Central Library on Saturday to Host Author Talk About White Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement
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| T.K. Thorne, author of "Behind the Magic Curtain" |
What: Book talk by T.K. Thorne, author of “Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham's Civil Rights Days”
When: Saturday, February 12, 2:00—3:00 p.m.
Where: Central Library Arrington Auditorium, 4th Floor, 2100 Park Place, Birmingham, AL 35203
About the event: Join local author T.K. Thorne as she discusses her new book. Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham's Civil Rights Days peels back history's veil to reveal little-known or never-told stories of an intriguing cast of characters.
Publisher: NewSouth Books, released June 29, 2021, 368 pages
Birmingham, Ala. - While Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and other prominent blacks are well known for their role in helping the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during his campaign for civil rights in Birmingham, the author of a new book about little known whites who supported the movement will speak at the Central Library this Saturday.
T.K. Thorne, author of “Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham's Civil Rights Days,” will hold a book talk beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 12, in the Arrington Auditorium of the Central Library in downtown Birmingham.
“Behind the Magic Curtain” was released last June by publisher NewSouth Books of Montgomery, Ala. The book spotlights whites who put their lives on the line to help African Americans during the civil rights movement.
It is the latest of several books written since Thorne retired as a Birmingham police captain. Among them is "Last Chance for Justice," an investigation of the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Several of her books are available at Jefferson County Library Cooperative (JCLC) members, including the Birmingham Public Library.
“Behind the Magic Curtain” has received rave reviews, such as this by the New York Journal of Books.
The reviewer called the "Behind the Magic Curtain" “an incredibly valuable, insightful, and instructive book . . . The multi-racial movement that emerged for the Black Lives Matter movement, with many anti-racist whites joining in support, is a reminder that there was a time when this was not an anomaly.”
In a Q&A with BPL, Thorne talked about the book and what attendees can expect at Saturday’s author talk:.
BPL: What inspired this book?
Thorne: About eight years ago, I was invited out of the blue to the office of a Birmingham attorney to meet four white gentlemen I didn’t know. Two were Jewish attorneys, Karl Friedman and Bill Thomason. Also there, was Doug Carpenter, the son of Bishop Carpenter, who was one of the “recipients” of Martin Luther King’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
The fourth man was Tom Lankford, who had been a journalist with the Birmingham News in the day. They wanted me to write a book about stories that had never been told or never been put into perspective about what was going on in Birmingham behind the scenes in parallel with the civil rights movement. I was pretty sure I was not the right person, but when I read some of the reporter’s notes, I was hooked.
BPL: There have been plenty of books about black heroes of civil rights movement but few on whites who risked their lives to support Blacks. Talk about that angle of the book.
Thorne: History has painted Birmingham in one dimension—dogs, fire hoses, and racism. Reality included that but was far more multihued. Many White people in Birmingham took risks to support change, a change that threatened the economic and social status quo. They came from all religious and social backgrounds, from Birmingham proper and “over the mountain” communities, businessmen, union workers, and housewives.
They played significant roles, sometimes secretly and sometimes boldly and publicly. White and Black women met in one another’s homes and then started taking action together. White businessmen organized to get rid of the segregationist Eugene “Bull” Connor by changing the very form of the city’s government. White men and women organized and marched to the courthouse in Selma before Bloody Sunday to protest the suppression of voting rights.
Woven throughout the book are the exploits of Tom Lankford who was present at almost every significant civil rights event and privy to behind-the-scenes law enforcement activities that included secret tape recordings that affected the course of the city.
BPL: Today due to politics and discussion issues like critical race theory, it seems Blacks and whites are more divided than ever. Do you hope stories depicted in this book will get more people to set aside race and unite?
Thorne: The world was a different place (or seemed to be) when I started working on this book. It took me on a journey I had not anticipated and one that is still evolving in terms of how critically important it is for all of us to understand the truths of history.
Only by doing that can we recognize what unites us is more powerful than what divides us. If my book makes even a small contribution to that—I don’t even have the words to express how much that would mean to me.
BPL: What has reaction to the book been like?
Thorne: I worried about the reaction to the book on different levels—that it would be controversial and divide people further or that it would get lost in the sea of civil rights books. Instead, it seems to have resonated with a lot of very different people, and I have been pleasantly surprised!
BPL: What is the main message of the book?
Thorne: Every time I write a book, I am unsure what the “message” is until it is finished, and I’ve had time to contemplate it. It was the same with this one. While working on it, I just focused on finding the stories and presenting them as truly as I could, but what I would like readers to walk away with is that ordinary people can do extraordinary things in extraordinary times, and these have become extraordinary times.
BPL: Briefly talk about the other books you’ve written.
Thorne: "Behind the Magic Curtain" is my second nonfiction book. Last Chance for Justice dealt with the investigation and trials of the 1963 16th Street Church bombing. Two previous novels required a lot of historical research—Noah’s Wife and Angels at the Gate (Lot’s wife).
My trilogy (House of Rose, House of Stone, and House of Iron) is set in Birmingham is about a police officer who discovers she’s a witch and was sheer fun.
BPL: How did you make your transition from longtime police officer to author?
Thorne: I’ve been writing for a long time, even as a police officer. Writing is basically telling stories, and police officers are great storytellers! So, that career was training, not only in terms of deepening my experiences with a wide spectrum of people, but in the art of storytelling.
BPL: Any advice for people who want to write books?
Thorne: Becoming an author on the traditional path is an extremely tough path. On the other hand, there are options today that didn’t exist when I started out. You need your eyes wide open about that, but follow your passions. I wrote seven books before the first published one. The only way to guarantee failure is to quit trying.
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