A Remarkable Mother
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Overview
A Remarkable Mother is President Carter's loving, admiring, wry homage to Miss Lillian Carter, who championed the underdog always, even when her son was president.
A registered nurse, pecan grower, university housemother, Peace Corps volunteer, public speaker, and renowned raconteur, Miss Lillian ignored the mores and prejudices of the racially segregated South of the Great Depression years. She was an avid supporter of the Brooklyn Dodgers (because she happened to attend the first major league baseball game in which Jackie Robinson, from Cairo, Georgia, played), was a favored guest on television talk shows (usually able to "steal the microphone" from hosts such as Johnny Carson and Walter Cronkite), and an important role model for the nation.
Jimmy Carter's mother emerges from this portrait as redoubtable, generous, and forward-looking. He ascribes to her the inspiration for his own life's work of commitment and faith.
Synopsis
A Remarkable Mother is President Carter’s loving, admiring, wry homage to Miss Lillian Carter.
The Washington Post - Carolyn See
…although this little book may have been timed for Mother's Day, it's far from the sentimental tribute one might expect…In her personal journey from farm wife to public figure, Lillian Carter (who died in 1983) was part of a larger sea change in American life: from a mostly rural society to an expansive, prosperous, confident player on the world stage. This is an unexpectedly engrossing family chronicle.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Lillian Carter was a remarkable woman indeed. Not only was this long-lived (1898-1983) Georgia native the mother of the 39th president of the United States; Bessie Lillian Gordy Carter was also a registered nurse, a pecan grower, a university housemother, a Peace Corps volunteer in India, a public speaker, an author, and a down-to-earth television raconteur. As exceptional as "Miz Lillian" was, however, Jimmy Carter's heartfelt tribute to her will strike a chord with any daughter or son whose mother continues to amaze.Carolyn See
…although this little book may have been timed for Mother's Day, it's far from the sentimental tribute one might expect…In her personal journey from farm wife to public figure, Lillian Carter (who died in 1983) was part of a larger sea change in American life: from a mostly rural society to an expansive, prosperous, confident player on the world stage. This is an unexpectedly engrossing family chronicle.—The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
Former president Carter (author of Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid as well as many inspirational books) now offers readers the story of his extraordinary mother, Lillian Carter (1898-1983). After laying out some family history, he comes to Lillian's teen years, when she trained as a nurse at the onset of World War I. Health conditions in rural Georgia, especially later, during the Depression, were so dire that nurses were often diagnosticians as well as caregivers. Nursing also brought Lillian close to the black community, building personal bonds that paved the way for later political alliances. After her husband died, Lillian moved from wife and mother to full-fledged "matriarch," and later volunteered for the Peace Corps and worked in India. Being able to help such needy people was intensely satisfying, although she never got preachy about it. She'd write home, for example, that the Indian doctor she worked with was so "damned good you can't imagine him going to the bathroom." Modern readers who assume that church-going Southern Baptists don't swear, drink or work to promote birth control will find Lillian an eye-opener. She played an unofficial though vital role as the Carter administration's goodwill ambassador around the world-she almost persuaded our government to let Muhammad Ali bargain with Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini for our hostages taken in 1979. Carter offers wonderful stories about a great woman. B&w photos throughout. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Library Journal
Former U.S. President, Nobel prize winner, and New York Times best-selling author (Our Endangered Values) Carter has written-and here reads-a lovely, humorous, and moving homage to his mother, "Miss Lillian," crediting her for instilling in him his lifelong sense of duty, commitment, and faith as well as acknowledging her generous, forward-thinking, and collaborative-minded sensibility. Carter's reading is heartfelt and earnest, and his affection for everyone in his family, particularly his mother, is palpable, making it difficult to imagine encountering the contents of the story in any other format. [Includes a bonus CD from the original audio series "Sunday Mornings in Plains: Bible Study with Jimmy Carter"; the S. & S. hc was "recommended for all libraries," LJ4/1/08.-Ed.]
—Pam Kingsbury