Join us to discuss "Officer Clemmons: A Memoir" by François Clemmons. Reserved copies will be available starting 1/27 at the lobby holds shelf.
When he created the role of Officer Clemmons on the award-winning television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, François Clemmons made history as the first African American actor to have a recurring role on a children's program. A new, wide world opened for Clemmons--but one that also required him to make painful personal choices and sacrifices. Officer Clemmons details Clemmons's incredible life story, beginning with his early years in Alabama and Ohio, marked by family trauma and loss, through his studies as a music major at Oberlin College, where Clemmons began to investigate and embrace his homosexuality, to a chance encounter with Fred Rogers that changed the whole course of both men's lives, leading to a deep, spiritual friendship and mentorship spanning nearly forty years.
"In the book, he [Clemmons] doesn't ask you to be his neighbor, but rather just to hear his story: One of a man of profound strength and talent who stood up, sang out, and, after great struggle, was heard." - NPR
Footnotes is a nonfiction book discussion. Our next meetings are:
AGE GROUP: | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Programs | One Book, One Community | Book Discussions |
