Vernon Can Read! A Memoir

Jordan, Vernon E., Jr.; Gordon-Reed, Annette; Annette Gordon-Reed

ISBN 10: 189162069X / ISBN 13: 9781891620690

Published by PublicAffairs (edition First Edition), 2001

With dust jacket. The item might be beaten up but readable. May contain markings or highlighting, as well as stains, bent corners, or any other major defect, but the text is not obscured in any way. Seller Inventory # 189162069X-7-1-29

Synopsis:

From the civil rights revolution to the halls of power, the life story of a larger-than-life American leader.

As a student in Atlanta, Vernon Jordan had a summer job driving a white banker around town. During the man's afternoon naps, Jordan passed the time reading books, a fact that astounded his boss. "Vernon can read!" the man exclaimed to his relatives. Nearly fifty years later, Vernon Jordan, long-time civil rights leader, adviser and close friend to presidents and business leaders, and one of the most charismatic figures in America, has written an unforgettable book about his life and times. It is a story that encompasses the sweeping struggles, changes, and dangers of black life during the civil rights revolution.

After attending a predominantly white college in the midwest and graduating from Howard University Law School, Jordan became involved in the civil rights movement. He led the voter education project to register black voters in the South, and was president of the National Urban League, one of the great civil rights organizations of the era, where he was instrumental in integrating American businesses and providing economic and social support to the expanding black middle class. He survived a white racist's assassination attempt and later became a pillar of America's legal, corporate, and political worlds.

But Jordan's life was shaped in his early years, and this book is also a moving testament to the family whose support and courage provided the framework for his achievements. Vernon Can Read! is a remarkable memoir of a life of courage, pride, sacrifice, style and accomplishment.

About the Author: 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 Frères & 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.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Vernon Can Read! A Memoir
Publisher: PublicAffairs (edition First Edition)
Publication Date: 2001
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fair
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
Edition: First Edition.