Screen legend Sidney Poitier's powerful third memoir is written as series of letters to his great-granddaughter who was born in 2005. He retells the story of his own life, from his idyllic childhood in the Bahamas, to being homeless and destitute in New York City, to becoming Hollywood's first true African-American leading man. With his trademark combination of humility, soft-spoken strength, and controlled outrage, Poitier ruminates on issues ranging from racism to his own unorthodox religious beliefs that fuse Christianity with the voodoo practices he learned in the Caribbean. Throughout the book, he downplays his historical significance, and is more interested in the nuggets of wisdom he has accumulated in his long and dramatic life. A compelling memoir, LIFE BEYOND MEASURE, should have truths to offer to both this generation, as well as the next, and the next.
The Academy Award-winning actor and author of The Measure of a Man shares life lessons as imparted to his great-granddaughter, in an inspirational collection that touches on such topics as his boyhood memories of the Bahamas, the race barriers of pre-civil rights Hollywood, and his contributions as a diplomat and humanitarian. Reprint.
The Academy Award-winning actor and author of The Measure of a Man shares life lessons as imparted to his great-granddaughter, in an inspirational collection that touches on such topics as his boyhood memories of the Bahamas, the race barriers of pre-civil rights Hollywood, and his contributions as a diplomat and humanitarian. Reprint.
"It's typical of Poitier's modesty that what may be his last book is not another celebration of his triumphs but a collection of lessons learned by that wise old actor, passed on to generations who might never truly understand how he changed movies."
05/01/2008