The Firebrand and the First Lady - by Patricia Bell-Scott (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A definitive biography of Murray, a trailblazing legal scholar and a tremendous influence on Mrs. Roosevelt." --Essence

In 1938, the twenty-eight-year-old Pauli Murray wrote a letter to the President and First Lady, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, protesting racial segregation in the South. Eleanor wrote back. So began a friendship that would last for a quarter of a century, as Pauli became a lawyer, principal strategist in the fight to protect Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and a co-founder of the National Organization of Women, and Eleanor became a diplomat and first chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Review Quotes

A Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Award for Excellence in Nonfiction - Nominated for the National Book Award - A Washington Post Notable Book - A San Francisco Chronicle, Kirkus, and Booklist Best Book of the Year - Lillian Smith Book Award - Finalist Georgia Author of the Year - Nominated Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award

"Masterful. . . . Powerful and important." --Boston Globe

"Thorough and engaging . . . Our lives are richer for the accounting of their friendship in this important book." --The Washington Post

"Tremendous." --The New York Times Book Review

"[Written] with the grace, compassion and diligent attention to detail that characterized both of its principal subjects. . . . 'The Firebrand' is someone whose inspiration is sorely needed." --USA Today

"A definitive biography of Murray, a trailblazing legal scholar and a tremendous influence on Mrs. Roosevelt." --Essence

"Bold, fast-paced, and vividly written, Patricia Bell-Scott's dual portrait of Pauli Murray and Eleanor Roosevelt significantly enhances the story of two luminous activists who learned much from each other across the color line." --Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of Eleanor Roosevelt I, II, and III

"Extraordinary and inspiring." --Shelf Awareness

"A fresh look at a fascinating friendship between two vivid individuals from very different worlds -- as well as a chronicle of the age-old conflict between the highest ideals and the art of the possible." --Geoffrey C. Ward, author of The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

"A groundbreaking portrait . . . essential and edifying." --Booklist (starred review)

"Should inspire all readers. Rarely has a friendship been dissected and analyzed with such verve and open-eyed compassion." --Wil Haygood, author of Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination that Changed America

"Deftly reveals two women's crucial involvement in the struggle for civil rights . . . An absorbing historical page-turner." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The extraordinary life of Pauli Murray, activist, poet, teacher, priest and "firebrand" for all seasons, is beautifully detailed in Patricia Bell-Scott's book. . . . [Murray and Roosevelt's] history together reverberates today as the fight for equality continues, making this book important reading for all of us." --Jane Alexander, award winning actress

"Bell-Scott shines a bright light on this significant relationship. A fresh look at Eleanor Roosevelt and a fascinating exploration of a cherished, mutually beneficial friendship." --Kirkus Reviews, (starred review)

"What an exquisite book! Patricia Bell-Scott has done the painstaking research on two women who in many respects couldn't have been more different, but in at least one respect - their unique friendship--shared a passion for truth. . . . Patricia Bell-Scott has given us a book that will inspire and give hope to all who read it." --The Rt. Rev. Mary D. Glasspool, Bishop Suffragan, Diocese of Los Angeles.

"Biography at its best: intimate while revealing of society in its time. Patricia Bell-Scott sees all, and her view is both engrossing and encouraging." --Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth, A Life, A Symbol

About the Author

PATRICIA BELL-SCOTT is professor emerita of women's studies and human development and family science at the University of Georgia. Her previous books include Life Notes: Personal Writings by Contemporary Black Women, Flat-Footed Truths: Telling Black Women's Lives, and Double Stitch: Black Women Write About Mothers & Daughters, which won the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize. She lives in Athens, Georgia, with her husband, Charles V. Underwood Jr.