Woke up early this morning to speak to the Franklin (morning) Rotary Club, which meets at the Vanderbilt Legends golf club each Wednesday. While I was part of a panel at last week’s talk with the SPJ chapter, this was my first chance to talk to a group just about my book. And while I’ve attended dozens of author talks in the past and have seen the familiar scene where attendees line up to talk to the author after the remarks, for whatever reason it caught me off guard when people came up to me afterward to share their own stories about Perry Wallace or about growing up during segregated times in Nashville. It reminded me that after engaging in a basically solitary journey the last eight years writing the book, once I get out and start talking about it and when the book is published in the fall, everything changes. It becomes a public experience for people to discuss and react to. And for that I am immensely thankful.
Author of Inaugural Ballers, Singled Out, Games of Deception and Strong Inside
https://bsky.app/profile/amaraniss.bsky.social
I had the honor of reading an early version of this manuscript. It helped me come to know the city and the time I grew up in, just a few miles from Vanderbilt and Mr. Wallace’s courageous step onto the court. A place and era when those few miles made far too much difference for both him and me. I only wish that I’d had it to read when I had to make my own difficult life decisions. As a woman and non-sports follower, I found strength in this story that I can relate to. The kind of strength that makes me see how life is less about what happens to us and more about what we make happen.
Thanks Andrew.