Courtesy photo Author Isabel Wilkerson and her most recent book, "The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration," will be the topic of discussion at Mayor Jim Donchess's Book Club event on March 4. (Courtesy photo)

NASHUA – In 1937, a young woman named Ida Mae Gladney left her native Mississippi, leaving behind sharecropping and widespread racism for a successful, blue-collar career in Chicago.

George Starling, a sharp but quick-tempered man from Florida, fled the South in the 1940s, landed in Harlem, and joined the fight for civil rights before turning to God to finally find peace.

And Louisiana-born Robert Foster, an ambitious young man with his sights set on a career in medicine, left home in 1953 to pursue his dream, ultimately becoming the personal physician of the renowned singer/performer Ray Charles.

For all their differences, Gladney, Starling and Foster had at least one thing in common – their life stories would become central to prominent author Isabel A. Wilkerson’s 2010 book, “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration,” a history-rich, detailed account that seeks to explain what motivated African Americans’ mass journey North, and the challenges they faced in a new and different world.

On March 4, Wilkerson’s acclaimed work will be the topic of discussion by participants in the Mayor’s Virtual Book Club, the online series of book discussions that Mayor Jim Donchess created last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Courtesy photo A poster announces Mayor Jim Donchess's March 4 Book Club event, which will feature author Isabel Wilkerson and her most recent book, "The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration." (Courtesy photo)

Anyone who would like to participate in the event, which begins at 7 p.m., must register by going to www.nashuanh.gov/1421/Mayors-Virtual-Book-Club, then scroll down and select the link “register for the virtual book club.”

Event login information will then be sent to registrants.

The final day to register is Monday, March 1.

A limited number of copies of the ìThe Warmth of Other Sunsî are available at the Nashua Public Library for anyone interested in participating in the event. Copies can also be purchased through Amazon or www.barnesandnoble.com, as well as at the Nashua Barnes & Noble store, 235 Daniel Webster Highway.

While the intent was to hold this episode of the Mayor’s Virtual Book Club in February in conjunction with Nashua’s observance of National African American History Month, it became necessary to push it into early March due to scheduling issues.

Donchess will be joined by three local panelists, each of whom will present their perspective on the book, then take questions from registered participants.

The panelists are former state representative Harvey Keye, a longtime civil rights activist; Irving Scales, chairman of Southern New Hampshire Outreach for Black Unity; and Fran Keenan, the director of library services at Nashua Community College.

Wilkerson, in addition to “The Warmth of Other Suns,” also authored “Caste: The Origins of our Discontents.”

She is an American journalist and is the first woman of African American heritage to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism.

More information about Wilkerson can be found at www.isabelwilkerson.com, and more details about “The Warmth of Other Suns” is available at www.warmth.isabelwilkerson.com.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.