy..
How can I get the book..it's hard copy the real book..
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The wealth of stories and experiences in here are amazing. I recently had the honor of hearing him ...
This man is remarkable. The wealth of stories and experiences in here are amazing. I recently had the honor of hearing him speak in person in Brooklyn, NY. He had the crowd spell-bound. Such a knowledgeable, humble, smart man. A great read, the time just flies by.
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Striking Autobiography
This book clearly showed how a black individual chose to make his mark on a white society, and how the black community can equally co-exist in todays world. It is a story of belief and determination as exemplified by Vernon Jordan, his family, his upbringing, and his ability to determine how he wanted to live his life despite racial injustice which existed in the 1950"s. From humble beginnings, he rose to sit at the right hand of several Presidents, and as a board member of many of this country's largest corporations. In his later years he was the deal maker in Washington and confidant to many world leaders. This book demonstrates that if there is a will there is a way, no matter what the color of your skin, or the economic level of your family.