The Bolton Book Club is always open to new members and invites you to join them for an amazing time. To participate, stop by the library to get a copy of this month's book*. Then, on Tuesday, February 8, at 10 a.m., the Bolton Book Club will meet at the Annie T. Jeffers Library on W. Madison Street. Meetings are socially distanced for safety.
CORRECTIONS CONCERNING THE FEBRUARY MEETING: The club's February meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 8 at 10:00 a.m. (not February 15, as stated in an earlier article). And the Club has selected a new book for the February meeting: The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier.
* The book for February is The Measure of a Man,a spiritual autobiography by Sidney Poitier.
For more information, call 601- 866-4247 or stop by the Annie T. Jeffers Library, 111 W. Madison Street, Bolton MS. website: www.JHLibrary.org Please wear a mask and observe social distancing for safety.
Library hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon, and 1 p.m. until 6 p.m.; Saturdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The library is closed on Fridays and Sundays.
About the book: In this memoir, Poitier, looks back on his celebrated life and career. He explores elements of character and personal values to take his own measure as a man, as a husband and a father, and as an actor.
Poitier credits his parents and his childhood on tiny Cat Island in the Bahamas for equipping him with the unflinching sense of right and wrong and of self-worth that he has never surrendered and that have dramatically shaped his world. "In the kind of place where I grew up," recalls Poitier, "what's coming at you is the sound of the sea and the smell of the wind and momma's voice and the voice of your dad and the craziness of your brothers and sisters...and that's it." Without television, radio, and material distractions to obscure what matters most, he could enjoy the simple things, endure the long commitments, and find true meaning in his life.
Uncompromising as he pursued a personal and public life, Poitier aimed to honor his upbringing and the invaluable legacy of his parents. Just a few years after his introduction to indoor plumbing and the automobile, Poitier broke racial barrier after racial barrier to launch a pioneering acting career. Committed to the notion that what one does for a living shows who one is, Poitier chose to play forceful and affecting characters who said something positive, useful, and lasting about the human condition. "The true measure of a man is in how he provided for his children" this was one lesson Sidney learnt from his father and held dear to his heart all his life.
Poitier explores the nature of sacrifice and commitment, price and humility, rage and forgiveness, and paying the price for artistic integrity. What emerges is a picture of a man in the face of limits; his own as well as the world's.
Sidney Poitier, born February 20, 1927, was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1963, he was the first Black person and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He passed away on January 6, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
