New York: Simon & Schuster, (1997) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Autobiography of a woman born in Greenwood, Mississippi, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta in the 1940s, and who "came of age as the civil rights movement was changing the lives of black Mississippians. Dirt poor, she dropped out of high school and became a prostitute when she was barely into her teens. By the time she was 18 years old, Holland had served two terms in the county workhouse for theft and for assault. A chance encounter led her to become involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and she became an activist and organizer, taking a new path that eventually led her to the University of Minnesota, where she earned a doctorate and became a college professor. . . a gritty, inspiring memoir." An award winning playwright, Brown's play "From the Mississippi Delta" was nominated for the 1988 Pulitzer. An interesting association copy INSCRIBED on the title page to Hermione K. Brown, a pioneering woman attorney who worked in entertainment law for more than 50 years. Dated in the year of publication. Laid in is a sheet from the dean of the USC School of Theater announcing that this book was a gift in "celebration of the season and recognition of one of our faculty." Illustrated with photographs. 318 pp. ISBN: 0-684810115.