THE MEASURE OF A MAN

Sidney Poitier. THE MEASURE OF A MAN: A SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Harper, 2000.

My finding this book is another example of what I think of as “thrift store divination”, when something that is so “me” seems to be waiting for me on the shelf and jumps into my basket. In this case, during our long hot summer, stopping for the night in Greenwood, I visited a favourite old-fashioned variety thrift store. It was such a hot day that the owners had turned the lights off to try to keep the aisles cooler but they turned them on when I asked to visit the bookshelves. The cover photo of a recently-deceased beloved actor was enough. The subtitle “a spiritual autobiography”, and the promise of hearing him discuss the relationship between his iconic movies and his personal values were gravy. Reading also about how he developed his skills as an actor was a bonus. All great stuff. I confess the later chapters lagged a bit for me as he gets into abstractions about Nature, evil, balance, man’s place in the galaxies. But that’s just me.