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Vernon Can Read
by: Vernon E., Jr. Jordan, Annette Gordon-Reed

Amazon.com's Price: $115.95

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Binding: Audio CD
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780792799498
Format: Unabridged
ISBN: 0792799496
Label: Sound Library
Manufacturer: Sound Library
Number Of Items: 10
Publication Date: 2001-12
Publisher: Sound Library
Sales Rank: 3957525
Studio: Sound Library

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
From the civil rights revolution to the halls of power, the life story of a truly larger-than-life figure, Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.

A number-one Washington Post bestseller, this memoir is the unforgettable story of a life and its times. As a student in Atlanta, Vernon Jordan had a summer job driving a white banker around town. During the man's afternoon naps, Jordan passed the time reading books, a fact that astounded his boss. 'Vernon can read!' the man exclaimed to his relatives. Nearly fifty years later, Vernon Jordan, long-time civil rights leader, adviser and close friend to presidents and business leaders, remembers the sweeping struggles, changes, and dangers of black life during the civil rights revolution.

After attending a predominantly white college in the Midwest and graduating from Howard University Law School, Jordan dedicated himself to the civil rights movement. He led the drive to register black voters in the South and was president of the National Urban League, one of the great civil rights organizations of the era, where he was instrumental in integrating American businesses and providing economic and social support to the expanding black middle class. He survived a white racist's assassination attempt and later became a pillar of America's legal, corporate, and political worlds.

But Jordan's life was shaped in his early years, and this book is also a moving testament to the family whose support and courage provided the framework for his achievements. Vernon Can Read! chronicles a life of courage, pride, sacrifice, style, and accomplishment.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- A Piece of History
A fantastic book detailing the magnificent journey of a tremendous American! This book is packed with historical facts about the lives of Black people in America. Vernon Jordan was born in 1935 and although he did not live through slavery, he certainly lived through the Jim Crow days. However with a good father and a strong mother, he didn't just survive - he flourished. Yes, Vernon could and did indeed 'read'. The names of people mentioned in this book are dizzying. This man dealt with a wide range of people in his career.
I loved the potent messages that came through with great clarity. Such as "never expect defeat before making an honest effort" pg.2 or pg. 277 his beliefs in concerted efforts..."each person or group using their abilities, contributing what they can to move things forward." I must also mention how happy I was to note Jordan's love for the women in his life; his mother, his invalid wife Shirley ... Read More

Rating:

- A good read, but leaves something out
I also never heard of Vernon Jordan before the Lewinsky scandal. I am very glad I read this book. It is a shame that many Americans never heard of his interesting and enlightening story about coming of age in the civil rights era. That seems to me to be the theme of this book, that the civil rights era opened the doors to places of power not dreamed of before, if only one had the ambition and the character to find them.

Like a few other reviewers, I also wish that the author revealed more about the period between when he was in charge of the Urban League. This period is when he made his contacts with very many powerful people in charge of corporations and institutions, received a fellowship at Harvard Business School, and started on his way to become a 'power broker'. I guess if you read between the lines the corporate/foundation contacts made him beholden to the business community, and then retiring from the ... Read More

Rating:

- A peek inside an extraordinary mind.
Read this book. Mr. Jordan not only provides insight and anecdotes about many events and individuals in American civil rights history, his words also give us a glimpse of the workings of an incredible mind. His memoirs are filled with stories and recollections proving that desire, determination and accountability to self and others are crucial for success in any of life's endeavors. Simply stated, I'm inspired.

Rating:

- We need the Unauthorized Biography.
This book is an unfortunate piece of near puffery: much form, much superficiality, little substance. But what does one expect from a Power Broker? Truth or Dare?

In keeping with the unwritten Power Broker Creed, Mr.Jordan reveals very little about the inside mechanations that made him who he is (as opposed to who he was). That is to say, the book speaks volumes about those life experiences that made Vernon Jordan the moderate civil rights leader he was years ago, but says exactly nothing about the transition from that leadership role, to the man who had the president's ear (not to mention the man who kept his secrets)and the ear of the REAL powerful people in this global econonmy: the corporate mavens for whom Vernon was (is?) paid handsomely to dish out advice and counsel to.

We never hear in any detail about how Jordan quietly but persistently accumulated the power he achieved and, indeed, what motivated ... Read More

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