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42 Today: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy Audiobook
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Publisher Description
Explores Jackie Robinson's compelling and complicated legacy
Before the United States Supreme Court ruled against segregation in public schools, and before Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, Jackie Robinson walked onto the diamond on April 15, 1947, as first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, making history as the first African American to integrate Major League Baseball in the twentieth century. Today a national icon, Robinson was a complicated man who navigated an even more complicated world that both celebrated and despised him.
Many are familiar with Robinson as a baseball hero. Few, however, know of the inner turmoil that came with his historic status. Featuring piercing essays from a range of distinguished sportswriters, cultural critics, and scholars, this book explores Robinson's perspectives and legacies on civil rights, sports, faith, youth, and nonviolence, while providing rare glimpses into the struggles and strength of one of the nation's most athletically gifted and politically significant citizens. Featuring a foreword by celebrated directors and producers Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon, this volume recasts Jackie Robinson’s legacy and establishes how he set a precedent for future civil rights activism, from Black Lives Matter to Colin Kaepernick.
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“Narrator Mirron Willis…brings a powerful resonance to a subject that demands exactly that. It is the narration that helps pull together the individual chapters…Willis narrates with an interested tone and with emotion. He helps listeners understand that Robinson cannot be painted in broad strokes but rather in specific ones that reveal an enigmatic human being.”
— AudioFile
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“This collection of essays explores baseball legend Jackie Robinson’s complicated legacy, his impact on society, and the inner turmoil that came with his historic achievements.”
— USA Today -
“These pieces embody all of what made Robinson special, assessing him through many different lenses…give[s] a towering cultural figure his due beyond the baselines.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
“Explore[s] lesser-known aspects of the life of Jackie Robinson…[An] excellent anthology.”
— Publishers Weekly -
The one constant is narrator Mirron Willis, whose voice brings a powerful resonance to a subject that demands exactly that. It is the narration that helps pull together the individual chapters.
— AudioFile
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About the Authors
Michael G. Long is associate professor of religious studies and peace and conflict studies at Elizabethtown College. He is also the author or editor of several books on civil rights, religion, politics, and peacemaking in mid-century America.
Jonathan Eig is the New York Times bestselling author of five critically acclaimed books, including the Pulitzer Prize winner King: A Life. He is a former staff writer for the Wall Street Journal, and he remains a contributing writer there. He has written for the New York Times, the New Yorker, Esquire, the Washington Post, and other publications. He has appeared on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and in two Ken Burns films for PBS. He also worked with Burns to develop a documentary on Muhammad Ali that aired in 2021.
Colleen Delany has been a sparkling jewel in the crown of Washington’s vastly talented acting community for thirty-seven days now and will confidently challenge to a fierce best out of three in “paper-rock-scissors” anyone wishing to topple her from that lofty perch. Primarily a stage actress,—having played roles at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, Folger Shakespeare Library, Studio Theatre, Olney Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Theater J, Washington Stage Guild, Theater of the First Amendment, and Source Theatre, among others—Ms. Delany does a you-name-it of various acting jobs, including audiobook narration.
About Mirron Willis
Mirron Willis—actor of film, stage, and television—is the winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration in 2012 and a finalist for the Audie in 2015, as well as the winner of four AudioFile Earphones Awards for his audiobook recordings. He has worked extensively in film and television and on stage with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Houston Shakespeare Festival, and the Ensemble Theatre, among others. He has recorded some 150 audiobooks, including the Smokey Dalton series by Kris Nelscott and My Song by Harry Belafonte. He resides and records audiobooks on his family’s historic ranch in East Texas.