people mattered hugely in my life! Ordinary relationships that were loving, compassionate and nurturing assured my survival while growing up Black in Jim Crow Deep South. They guided me through difficult coming of age experiences, and prepared me for a future I could not imagine as America's first Black professional tuba player and a University President.

This is a book of related short stories, each featuring a mentor, that portrays entangled inter-generational and interracial relationships, shaped profoundly by the historical times and vibrant places we lived. The stories encompass biography (memoir), autobiography, history, race, education, music, sociology, spirituality and relationships. They express the human experience.

- Dr. John L. Smith, Jr., Author