Tomlinson Hill
The Remarkable Story of Two Families Who Share the Tomlinson Name--One White, One Black
1 of 1 copy available
LaDainian Tomlinson, football great and former running back for the San Diego Chargers, spent part of his childhood playing on the same land that his black ancestors had worked as slaves. As a child, LaDainian believed that the Hill was named after his family. Not until he was old enough to read a historical plaque did he realize that the Hill was named for his ancestor's slaveholders.
A masterpiece of authentic American history, Tomlinson Hill traces the true and very revealing story of these two families. From the beginning in 1854—when the first Tomlinson, a white woman, arrived—to 2007, when the last Tomlinson, LaDainian's father, left, the book unflinchingly explores the history of race and bigotry in Texas. Along the way, it also manages to disclose a great many untruths that are latent in the unsettling and complex story of America.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
September 8, 2014 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781494524517
- File size: 397401 KB
- Duration: 13:47:55
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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In a book as personal as a family genealogy, the writing should be intimate and engaging, yet Tomlinson's style is somewhat clinical and remote. This makes it difficult for narrator David Drummond to fully engage the listener. Drummond does a solid job. His voice and diction are clear and easy on the ear. And he varies his pacing just enough to keep the material flowing. But he's never able to overcome the author's journalistic style. Thus, he's left sounding more like a news reader than a true narrator. That's a shame because the book brings history to life in a personal way that doesn't come through in audio. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine -
May 19, 2014
On December 15, 2001, as Chris Tomlinson sat in the sun with Afghan warlords, LaDainian Tomlinson and the San Diego Chargers were losing to the Oakland Raiders. In this fast-paced and spellbinding tale, Chris, who is white, narrates with great verve the tale of a Texas plantation owned over the years by both white families and black families—including LaDainian’s—that share the same name. Drawing deeply on family letters, scrapbooks, and historical archives, Chris traces the history of Tomlinson Hill from the mid–19th century to 2007, when the oldest Tomlinson to live on the plantation dies. In 1865, just before his death, the then-owner of the plantation, Jim, informed his slaves of their status as free men and at least two of the former slave families on the land adopted the Tomlinson name. By 1945, Albert, who was white, had divided Tomlinson Hill into lots and sold them to black families who had spent generations on the land; a descendant of one of those families, O.T., raised his family, including his son, LaDainian, there. Tomlinson not only offers an engaging and poignant look into his own past but also a riveting glimpse of the history of race relations in Texas.
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