Mayor Who Stayed Too Long

Describes Barry's political odyssey from rural Mississippi, through the civil rights movement and his tenure as mayor, to his arrest on multiple drug charges, and assesses the implications of his fall from grace.

Born on a Mississippi cotton plantation in 1936, sharecropper's son Marion Barry rose to become mayor of Washington, D.C., only to self-destruct through drug and alcohol abuse. In a dramatic, revealing biography, Voice of America reporter Agronsky charts Barry's trajectory from courageous civil rights worker to compromised bureaucrat, to "race-baiting" mayor who silenced his critics with divisive rhetoric while his administration festered with scandals, corruption and mismanagement. Agronsky does a terrific job of digging out the details of the setup, sting and arrest of Barry by FBI agents and police, and of recreating the trial that hastened his downfall. Barry's legacy, in the author's opinion, is increased mutual distrust between blacks and whites and prejudice that will take a long time to heal. First serial to Penthouse; author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this chronicle of the life of former Washington, D.C., mayor Barry, journalist Agronsky relies heavily on newspaper accounts and trial transcripts to examine in comprehensive detail Barry's arrest on drug charges and his subsequent trial. While he adds little new information on or insights into these well-publicized aspects of Barry's life, Agronsky presents a far more interesting discussion of Barry's earlier years as a civil rights activist, particularly his work as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Surprisingly, Agronsky devotes relatively little attention to Barry's career as mayor of the nation's capital. A more thorough investigation of Barry's relationships with city council members, local administrators, and federal officials would have strengthened the book. Of interest to politically informed general readers.
- Thomas H. Ferrell, Univ. of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.