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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
STEP OUT ON NOTHING is something that everyone can appreciate, October 1, 2009
This review is from: Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life's Challenges (Hardcover)
As someone who has always had a love affair with words, the story told by the talent of CBS News Correspondent Byron Pitts in his autobiography STEP OUT ON NOTHING is one that I can truly appreciate. With all of the advancements we have made in 2009, the epidemic that is illiteracy is something we have tolerated and ignored for way too long.
Pitts' story is important because it shows what can happen when you unleash your inner greatness and allow it to develop. It also highlights the old adage that no man is an island and whether it is your blood family or those who adopt you into their fold, that we have to work together---and oh the things we can accomplish when we do.
I commend Pitts for taking us into his life and letting us know how he became the man that he is today. By doing so, he can encourage others that may come from a similar place in life to not feel as though today is a part of the end but instead is only the beginning.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A refreshing and inspiring author, November 5, 2009
This review is from: Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life's Challenges (Hardcover)
I read this book after hearing Byron Pitts speak about his struggles as the child of a single mom growing up in a poor section of Baltimore. It is no spoiler to say that this respected journalist struggled to overcome stuttering and had to face the fact that as a teen he was functionally illiterate.
This is Mr. Pitts's story about starting over again as a reviled "basement boy" in remedial classes and his ensuing struggle to overcome severe learning difficulties. At a time when little was understood about how children learn to read, he was given a "reading machine" whose microfiche slides he spent hours memorizing. Combining determination with faith -- not to mention the force of nature that was his mother -- Mr. Pitts achieved his greatest dreams, graduating from college and eventually working at the pinnacle of broadcast journalism, CBS's 60 Minutes.
Despite Mr. Pitts's immense likeability, it is truly his mother Clarice who steals the show. Endlessly energetic, tireless in her advocacy of her children, deeply loving and utterly convinced of the power of prayer, Mrs. Pitts pushes her son to achieve more than he ever thought possible. He writes humorously about her infamous temper. Overwhelmed by the demands of college, he considers dropping out. She writes him a letter that starts: "Dear Mr. Brain Dead, Have you lost your **** mind?"
This book is Mr. Pitts's paean to his mother, as well as to all the adults who "stepped out on nothing" but their faith in him. He writes lovingly of high school teachers and coaches, college professors and roommates, priests and pastors -- everyone who had a hand in getting him where he is today. I've never read the words of someone so deeply grateful and so devout in his faith. It is the rare publisher who allows an author to write boldly about his or her Christian faith. "God held me in the palm of His hand. His Son, Jesus Christ, died so I might live." Yes, Byron Pitts says this.
Still, I felt the narrative suffered somewhat from the outpouring of gratitude. The story flags as the accolades pile on; the old saw that a journalist should show and not tell could have been put to better use here. And, I was puzzled by the silence about his family. He mentions his wife and children a few times, but you learn nothing about them, not even their names. I enjoyed the stories of his work as a reporter, and of course it is his work that ties in most closely to his struggles with literacy. But bypassing his family seems an odd omission for an author who is so eager to credit the influence of those closest to him. Nevertheless, everything the author does tell us is uplifting and life-affirming. It's all that a good book should be and proof that literacy can be the key to great things.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read Biography, October 18, 2009
This review is from: Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life's Challenges (Hardcover)
Frankly, I don't watch 60 minutes (little TV time), and I didn't know who Bryon Pitts was - okay, that's out there. I'll watch today. I heard rave reviews about the book on the Tom Joyner Show on the way to work one morning and I purchased this bio the next day because I am especially interested in literacy and how persons overcome seemingly unbeatable academic, familial, and developmental odds.
I usually read several books at a time; but this one is captivating; making it difficult to put down. Without attempting to be a professional book reviewer, I can say that the writing was rich, visual, auditory, - engaging and gripping. It is not a sappy bio - tales of his mother Clara see to that. What a woman! This is a very realistic bio graphically recounting the good and the not so good; so it might not be suitable for grade school children. Accounts of the war in Iraq are vivid. Very insightful is his revelation of how adult children of divorce think about and deal with estranged parents.
This book is so inspiring that I think I'll likely be rereading it. An unexpected outcome; I have a newly found respect for journalist embedded with the military after reading Pitt's bio.; as a parent, I understand more of the dynamics of bullying, and the life impact of divorce and parental influences. I cannot say enough good things about the book; except to say you've got to read it.
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