In My Place

In this warmhearted, well-observed memoir, the national correspondent for the MacNeil-LehrerNewsHour reflects on her childhood and young adulthood, including her historic role as one of two black students who desegregated the University of Georgia in 196 1. Dwelling a bit too much on her family history and descriptions of the southern towns where she grew up, Hunter-Gault identifies many of the forces that shaped her: strong teachers, good friends and a dignified father struggling as a chaplain in a racist Army. After attending a largely white school in Alaska, she spent her high school years in the supportive black environment of L.A.-Lovely Atlanta. She downplays her heroism at the University of Georgia in order to highlight the heady but humbling feelings she derived from other blacks' pride in her. She tells of harassment and support in those dramatic years, as well as of her growth as a journalist, her public speaking tours and even her romance with a white Southerner. She concludes, a bit awkwardly, with the commencement address she delivered at her alma mater in 1988; this work hints, however, that Hunter-Gault could write a rich sequel. (Nov.)