MEDGAR & MERLIE by Joy Reed

This summer, starting July 31, I will be teaching FINDING YOUR STORY at UCLA Extension. Joy Reed has certainly found her story in this sweeping biography of love between Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers and his wife, Merlie. Under constant threat of death in Mississippis, Medgar Evers continued his fight for freedom long after he came home from fighting the Nazis. The terror that this couple lived with, the fear for each other and their five children, is epic. From a writer’s point of view, the book is a great lesson in how to gather information and utilize it to dramatic effect. This is a book that needs to be read, especially in our era of book banning and the revision of history.