Description:
Impassioned civil rights activist, champion of women's rights, hard-driving legislator -- U.S. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is known in Washington as the "Warrior on the Hill." Fire in My Soul is the story of Norton's extraordinary political career, told from a personal perspective.
Author Joan Steinau Lester met Norton in 1958 while they were both students at Antioch College. Fire in My Soul charts their longstanding friendship and tells of Norton's rise to leadership -- from her early on-campus activism to demanding a Senate hearing for Anita Hill to standing before the Supreme Court to uphold first amendment rights. Filled with scores of Lester's conversations and correspondence with Norton, interviews with Norton's colleagues and confidantes, and dozens of original photographs, Fire in My Soul is a compelling biography of one of the greatest political pioneers in American history.
Brief description: Joan Steinau Lester, Ed.D., is an award-winning journalist and author of four critically acclaimed books. Her writing has appeared in many newspapers and magazines, including Essence, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Cosmopolitan. She lives in Northern California.
Review Quotes: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Chair, Department of African and African-American Studies, Harvard University Norton is an inspirational figure to us all. Hers is a truly fascinating story, and I am delighted that [Joan Lester has] chosen to tell it in such an engaging way.