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Editorial Review: In his thought-provoking memoir, Turning White, Emmy Award-winning TV broadcaster Lee Thomas shares the physical and mental battle he is waging with vitiligo a skin disorder that is literally turning him white. At age 25, Thomas had a dream job in a dream city as a feature/entertainment reporter for the ABC networks flagship TV station in New York. Then he discovered a few white spots on his scalp, the small beginnings of a disease that has spread to half his face -- a fact he covers with makeup when on camera.
As someone in the very public eye, vitiligo has transformed not only Thomas' color, but his life. "Even people who have known me for years avoid eye contact when they see my face without makeup for the first time," he writes.
Recently, Thomas turned the spotlight on himself during a special report for WJBK FOX 2 Detroit, where he is currently an entertainment reporter.
In Turning White, Thomas shares his journey to help people understan...
Customer Reviews:
0 of 0 found this review helpful:
Very touching and inspirational, 2008-06-12
This book was a very enlighting experience. And now I look a people with any disease in a new eye opening light. It was very well written, and Lee Thomas seems like a wonderful man and person.
0 of 0 found this review helpful:
interesting story, poorly written, 2008-05-27
i brought four books with me to detroit over the christmas holiday, but picked this book up at a border's when i took my daughter there to get a book for school. its cover grabbed my eye (great cover), and i noticed it was under a "local author" sign. lee thomas, the author, is a detroit area news anchor. this is the story of his wrestle with vitiligo (pronounced vih-til-EYE-go), a skin disease where one's pigment disappears, over time. apparently, 1 - 2% of the population have this (according to the book), but it's hardly noticeable on people with lighter skin tones. of course, for an african american, like thomas, it means he's "turning white."
it's a compelling issue, and seems to set the mind wandering on a multitude of questions and issues, like:
- what does it mean to the identity of a black man to slowly turn white?
- what if that black man makes his living in a context that is constantly focused on his face, and broadcasting that face to millions of people?
- what role does any of our skin color play in our identity? what's the interplay of skin color, enculturation, and other factors?
- would it be better for the author (or another with the same disease) to suddenly and completely change skin color, or to gradually change, in splotches (it's not a gradual overall lightening, but more like growing patches of whiteness)?
unfortunately, the book doesn't address any of these questions. to thomas's credit, he says right from the start, that this is a book about a black man's skin, and not at all about race. but i was frustrated, on almost every page, by his unwillingness to go there. it seemed like an opportunity squandered, to address race from a completely different place. it was either a cop-out, an overly careful political-correctness (career cautiousness), or simplicity that would lead one to omit what could have been something so central to the issue (or, at least, that's what i was thinking as i read).
also, the book is horribly written and edited. really, i haven't seen a book go to print in a long time that is this poorly written and edited (and i've come, given my role, to blame that primarily on the editing, not the author -- some can write and some can't, but an editor's job is to not let the author reveal that he's a crappy writer).
so, yes, the book was deeply dissatisfying on multiple levels. but, somehow, i'm still glad i read it, because it's a real guy's story, dealing with a real life issue, that has all kinds of implications that caused me to think (whether the author was willing to think about those issues or not).
1 of 6 found this review helpful:
Turning White, 2008-02-25
It was an interesting experience to learn how affect this illness to other persons. However, I thought I could find a method or medicine to cure vitiligo and it did not happen. Personally, I have had not that experience and I learned how to leave with it. What it really worries me is that lack of pigmentation makes you very vulnerable to the sun. In other words your skin gets burn when you are exposed for a long time to the sun.
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
Heartwarming, 2008-01-20
This book is very well written and definitely from the heart. Mr. Thomas is an inspiration and his story is uplifting and full of hope for anyone struggling with Vitiligo. How wonderful of him to have brought this disease to the forefront to help foster understanding.
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
Only if.........., 2008-01-06
Only if we as people of this world can think like Lee Thomas, "Just Live!". The last paragraph of the book says it all; "We need each other to survive. I will never give up on loving life or sharing it with people." This book is very thought provoking, honest and informative.
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