Many other news outlets will talk about the impact Congressman John Lewis, who passed away on Friday, made on social reform in the United States, giving him the praise he rightly deserves as a person who dedicated his life in service of his fellow Americans.
In addition to his storied career in Congress, Congressman Lewis was also a comic guy. Like Ho Che Anderson’s King, March is a trilogy of graphic novel memoirs by Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Afua Richardson, and Nate Powell. The series tells the story of Lewis’s younger days as part of the Civil Rights struggle. The books were nominated for many awards, and won the following honors:
- 2016 National Book Award Winner for Young People’s Literature
- 2017 Printz Award Winner
- 2017 Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner
- 2017 Sibert Medal Winner
- 2017 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner
- 2017 Walter Award Winner
The trilogy is available everywhere now, and in 2018 I was able to briefly meet Lewis at Book Expo America here in New York City. That day the line to get a sample of Run, the first book in the sequel trilogy to March, was deep and the window of time wasn’t extensive, but the Congressman took his time with everyone who waited to meet he and fellow contributors Richardson and Powell. I remember a person on the line with me talking about giving up because he didn’t want to miss another author’s signing and me telling him, “But he’s a Living Legend.”
It was worth the wait.
