ALEXANDRIA, VA, June 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Born and Raised in Sawdust: My Journey Around the World in Eighty Years” by Lewis Thigpen Ph. D., PE (licensed professional engineer) is a captivating biography that serves as a gateway of insight to the many sides of the American Dream. In “Born and Raised in Sawdust,” Thigpen provides commentary on the difficulty he faced achieving his dreams as a black man in a recently desegregated America, and how the journey to greatness may be arduous but is ultimately worth it.
It wasn’t until he had retired and met a former barber in a hardware store that he realized his life was a story worth telling. The barber was working on an archive of African Americans in Gadsden County, Florida, who he thought to be successful. He asked Thigpen for some information on himself and his family. The barber passed away before he was able to compile the stories of those from the area, so Thigpen took it upon himself to write his story down.
“As I wrote that outline, the idea came to me that I should write my memoirs. Several years later after my grandniece, a member of the next generation of the family, who wanted to know what my life was like when I was a child, I definitively decided to write my life story to inspire others that they can overcome major challenges and have success in life,” Dr. Thigpen said.
“A most interesting and magnetic read, the book presents the fascinating experiences of one of America’s brilliant African American sons… Growing up in the Jim Crow South at a time when the odds of surviving, let alone pursuing and achieving any kind of academic goal was an elusive dream to most blacks, Dr. Lewis Thigpen proved a man of incredible drive, incredible ambition, brilliance, and unselfishness. A motivating legacy to the African American community,” a reviewer wrote about the book.
Readers will enjoy Thigpen’s ability to highlight a time when not every American was created equal, and his journey to success despite many obstacles. They will also find his journey and story to be a source of courage to manifest their own destinies in their lives, despite the naysayers or any problems they encounter along their path. Additionally, his memoir spotlights points in history that readers can relate to current events including; the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, Roosevelt’s New Deal, and global warming. By touching on these topics in his memoir, Thigpen helps readers gain more knowledge of the influence these defining moments in history have on the present.
“Born and Raised in Sawdust: My Journey Around the World in Eighty Years”
By Lewis Thigpen Ph. D., PE
ISBN: 9781728329611 (softcover); 9781728329604 (hardcover); 9781728329598 (electronic)
Available at the AuthorHouse Online Bookstore, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the author
Born in the 1930s and raised on his family’s farm in Gadsden County, FL, Thigpen was worried about being a farmworker for the remainder of his life. He joined the U.S. Army in 1955, where he achieved an E-5 rank and saw the world from a different lens. Upon his return from deployment to Germany, Thigpen received an education from Howard University and the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is a renowned engineer, scholar and inventor. Prior to his retirement, he was a research scientist at leading national laboratories, tenured professor, and university administrator. His research has been published in numerous juried science and engineering journals.
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