Son of the Queen Cities: A Black Banker's Civil Rights Era Memoir

This memoir in poetry, song and prose is about a man who was born in Charlotte, NC. Abandoned by his father at age 6, he and his siblings became part of the black diaspora north to Buffalo, NY. At age 17 he became a dropout who found himself a leader and trainer of men for the U.S. Air Force. Married before his 19th birthday, he wrote poems, songs and taught himself to paint and sketch while serving an overseas tour in France. Returning home he worked his way through college and became an early, black pioneer in the powerful banking industry. It is a personal story of love, struggle and triumph that mirrored and chronicled the historic civil rights era in America.

William "Bill" Bailey, artist, poet and retired banker, was born in Charlotte, NC. He grew up in Buffalo, NY. He joined the U.S. Air Force, served an overseas tour in France and returned to Buffalo to attend and earn a degree in Economics from the State University at Buffalo. He became a businessman-banker who worked at a number of large U.S. banks during a 34-year banking career. In the early 1980's he was the President & Chief Executive Officer of a bank in Detroit. MI. Currently retired, he and his family reside in Eden Prairie, MN.