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Step Out On Nothing: How Faith And Family Helped Me Conquer Life's Challenges (2009)

by Byron Pitts(Favorite Author)

4.03 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0312577664 (ISBN13: 9780312577667)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

St. Martin's Press

review 1: Byron Pitts chronicles his astonishing story of overcoming a childhood filled with obstacles to achieve enormous success in life. Throughout Byron’s difficult youth—his parents separated when he was twelve and his mother worked two jobs to make ends meet—he suffered from a debilitating stutter. But Byron was keeping an even more embarrassing secret: He was also functionally illiterate. For a kid from inner-city Baltimore, it was a recipe for failure.Pitts turned struggle into strength and overcame both of his impediments. Along the way, a few key people “stepped out on nothing” to make a difference for him—from his mother, who worked tirelessly to raise her kids right and delivered ample amounts of tough love, to his college roommate, who helped Byron practice ... morehis vocabulary and speech. Pitts even learns from those who didn’t believe in him, like the college professor who labeled him a failure and told him to drop out of college. Through it all, he persevered, following his steadfast passion. After fifteen years in local television, he landed a job as a correspondent for CBS News in 1998, and went on to become an Emmy Award–winning journalist and a contributing correspondent for 60 Minutes. Not bad for a kid who couldn’t read.From a challenged youth to a reporting career that has covered 9/11 and Iraq, Pitts’s triumphant and uplifting story will resonate with anyone who has felt like giving up in the face of seemingly insurmountable hardships.
review 2: I was looking for a book on cd to listen to while commuting to work. This was a ramdom choice simply because it was a biography. I love it! I am only on the first CD but when i pulled into the parking I check to see how many CD's there are to listen to and was sad to see that there are only 5!. Byron Pitts is well known for his spot on 60 minutes. There are many things that intrique me about this so far - there is a spiritual (christian) connection, which I didn't know until I started listening He grew up in Baltimore, raised by a single mother after a divorce, attended Archbishop Curly, had a stutter until he was 20, he was told he was functionally illiterate and maybe even retarded when he was child. Yet he managed to work himself up to a coveted postion of fame. All the while giving credit to those who deserve it for helping him in life. Can't wait to get into this more. Finsihed the book. I would like to go back and write down some of his bits of wisdom, quotes, etc into my journal. Though I thought maybe it was a bit too long after all, I still looked forward to getting in the car to listen to it. I had one disappointment at the end wher he gave the commencement speech for his college but I won't say what it was. I will save that for my book discussion group. less

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