Author Talk: The Making of Martin Luther King Jr. (Mill Valley)

Submitted by the Event Organizer

From a preeminent King scholar, the origin story of the man, minister, and civil rights hero who would lead the nation and change the world. The Library is excited to welcome the director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, Lerone Martin to discuss his new book, Young King: The Making of Martin Luther King, Jr.

We know who Martin Luther King, Jr. became, but who was he at the beginning of his life? How did his youth inform his outlook and activism?

Before Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights leader, a Nobel Laureate, and a global hero, he was an emotional boy, a middling high school student devoted to fashion, dancing, and dating. Lerone A. Martin traces these roots to develop a fuller understanding of the influential preacher’s emotional life, his youthful confusion about his future and career direction, his teenage missteps, and his inspiration to fight for justice.

As America undergoes another era of turmoil and change, this powerful biography provides a vital roadmap for how greatness comes to light. This essential work is a testament to how history shapes a leader.

Lerone A. Martin is the Martin Luther King, Jr., Centennial Professor in Religious Studies and director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. Dr. Martin is an internationally recognized award-winning author and public speaker. His writing and commentary have been featured on the Today show, the History Channel, PBS, NPR, and C-SPAN as well as in the New York Times and the Boston Globe. He currently serves as senior editor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project and was an adviser on the PBS documentary series Gospel. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Photo by Luna K

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