Mary, Wayfarer
An Autobiography
by Mary E. Mebane

240 pp., 5 1/2 x 8 1/2

ISBN: 0-8078-4822-0 Paperback $17.95

   

Continuing Mary, an uncompromising account of what it was like to be black, highly educated, and independent in the South during the 1950s and 1960s, Mary Mebane recounts her years as a high school teacher, college instructor, Ph.D. student, and finally, professor.

"Not romanticizing the black world nor anathematizing the white, Mebane's memoir exposes hard realities of both from a vantage point between them."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

"The story of [Mary Mebane's] struggle for self-fulfillment and of her pride as a participant in and an observer of the history of black freedom in the making is told honestly and poignantly."--Hornbook

Continuing the candid autobiography begun in Mary, this book is an uncompromising account of what it was like to be black, highly educated, and independent in the South during the 1950s and 1960s. Mary Mebane recounts her years as a high school teacher, college instructor, Ph.D. student, and finally, professor. Despite her achievements, she believes that she will never really be accepted in any community, black or white.

Mary, Wayfarer chronicles Mebane's struggle to create meaning in her life, her pride as a participant in and observer of the black freedom struggle, her encounters with such important figures as Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Malcolm X, and her joy upon finally discovering what she calls "the gulf stream" of her life, writing.

Mary E. Mebane (1933-1992) was a graduate of North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned a Ph.D. in English. She taught at the University of South Carolina and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and was also a frequent contributor to the op-ed page of the New York Times.


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