Celebrity READ poster series

The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce that  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has joined the popular Celebrity READ poster series. The Celebrity READ poster campaign is one of the most effective ways to encourage people to get a good education, improve their reading skills, and to read for sheer enjoyment. The ALA has been fortunate to have the support of many actors, athletes, artists, and musicians who support the campaign to increase public awareness of the importance and pleasure of reading. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar joins other notable stars like Orlando Bloom, Salma Hayek, Corbin Bleu, Tony Hawk, Serena Williams, Rachael Ray, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar is the 2008 Honorary Chair Library Card Sign-up Month, which takes place in September. He will also appear at the American Library’s National Convention on June 28th and 29th at the Long Beach Convention Center to sign his poster.

To purchase Mr. Abdul-Jabbar's  poster and to view the entire line of Celebrity READ Posters, please click here.

A mystery lesson

I love mysteries.  I’m a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories, as well as hard-boiled writers like Chester Himes, Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammett.  Desperate criminals chased down mean streets by world-weary detectives, now that’s entertainment.  That’s why I’m especially excited that Raymond Obstfeld, my friend and co-writer of "On the Shoulders of Giants," has just published a suspense thriller that’s set in Southern California.  This book is the first in a series about Stevie Croft, an assistant district attorney with a remarkable ability: she possesses hyper-memory, the uncanny ability to remember everything she’s ever seen or heard or read.  As she discovers, the ability is more of a burden than a blessing.  She’s kept this ability a secret, until a clever and demented serial killer threatens to reveal it. Unless she uses her power to catch him.  The problem is, Stevie’s hyper-memory is starting to fail, and in her pursuit of the killer, other dark family secrets are exposed.  Great concept for a movie or television series!

Because Raymond and I are friends, I don’t think it’s appropriate that I review the book, but I will quote Shirley Johnson, the reviewer from MidWest Book Review:

"I have to tell you I absolutely loved this book.  The characters were so well developed that I thought of them as people I had known all my life. The story took me down alleys, into close spaces, and had me racing for my life just like the characters in the book. Talk about drawing a person into the action, this book certainly does that. I was caught up in their traumas, their emotions, and every aspect of their lives.  Good job! The kicker here, however, is the conclusion.  I was shocked, beyond shock.  I would have never guessed what was coming in a million years, and I'm pretty good at figuring mysteries out.  What a twist!"         

All I can say is hold onto your hat when you're reading this book.  It's going to have you speeding down the road at a one fast clip.  You will not be bored, that much I guarantee, as your mind  is racing trying to figure out the next move of the killer, what is going on in Stevie's personal life, and how all the other characters are involved. I don't know when I have enjoyed reading a book as much as I have this one.

Exceptional! Highly recommended!!

The real history of the light bulb

I’m currently writing a children’s book, What Color Is My Day? How African-American Inventors Affect Your Daily Life, that shows children how many conveniences that they take for granted every day were actually the result of African-American inventors.  One of the inventors I profile is Lewis Latimer.  Look over at the light bulb that is helping you read this and think about him.

Flip a switch and the light bulb instantly brightens a room. Ask any child who is responsible for that light and they will shout, “Thomas Edison!” Yes, Edison did invent a light bulb—but his bulb had such a short lifespan that it lasted only a few days.  This made it impractical for general use because to keep replacing bulbs every few days would be much too expensive for people. And, without a practical light bulb, there wasn’t much incentive for people to wire their homes with electricity. But then came African-American inventor Lewis Latimer, who had already distinguished himself by inventing a bathroom for use on trains (much to the relief of kid travelers) and who drafted the patent application for the telephone for Alexander Graham Bell.

Wanting to create a light bulb that would last longer than a few days, he devised his own bulb. His lasted so much longer that people were able to afford them, which then made it much easier to convince the average person to allow electricity into their homes. So, though Edison invented the light bulb, it was Latimer who improved it so much that people actually were able to use it.

photo of Lewis Latimer, public domain