I bought this book at a book sale for $1. I don't think that I would have read it otherwise. "To Sir with Love" is one of my favorite movies. I don't remember if I've seen "In the Heat of the Night" from beginning to end or not but I know I've seen big chunks of it. I'm going to make it a point to see all of Poitier's movies.

I never thought about the challenges he faced as a black man when he first appeared on the acting scene. I guess that's probably true for a lot of people considering how many big African-African stars there are. I'm glad he talks about racism in the book. A lot of people don't like it when I talk about the racism I experienced growing up in the second half of the 1960s in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They say things like "It doesn't exist anymore" and they feel uncomfortable talking about it. If that's the case, then why do we talk about glass ceilings?

He attributes much of his success to his upbringing. He had a mother, father and older sister who loved and disciplined him. Even though they were poor, he had enough to eat and freedom to grow up and play in nature. There were no limits placed on him because of his race and he didn't really know about racism until his family moved to Nassau.

I was quite surprised at the use of foul language in the book -- I'm not sure that it was necessary. Although I enjoyed reading the book on a train ride ride to and from Ottawa, I don't know that I would pay full price for it. I'm used to marking up my books, underlining, highlighting, writing in the margins and front and end pages. I can't do that with a library book which is why I go to book sales.