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Fly in the Buttermilk

The Life Story of Cecil Reed
Foreword Author(s): 
Albert E. Stone
Author with: 
Priscilla Donovan


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1993
208 pages, 47 photos
Paper: 
$20.00
0-87745-416-7
978-0-87745-416-8

"During a time when America was convulsing internally from the struggles of black Americans to gain their full and equal constitutional rights, Cecil Reed, as a black political leader, was proving to Iowa and America that the color of a person's skin has nothing to do with their natural leadership abilities. Fly in the Buttermilk is a moving experience of one man's triumphs over adversity of all kinds and his ultimate victory as a black American. I highly recommend this book to every American."—Harold E. Hughes

Born in 1913 in Collinsville, Illinois, Cecil Reed has lived all his life in the Midwest as a black man among whites. This self-styled fly in the buttermilk worked among whites with such skill and grace that they were barely aware of his existence—unless he wanted to get a bank loan or move into their neighborhood. Now, in his lively and optimistic autobiography, he speaks of his resilience throughout a life spent working peacefully but passionately for equality.