For more information please contact Jessica Plaskett:
(203) 458-4511/jplaskett@rowman.com
Advance Praise…
“Son of Virginia is an instant classic that will inform and inspire for generations to come.”
–Prof. Larry J. Sabato, Director, University of Virginia Center for Politics
“Governor Wilder’s memoir is must-reading for anyone seeking to understand why Virginia, the place where America began, is once again a national bellwether.”
–Frank B. Atkinson, author of The Dynamic Dominion and Virginia in the Vanguard
“Son of Virginia is a vivid, detailed, remarkably candid memoir that shares with readers the thinking, impressions, and feelings of the first elected African American governor in the United States…Son of Virginia is itself an important historical document.”
— Randall Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law, Harvard University
Son of Virginia
A Life in America’s Political Arena
Lyons Press is proud to announce the October 2015 release of Son of Virginia: A Life in America’s Political Arena (Lyons Press, Oct. 2015, 978-1-4930-1-0837, $26.95, Cloth) by Lawrence Douglas Wilder.
This is the first autobiography of Lawrence Douglas Wilder, a grandson of slaves, who was sworn in as Governor of Virginia in a January 1990 ceremony that changed the political face of the United States. In Virginia, long ago the centerpiece of the Confederacy, Wilder became the first African American to assume a governorship by virtue of winning a popular vote. Son of Virginia details the events of the Wilder’s life to paint a portrait of the changing face of America. It’s a story of his challenges and conflict, and the struggles of the courageous people who stood up to decades of discrimination, corruption and greed.
Lawrence Douglas Wilder served as the first African American to be elected as governor of Virginia. Wilder served as the 66th Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. When earlier elected as Lieutenant Governor, he was the first African American elected to statewide office in
Virginia. His most recent political office was Mayor of Richmond, Virginia, which he held from 2005 to 2009.
Lyons Press authors include some of the foremost experts writing today about American and military history, sports, hunting, fishing, nature and pets. We’re proud to have published early work by mountaineer Jon Krakauer and naturalist Rick Bass, as well as recent best-sellers by National Book Award finalist Domingo Martinez and Big Ten Network host Dave Revsine. Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot, the trade division of Rowman & Littlefield.