Blair Underwood

In this moving biography and memoir, Blair Underwood, acclaimed star of film, stage, and television, pays homage to his mother, sharing her well-lived life, and key lessons learned as a fashion designer, mother, and soldier’s wife. Born in Buffalo, New York, Marilyn Ann Scales Underwood dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. Moving to New York City to study at the Traphagen School of Fashion, she became an assistant designer and eventually returned to her hometown where she began her career as the first Black female executive at Barmon Brothers Company. Independent and content with being single, she wasn’t interested in marriage until she met Lieutenant Frank Underwood. Blair Underwood honors his mother with this remarkable work, bringing into sharp focus her life as a soldier's wife, mother, and successful entrepreneur, drawn from his memories, her letters, and interviews with family and friends. Told thematically, organized around essential pillars, Underwood gently peels back the layers of his mother’s life and character to reveal highly, triumphant, and sometimes-scary moments told in Marilyn’s warm and witty voice that connects with readers. Painting a wonderfully rich and deeply human portrait of a woman whose indelible mark is felt by all privileged to know her.

In this moving biography and memoir, Blair Underwood, acclaimed star of film, stage, and television, pays homage to his mother, sharing her well-lived life, and key lessons learned as a fashion designer, mother, and soldier’s wife. Born in Buffalo, New York, Marilyn Ann Scales Underwood dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. Moving to New York City to study at the Traphagen School of Fashion, she became an assistant designer and eventually returned to her hometown where she began her career as the first Black female executive at Barmon Brothers Company. Independent and content with being single, she wasn’t interested in marriage until she met Lieutenant Frank Underwood. Blair Underwood honors his mother with this remarkable work, bringing into sharp focus her life as a soldier's wife, mother, and successful entrepreneur, drawn from his memories, her letters, and interviews with family and friends. Told thematically, and organized around essential pillars such as Wisdom, Faith, and Patience, Underwood gently peels back the layers of his mother’s life and character to reveal highly,triumphant, and sometimes-scary moments told in Marilyn’s warm and witty voice that connects with readers. Painting a wonderfully rich and deeply human portrait of a woman whose indelible mark is felt by all privileged to know her.

Harlem Shuffle meets The Godfather in this fierce and dazzling crime family saga presented by award-winning actor and producer Blair Underwood and written by filmmaker Joe McClean, set in the Black Bottom neighborhood of Detroit in the dark and dangerous days of the 1930s. In 1908 Alabama, precocious young Benjamin Carter brings deadly consequences down upon his father’s head when he dares to use a white drinking fountain instead of the "colored" one. With his fierce and protective older brother Jasper, Ben escapes Alabama, joining the Great Migration to Black Bottom, Detroit’s flourishing Black neighborhood. There, the brothers rise from the ashes to become kingpins of this new community, owning businesses, playing politics, and diving into Detroit's violent criminal underbelly.\Through their wit and grit, Ben and Jasper establish the Carter dynasty, securing a prosperous future for their families. But heavy are the heads that wear the crowns. Seeing their children come of age, young men and women fueled by ambitions of their own, the brothers clash over which direction to steer the Carter empire. With the scent of brotherly discontent, competing Detroit power players will use every advantage—and weakness—to bring the family to its knees. In Sins of Survivors, Hollywood legend Blair Underwood and Joe McClean have created a scorching crime saga featuring a dynamic cast of characters—a thrilling and cinematic story about family and what it means for a Black community to not just survive, but thrive.

In this “must-read for anyone concerned with race, sports, and politics in America” (William C. Rhoden, New York Times bestselling author), the inspirational and largely unknown true story of the eighteen African American athletes who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, defying the racism of both Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South. Set against the turbulent backdrop of a segregated United States, sixteen Black men and two Black women are torn between boycotting the Olympic Games in Nazi Germany or participating. If they go, they would represent a country that considered them second-class citizens and would compete amid a strong undercurrent of Aryan superiority that considered them inferior. Yet, if they stayed, would they ever have a chance to prove them wrong on a global stage? Five athletes, full of discipline and heart, guide you through this harrowing and inspiring journey. There’s a young and feisty Tidye Pickett from Chicago, whose lithe speed makes her the first African American woman to compete in the Olympic Games; a quiet Louise Stokes from Malden, Massachusetts, who breaks records across the Northeast with humble beginnings training on railroad tracks. We find Mack Robinson in Pasadena, California, setting an example for his younger brother, Jackie Robinson; and the unlikely competitor Archie Williams, a lanky book-smart teen in Oakland takes home a gold medal. Then there’s Ralph Metcalfe, born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, who becomes the wise and fierce big brother of the group. From burning crosses set on the Robinsons’s lawn to a Pennsylvania small town on fire with praise and parades when the athletes return from Berlin, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice has “done the world a favor by bringing into the sunlight the unknown story of eighteen black Olympians who should never be forgotten. This book is both beautiful and wrenching, and essential to understanding the rich history of African American athletes” (Kevin Merida, editor-in-chief of ESPN’s The Undefeated).

This elegant notebook has 108 tian zi ge ruled papers. It is specially designed for beginners to learn Mandarin Chinese. There are spaces for both character and Pin yin. You can write Chinese character in the tianzige and Pinyin in the space above the tian zi ge. The square size is not too big and not too small. It's a perfect size to write in. We made it easy to practice Chinese

The fourth installment in this award-winning mystery series draws actor-turned-super-sleuth Tennyson Hardwick into his most challenging case, compelling him to face the unthinkable: save his daughter or the woman he loves." South by Southeast," a title inspired by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, finds Tennyson and his family in South Beach, Florida, where he is filming his role in a television detective series. Ten's soon-to-be-adopted daughter, Chela, runs into old friend Maria from her earlier days as a prostitute in Los Angeles. The pair dives into the South Beach club scene, but Maria mysteriously goes missing. When Maria's body washes ashore, Chela and the authorities fear that her suspicious death is connected to a serial killer preying on young prostitutes. Tennyson believes he knows who the killer is, but the suspect escapes when the actor-detective tries to capture him. When it's believed the suspected killer may have committed suicide, things return to normal for Ten and his family. But the respite doesn't last long, and Tennyson discovers someone is after him, his girlfriend, and Chela. Realizing it's the killer who's terrorizing him, Ten is presented with a lose-lose dilemma: save his daughter or the woman he loves. In a pulse-pounding thriller that could be described as Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins meets "Miami Vice," Tennyson Hardwick is back big time with his trademark sexiness, sizzle, and James Bond-like sophistication.

THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHORS OF CASANEGRA AND IN THE NIGHT OF THE HEAT TEAM UP FOR A THIRD TIME TO PRESENT FROM CAPE TOWN WITH LOVE, A TENNYSON HARDWICK NOVEL. Actor-turned-detective Tennyson Hardwick has solved two high-profile deaths in Hollywood, but nothing has prepared him for a race to save a child’s life. Tennyson’s past in the sex game cost him his new girlfriend, and he brings her to Cape Town, South Africa—a scenic film destination and playground for the rich—to try to win her back. There Tennyson is hired as a bodyguard by superstar Sofia Maitlin when she visits an orphanage to adopt an African child. Months later, Maitlin offers Tennyson one of Hollywood’s hottest tickets—a job as a bodyguard at adopted daughter Nandi’s A-list celebrity birthday party. But the party is over before it begins. When Nandi’s birthday goes dreadfully wrong, it’s up to a guilt-ridden Tennyson to save a child’s life and reunite a Hollywood family. But how? He can’t go to the police, the FBI has threatened to arrest him, and Big Brother is monitoring his telephone calls. To find Nandi, Tennyson will have to rely on tips from his father—a retired LAPD captain—and a mysterious woman from his past, Marsha, who has already proven she can’t be trusted. His strongest lead is a deadly knife fighter known only as Spider. When his search for the missing child crosses Marsha’s covert investigation into a criminal gang with ties to South Africa, Tennyson knows that finding Nandi might cost him his freedom—or his life. Watch exclusive scenes from From Cape Town with Love starring Blair Underwood by snapping the Microsoft tags found inside the book.

Award-winning actor and author Blair Underwood rejoins forces with two popular writers to deliver the second installment—now in paperback—in their stunning and provocative Tennyson Hardwick chronicles. For the first time since their breakout debut, Casanegra, the powerful trio of Blair Underwood, Tananarive Due, and Steven Barnes teams up to bring readers back into the sexy and entertaining world of struggling actor and gigolo-turned-sleuth Tennyson Hardwick. In the Night of the Heat picks up where Casanegra left off, after Tennyson has solved the murder of rapper Afrodite. His reputation brings football superstar T. D. Jackson to his door, asking for protection when he is threatened with death after acquittal for murder. Tennyson politely turns Jackson down to pursue his acting career and personal life. But when Jackson is found dead in his home, the victim of an apparent suicide, Tennyson can’t resist prying into the football star’s death— especially if it means answering the question that divided a nation: Did T. D. Jackson really kill his wife?

An unputdownable and sizzling mystery in the heart of Hollywood, perfect for fans of Devil in a Blue Dress and Miami Vice. Casanegra follows the adventures of Tennyson Hardwick, a gorgeous, sexy actor and former gigolo, living on the fringes of the good life in Hollywood. This story, which chronicles the redemption of a prodigal son, combines the glamour of Hollywood with the seedy hopelessness of the inner city. In this hot and steamy mystery, Tennyson struggles to hang on to his acting career and redeem his sex-for-pay history, which estranged him from his family—especially his father, a decorated LAPD captain who raised Tennyson to call him “sir.” Now, in the wake of his father’s sudden stroke, Tennyson has to save himself from taking the fall for the first murder of a female rapper. In the process, he discovers his hidden talents—the hard way.