Description: A darling and brilliant new novel that explores race and class in the 1950s America. The war is over, the soldiers are returning, and Nat King Cole is back in his home town of Montgomery, Alabama, for a rare performance. His childhood friend, Nat Weary, plans to propose to his sweetheart, and the singer will honor their moment with a special song. But while the world has changed, segregated Jim Crow Montgomery remains the same. When a white man attacks Cole with a pipe, Weary leaps from the audience to defend him - an act that will lead to a 10-year prison sentence. But the singer will not forget his friend and the sacrifice he made. Six months before Weary is released, he receives a remarkable offer: he will be Nat King Cole's driver and bodyguard. It is the promise of a new life removed from the terror, violence, and degradation of Jim Crow Alabama. Weary discovers that, while in Los Angeles is far different from the deep South, it is a place of discrimination, mistrust, and intolerance where a black man - even one as talented and popular as Nat King Cole - is not wholly welcome. An indelible portrait of prejudice and promise, friendshit and loyalty, Driving the King is a daring look at race and class in pre-Civil Rights America, played out in the lives of two remarkable men.
Brief description: Adam Lazarre-White grew up in NYC and went to Harvard University, graduating with honors in government and political philosophy. He was the quarterback for The Harvard Crimson and played in The Harvard Jazz Band. He studied voice with Ken Howard, movement with Claire Malardie, and modern drama with renowned director of both Yale Rep and Harvard's ART, Robert Brustein. As an actor, Adam quickly became known in Hollywood on Living Single, Martin, Will & Grace, and The Parkers, and for his role as "Flynn" in the Emmy Award-winning NBC mini-series, The Temptations. He was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for his lead role as "Nathan Hastings" on The Young and the Restless. His twenty-year resume includes 2018 blockbuster, Uncle Drew, Joel Edgerton's 2015 hit directorial debut, The Gift (with Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall), Glow (2017 Netflix series from Jenji Kohan [Orange Is the New Black]), and Rosewood, as well as Criminal Minds, Scandal, Royal Pains, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Love's Routine (with Willam Defoe) and Ocean's 13 (with Al Pacino). Adam's narration won an Audie Award for May The Road Rise Up To Meet You and an AudioFile Earphones Award for bestselling author Joyce Carol Oats's The Sacrifice. Adam is proud of recent delightful, musical teen novel, Clayton Byrd Goes Underground, the peek into Nat King Cole's inspiring life, Driving The King, but perhaps his highlight was narrating the great James Baldwin's Go Tell It on The Mountain. "Lazarre-White delivers a perfect presentation. He accurately captures accents of Harlem and of the Deep South but avoids stereotyping." -AudioFile magazine Adam's nonfiction includes Mike Tyson's recent release, Iron Ambition, extraordinary first person narratives from award-winning journalists in The Beholder's Eye, Tony Dungy's daily devotional, Uncommon Life; and Stuart Scott's chronicle of his battle with cancer. In other artistic work, Adam was a senior writer on staff of Vin Diesel's groundbreaking webseries, The Ropes, available on Netflix and Crackle. He has penned many original pilots and screenplays. As a director, Adam reached the 3rd round of Oscar voting for his short film, 200 Years. He cowrote, produced and starred in Forgiveness, with Richard T. Jones, which won of the Martha's Vineyard Film Festival HBO Prize; and swept the San Diego Black Film Fest., including Best Feature & Best Supporting Actor for Adam. Adam adapted and produced TV Movies for The Dreambuilder Foundation & Proctor & Gamble: Just Passin' Through and What Angles Fear (both won Emmys for Regional TV); he also won consecutive regional Emmys as lead actor.
Review Quotes:
"A moving tale about bigotry and the power of friendship."
-- "People"