I Shared the Dream: The Pride, Passion and Politics of the the First Black Woman Senator from Kentucky

From a middle-class African American family, Powers resolved as a child not to follow the pattern set down for her by society. Instead, she "would make something of myself," and that she did. She was almost 40 when she came to politics but quickly made up for lost time, winning a seat in the Kentucky State Senate in 1968 and serving for 21 years, the only black and the only woman in the chamber, eventually becoming chair of the Labor and Industry Committee. She made her mark by pushing a fair housing bill through the legislature, later shepherding the passage of fair employment and antidiscrimination bills as well as a rise in the minimum wage. The survivor of two unsuccessful marriages, she finally married the man who had been her off-and-on lover for years. If the book makes headlines, however, it will not be for any of these reasons but because Powers was the lover of Martin Luther King Jr., who, she says, spent his last night with her. Photos. 30,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this self-congratulatory memoir, Powers, a Kentucky state senator for 21 years, focuses on her intimate relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. Her renderings of their conversations and those with King's brother may offer some insights to student of the Civil Rights movement, but her discussion of Kentucky politics, in which she participated for more than two decades, is cursory and disappointing. Her personal story is a theatrical tale, full of omens and premonitions, accompanied by descriptions of many sexual liaisons?with King and others?complete with wardrobe details. Powers plainly hopes to appropriate the King legacy for herself, but she does not succeed. The publisher plans a major publicity campaign.?Cynthia Harrison, Federal Judicial Ctr., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.