AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: No Color Is My Kind: The Life of Eldrewey Stearns and the Integration of Houston, Texas by Thomas R. Cole ISBN: 0292711980 Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr Pub. Date: June, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 5

Rating: 5
Summary: More than just History
Comment: In a sense this is two books. While it starts with a discussion of how the author, a medical ethicist, was drawn to write this book about Eldrewey Stearns, the first 100 pages primarily tells the story of integration in Houston, Texas in the late 50s and 60s. It's a compelling and interesting story, but it is more compellingly told by the video that was made simultaneously with this book. That video, The Strange Demise of Jim Crow: How Houston Desegregated Its Public Accomodations, 1959-1963 is available from University of Texas Press (I can't find it on Amazon). The video includes interviews with many of the prominent actors in this drama and is always a favorite when I use it in my Introduction to US and Texas Politics class.
The second 100 pages of the book is about Eldrewey Stearns' life before and after the movement. Stearns was one of the leaders of the civil rights movement in Houston, but he is also someone who has struggled with mental illness all his life. This book provides a fascinating insight into the struggles the author goes through in trying to help Eldrewey and to understand this complex, flawed, yet sometimes heroic man. He also comes to considerable insight about himself through the process of trying to chronicle Eldrewey's story.
An excellent read, whether you are interested in the history of the movement or in getting an understanding of how it is to deal with mental illness.

Rating: 5
Summary: Fascinating book about Houston, integration, and two men
Comment: In the 1990s I spent two years traveling in Europe. One day in a Hungarian history museum I hit the wall: Here I was reading all about the Magyars, but I knew little about my own hometown--Houston, Texas--except whatever I'd been forced to memorize eons ago in grade school. Unfortunately, once I got back to Texas I found many of the local history books unbearable: "In 1832, Lamar So-and-So reined in his trusty steed at the banks of Buffalo Bayou." I gave up my getting-to-know-Houston project until recently, when I stumbled upon No Color is My Kind: The Life of Eldrewey Stearns and the Integration of Houston. This is easily the best book I've ever read about Houston history. Thomas Cole personalizes the story, makes himself visible as a person confronting his own ideals, frustrations, and personal myths. His subject, Eldrewey Stearns, is obviously no easy man to pin down. Stearns has troubles, and I'm afraid he suffers more than most people. However, the fact that the writer refused--or was unable--to paint Stearns as a perfectly noble (and flat) hero is, in my opinion, exactly why Stearns is such a moving figure and why this work is so much richer than the Daughters of the American Revolution (or worse, Daughters of the Confederacy) tributes that so many other books about Houston and Houstonians seem to be. Stearns is real, and Cole's depiction of him and his part in Houston's integration movement deepened my appreciation for African-Americans' struggles and their courageous stands.