Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Bandgt;In a dramatic, moving work of historical reporting and personal discovery, Mark Whitaker, award-winning journalist, sets out to trace the story of what happened to his parents, a fascinating but star-crossed interracial couple, and arrives at a new understanding of the family dramas that shaped their livesand#8212;and his own.andlt;/Bandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;His father, and#8220;Syland#8221; Whitaker, was the charismatic grandson of slaves who grew up the child of black undertakers from Pittsburgh and went on to become a groundbreaking scholar of Africa. His mother, Jeanne Theis, was a shy World War II refugee from France whose father, a Huguenot pastor, helped hide thousands of Jews from the Nazis and Vichy police. They met in the mid-1950s, when he was a college student and she was his professor, and they carried on a secret romance for more than a year before marrying and having two boys. Eventually they split in a bitter divorce that was followed by decades of unhappiness as his mother coped with self-recrimination and depression while trying to raise her sons by herself, and his father spiraled into an alcoholic descent that destroyed his once meteoric career. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Based on extensive interviews and documentary research as well as his own personal recollections and insights, andlt;Iandgt;My Long Trip Home andlt;/Iandgt;is a reporterand#8217;s search for the factual and emotional truth about a complicated and compelling family, a successful adultand#8217;s exploration of how he rose from a turbulent childhood to a groundbreaking career, and, ultimately, a sonand#8217;s haunting meditation on the nature of love, loss, identity, and forgiveness.
Review
and#8220;This is one of the most beautifully written and skillfully reported memoirs I have ever read. Searching to unlock the puzzle of his parentsand#8217; lives, Whitaker writes with empathy and insight, shifting seamlessly between a childand#8217;s recollection and an adult perspective. This story will capture your heart from start to finish.and#8221;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8212;Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of andlt;iandgt;Team of Rivalsandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"I picked up Mark Whitaker's My Long Trip Home and I couldn't put it down. He brings his gifts as a journalist and ultimately, his deep compassion as a human, to shed light on his own unique and very moving family story.
Review
"Mark Whitaker has given us a deeply personal, instructive and unsparing story of life in a contemporary bi-racial American family. It's all hereand#8212;the love, pride, anger, confusion and achievement from a man who rose to the top ranks of American journalism."andlt;BRandgt; and#8212;Tom Brokaw, journalist, author of andlt;iandgt;A Long Way from Homeandlt;/iandgt; and andlt;iandgt;The Greatest Generationandlt;/iandgt;
Review
and#8220;[a] poignant memoirand#8230;Whitaker is unsparing in his account of his father's sins and the scars they inflictedand#8230;but the author filters his profile through a rich reflection and understanding. Like Barack Obama's andlt;iandgt;Dreams from My Fatherandlt;/iandgt;, Whitaker's memoir is in many ways an iconic story of the postand#8211;civil rights era, one in which transcending racial barriers liberates people to succeedand#8212;and failand#8212;in their own peculiar ways.and#8221; andlt;bandgt;and#8212;andlt;iandgt; Publishers Weeklyandlt;/iandgt; (starred review)andlt;/bandgt;
Review
and#8220;A deeply moving history of family relations and racial identity.and#8221; andlt;bandgt;and#8212;andlt;iandgt;Booklist andlt;/iandgt;(starred review)andlt;/bandgt;
Review
and#8220;and#8230;a thoughtful account of growing up bi-racial at a point in this countryand#8217;s history when racial identities are in flux and when people of mixed race are ever more commonand#8230;. . For the most part Whitakerand#8217;s tone is objective, almost reportorial, which permits the reader to see his story clearly rather than through the mists of hyperventilated emotion. Itand#8217;s a good book.and#8221; and#8212;andlt;bandgt;andlt;iandgt;Washington Postandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/bandgt;
Review
and#8220;A heavily detailed and highly readable account of the author's lineageand#8230;the writing comes across as honest and wholly engaging. A fascinating personal treatise on racial identity and complicated father-son dynamicsandlt;bandgt;.and#8221; and#8212;andlt;iandgt;Kirkus Reviewsandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/bandgt;
Review
and#8220;Told straightforwardly, Whitaker's stories of life and work in proximity to power will appeal to government and media junkiesand#8230;The parallels to another high-achieving, mixed-race public figure are hard to ignore. Whitaker's retelling of his journalistic triumphs and missteps will remind readers that the face of America's elite is changing.and#8221; and#8212;andlt;bandgt;andlt;iandgt;Library Journalandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/bandgt;
Review
and#8220;A book filled with as much family tumult as Jeannette Walls described in andlt;iandgt;The Glass Castleandlt;/iandgt; and a racial factor to boot. . . . Mr. Whitaker . . . is well justified in thinking that his familyand#8217;s unusual history warrants book-length treatment. andlt;iandgt;My Long Trip Homeandlt;/iandgt; is full of remarkable stories.and#8221;andlt;bandgt; and#8212;andlt;iandgt;The New York Timesandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/bandgt;
Review
and#8220;I picked up Mark Whitaker's andlt;iandgt;My Long Trip Homeandlt;/iandgt; and I couldn't put it down. He brings his gifts as a journalist and ultimately, his deep compassion as a human, to shed light on his own unique and very moving family story. Spending time with these characters, himself included, reminded me of some of my favorite nights in the theater.and#8221;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8212;Anna Deavere Smith, playwright and performer, author of andlt;iandgt;Fires in the Mirrorandlt;/iandgt;
Synopsis
By eminent journalist Mark Whitaker, a search for his parents and their loving reconciliation.
About the Author
andlt;bandgt;Mark Whitakerandlt;/bandgt; is Executive Vice President and Managing Editor of CNN Worldwide, in charge of directing reporting and editorial content for Americaand#8217;s largest global television network. He was previously the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News and a reporter and editor at andlt;i andgt;Newsweekandlt;/iandgt;, where he rose to become the first African-American leader of a national newsweekly.