Following Martin Luther King, Jr.: Atlanta to Memphis

April 13, 2022

“April is the cruelest month,” wrote the poet, T.S. Eliot, and for those following Martin Luther King, Jr. April 4, 1968 was the cruelest day. At 6:01 pm on that […]

Kitty Kelley Book Club: ‘Home/Land: A Memoir of Departure and Return’  

March 9, 2022

A British expat reclaims her roots.   Upon his death in 1938, Thomas Wolfe bequeathed to America’s literary canon a 1,100-page manuscript which, published posthumously, trumpeted a universal truth: “You can’t […]

‘Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight for Fairness’  

February 9, 2022

A former officer of the court reveals that justice is hardly blind.   With the publication of “Just Pursuit,” Laura Coates takes her place in a pantheon with Frank Serpico, who blew […]

‘John Lewis: The Last Interview and Other Conversations’   

January 12, 2022

The late congressman’s star continues to shine. Reviewed by Kitty Kelley   A hero is someone who can be admired without apology: no excuses, no explanations. A rara avis such as Nelson Mandela, Mother […]

Kitty Kelley Book Club: A Fateful Friendship

December 9, 2021

A Fateful Friendship Mark Perry’s 2004 Biography Expertly Captures the Bond Between Two American Icons Readers who appreciate Civil War memoirs and enjoy biographies will treasure Mark Perry’s 2004 double-barreled […]

‘There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century’  

November 10, 2021

The foreign-policy expert sees parallels between her lower-class roots and the hurdles facing today’s workers.   England is strangled by its pernicious class system. Even in 2021, the country’s rigid social […]

Kitty Kelley Book Club: ‘Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence’   

October 14, 2021

Reviewed by Kitty Kelley  An instructive but dry treatise on a grim subject.  Despite their mutual animosity, Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill will be forever linked as a result of […]

‘First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents’: Presidential BFFs Receive Recognition in a Romp of a Read 

September 16, 2021

Imagine you are a contestant on “Jeopardy!” and you select “Presidents and Their Female Friends” for $200. The host says: “This 20th-century president was known for his close relationships with […]

Kitty Kelley Book Club: ‘Blind Man’s Bluff: A Memoir’ 

August 18, 2021

Some memoirs flicker like fireflies on a summer night. Others pierce your psyche with their subjects’ tortured experiences, consequent miseries and — finally — their oh-so-glorious survival. “The Story of […]

The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free

July 14, 2021

THIS OTHERWISE INFORMATIVE HISTORY IS HAMSTRUNG BY ITS FIXATION ON SYLVIA PLATH’S NOTORIOUS SUICIDE Back in the day (circa 1930 – 1960), small-town girls with big-city dreams headed for New […]