Memoir Excerpt: “I was having breakfast with my Uncle Joe,” Norris tells her NPR colleague, Steve Inskeep. “He was on this rant about how young people have it easy, and they don’t know what other people have sacrificed for them.” Between spoonfuls of oatmeal, Uncle Joe said matter-of-factly: “Well, you know your dad was shot.”
Norris had no idea; her father had never told her. The revelation drove her to launch an investigation into her family’s history — and their place in the larger, painful history of race in America — stories which she tells in her new memoir, The Grace Of Silence.
Very rarely do I recommend books to family and friends. I plan to check out Michele Norris’ book titled Grace of Silence. I was moved by Michele Norris listening to her on NPR this week and Morning Joe this morning
Watch Michele Norris speak about her book “The Grace of Silence” on Wednesday, September 22, segment of Morning Joe.
Starts at 4 minutes into the video*note video color is not adjustable*
Watch the MSNBC 17 minute clip here. Michle’s segment starts at the 8 minute mark.
I’m reading Michele’s book, and highly recommend it.
Hat tip ProfGeo: http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2010/11/afternoon-open-thread-456/
All Things Considered host Michele Norris left out of book on NPR’s 40-year history
When Michele Norris joined National Public Radio in 2002 to host its popular afternoon news show All Things Considered, she made history as the first black woman to host a major show at the public radio outlet.
But you won’t find that achievement in the new book about the news organization’s 40-year history, This Is NPR, because Norris was left out of the book completely.
“I’m disappointed,” said Norris, who declined to speak in detail on the issue when contacted by telephone. “But you have to ask NPR why it happened.”
Norris was asked to contribute a chapter, along with other staffers or people who appear regularly on NPR for the book, which weaves the stories into a chronological history. Other contributors include Cokie Roberts, Nina Totenberg, P. J. O’Rourke and Paula Poundstone. But because she was on sabbatical writing her own book, The Grace of Silence: A Memoir, Norris couldn’t contribute an essay and was not included anywhere else, said NPR spokeswoman Dana Davis Rehm.
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/content/all-things-considered-host-michele-norris-left-out-book-nprs-40-year-history