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The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography

 

 
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The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography
 
 
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The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography is an autobiographical work by Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier

Sir Sidney Poitier, Order of the British Empire is an Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, BAFTA- and Grammy award-winning Bahamas-United States actor, film director, author, and diplomat....
. On January 26, 2007, Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey is an United Statesn television presenter, Media proprietor and philanthropist. Her television syndication talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, has earned her multiple Emmy Awards and is the highest-rated talk show in the history of television....
 chose it for her book club
Oprah's Book Club

Oprah's Book Club is a book discussion club segment of the United States talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey....
.

his memoir, American icon Sidney Poitier looks back on his celebrated life and career. He explores elements of character and personal values to take his own measure as a man, as a husband and a father, and as an actor...

Poitier credits his parents and his childhood on tiny Cat Island
Cat Island (Bahamas)

Cat Island is in the central Bahamas, and one of its Districts of the Bahamas, and has the nation's highest point. Its Mount Alvernia rises to 206 ft and is topped by a monastery called The Hermitage....
 in the Bahamas for equipping him with the unflinching sense of right and wrong and of self-worth that he has never surrendered and that have dramatically shaped his world.






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The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography is an autobiographical work by Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier

Sir Sidney Poitier, Order of the British Empire is an Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, BAFTA- and Grammy award-winning Bahamas-United States actor, film director, author, and diplomat....
. On January 26, 2007, Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey is an United Statesn television presenter, Media proprietor and philanthropist. Her television syndication talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, has earned her multiple Emmy Awards and is the highest-rated talk show in the history of television....
 chose it for her book club
Oprah's Book Club

Oprah's Book Club is a book discussion club segment of the United States talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey....
.

Summary

In this memoir, American icon Sidney Poitier looks back on his celebrated life and career. He explores elements of character and personal values to take his own measure as a man, as a husband and a father, and as an actor...

Poitier credits his parents and his childhood on tiny Cat Island
Cat Island (Bahamas)

Cat Island is in the central Bahamas, and one of its Districts of the Bahamas, and has the nation's highest point. Its Mount Alvernia rises to 206 ft and is topped by a monastery called The Hermitage....
 in the Bahamas for equipping him with the unflinching sense of right and wrong and of self-worth that he has never surrendered and that have dramatically shaped his world. "In the kind of place where I grew up," recalls Poitier, "what's coming at you is the sound of the sea and the smell of the wind and momma's voice and the voice of your dad and the craziness of your brothers and sisters...and that's it." Without television, radio, and material distractions to obscure what matters most, he could enjoy the simple things, endure the long commitments, and find true meaning in his life.

Uncompromising as he pursued a personal and public life, Poitier aimed to honor his upbringing and the invaluable legacy of his parents. Just a few years after his introduction to indoor plumbing and the automobile, Poitier broke racial barrier after racial barrier to launch a pioneering acting career. Committed to the notion that what one does for a living shows who one is, Poitier chose to play forceful and affecting characters who said something positive, useful, and lasting about the human condition.

Poitier explores the nature of sacrifice and commitment, price and humility, rage and forgiveness, and paying the price for artistic integrity. What emerges is a picture of a man in the face of limits; his own as well as the world's.

The translation in complicated Chinese (ISBN 9570484969) of this autobiography is done by Fongfong Olivia Wei, and published by Triumph Publishing Company in Taipei, Taiwan in year 2002.

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