Amazon.com Review
Reginald Lewis--who died in 1993 when his daughter, Christina, was only 12--was the first black American to build a billion-dollar business. He was an impossibly confident, charismatic, and exacting man who studied his way out of segregated east Baltimore, and into a world of affluence dominated by whites. Lewis earned everything he got in life, except perhaps the one thing that set him on his path to success: admission to Harvard Law School. Family legend has it that Reginald literally talked his way into Harvard through an affirmative action program. It is this conundrum that leads his now-grown daughter--a former Wall Street Journal reporter--to interview his surviving friends, colleagues, and professors for insight into her father's legacy, and his influence on her own sense of self. Along the way, she reveals fascinating tidbits about her life growing up black in the predominantly white world of New York's wealthiest and most successful. The experience left her wondering where she truly belonged. In Lonely at the Top, Christina explores her deep-seated self-consciousness and feelings of worthlessness with unabashed and poignant honesty. --Paul Diamond
Product Description
Anxiety, fear of failure, self-consciousness: these are not the qualities you imagine when you hear the word “heiress." But in this powerful account, Christina Lewis Halpern applies a journalist's eye to her own struggles following the death of her father, the late entrepreneur Reginald F. Lewis, when she was 12.
At the time of his death in 1993, Halpern's father was the richest black man in America, the Jackie Robinson of American business. His bestselling biography, "Why Should White Guys Have All The Fun?" details his amazing-rags-to-riches journey from the poverty of segregated Baltimore to the board rooms of Wall Street.
This essay, a mix of memoir and reportage, is an exploration of Lewis's legacy: a bluntly honest and deeply human account of what it’s like to be the sensitive child of a rich and powerful man. As Halpern follows the past to seek the secrets of her father’s success, focusing on his time at Harvard Law School, we learn the story of an American legend, but also the complexities of living with his legacy.
“Christina Lewis Halpern has written a touching, powerful memorial to her extraordinary father, Reginald Lewis, a Harvard Law School legend.”
John Jay Osborn, Jr. author of "The Paper Chase"
"Christina Lewis Halpern offers a relatable and eye-opening window into her family, racial progress in America and just what success really is."
Baratunde Thurston, author of "How to Be Black"
"Exceptional"
The Very Short List
At the time of his death in 1993, Halpern's father was the richest black man in America, the Jackie Robinson of American business. His bestselling biography, "Why Should White Guys Have All The Fun?" details his amazing-rags-to-riches journey from the poverty of segregated Baltimore to the board rooms of Wall Street.
This essay, a mix of memoir and reportage, is an exploration of Lewis's legacy: a bluntly honest and deeply human account of what it’s like to be the sensitive child of a rich and powerful man. As Halpern follows the past to seek the secrets of her father’s success, focusing on his time at Harvard Law School, we learn the story of an American legend, but also the complexities of living with his legacy.
“Christina Lewis Halpern has written a touching, powerful memorial to her extraordinary father, Reginald Lewis, a Harvard Law School legend.”
John Jay Osborn, Jr. author of "The Paper Chase"
"Christina Lewis Halpern offers a relatable and eye-opening window into her family, racial progress in America and just what success really is."
Baratunde Thurston, author of "How to Be Black"
"Exceptional"
The Very Short List
