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John Lewis in the Lead

Review
By Boston Globe

All his life, [John] Lewis remained an anchor in storms - for himself, his family, and his people. The son of sharecroppers, he preached to the chickens at night to calm them. At 15 he heard Martin Luther King on the radio, and soon began organizing sit-ins at lunch counters and joined the Freedom Riders in Alabama. Often he was beaten and jailed, yet he moved steadily forward. His story is told in John Lewis in the Lead, and the book includes a useful timeline that details his accomplishments: a 2001 Profile in Courage Award for Lifetime Achievement; re-election to the House of Representatives since 1986… the photos that accompany the timeline put a human face to this moving and well-written biography.