""Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era" quickly became one of my favorite nonfiction books written by a journalist. I appreciated how he showed the grueling, day-to-day work local journalism requires, and how many layers of people fought him in revealing the despicable work of the Ku Klux Klan."
""Common Ground." "This book, about three families' experiences during the Boston school-busing controversy of the 1970s, is the paragon of narrative nonfiction for many writers of my generation. J. Anthony Lukas combined vivid on-scene reportage with deep historical research and wrote with a profound sense of tragedy.""
""The Last Fine Time." "Verlyn Klinkenborg traces the glory years and the post-industrial demise of the American city through the story of his (then) father-in-law's bar on the east side of Buffalo. And Klinkenborg does so with some of the most beautiful nonfiction prose I've ever encountered.""
Jerry Mitchell's 2020 book "Race Against Time" documents his work reviving cold cases from the civil rights era, demonstrating the demanding nature of investigative local journalism. The book reveals how multiple layers of resistance confronted Mitchell as he exposed Ku Klux Klan activities and crimes. Ahead of a nonfiction writing workshop led by retired Columbia University journalism professor Sam Freedman, instructors and speakers shared their favorite nonfiction books by journalists. These recommendations include "Common Ground" by J. Anthony Lukas, which combines vivid reporting with historical research on Boston's school-busing controversy; "The Last Fine Time" by Verlyn Klinkenborg, praised for its beautiful prose and exploration of post-industrial American cities; and "The Temple Bombing" by Melissa Fay Greene, which combines poetic aesthetics with activist social vision.
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