Isabel Wilkerson devoted 15 years to the writing and research of The Warmth of Other Suns. She interviewed 1200 participants in the Great Migration to meet the three main characters whose lives bring us into the brutality of the Jim Crow south and the courageous migration to parts unknown. Each of the characters migrated in a different decade. Both of Isabel’s parents were part of the Great Migration as well and met in DC–so perhaps you could say that she has been working on this book her entire life.
Isabel came to the project after many years as a reporter with the New York Times where she was head of the Chicago bureau and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for Feature Writing.
I think you will enjoy hearing Isabel talk some about the research for the book and Ida Mae Brandon Gladney, George Swanson Starling, and Robert Joseph Pershing Foster.
As Isabel says, “I think the lesson of all of this [The Great Migration] is to never give up. And to jump off that cliff if that is what it’s calling for in order to achieve your dreams.”
Hope you are enjoying the journey of The Warmth of Other Suns. Reminder: Our conference call with Isabel Wilkerson is on Sunday, July 13th at 7 pm. The call in number is (805) 399-1200 and the passcode is 767775#.
Wonderful!
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