Overview

""Tells a powerful story."" -Denver Post ""A perceptive psychological exploration of the impact of racism and colonization."" -Donna Bryson, author of It's a Black-White Thing and Home of the Brave As a boy in colonial Kenya, Pius Kamau learns early what it means to run with lions-both the metaphorical powers that stalk his people and the real leopard he encounters alone in the forest, the first of many times he will stand eye-to-eye with death. Born under British rule and hardened by the unspeakable violence of the Mau Mau Rebellion, Pius grows up where curable illnesses claim loved ones and hope feels scarce. Inspired by his tubercular father, he dares to believe education can be his escape. He flees on foot toward Sudan in search of schooling but is arrested and sent back. He refuses to surrender. A scholarship to Strathmore College in Nairobi leads to medical studies in Spain, where Europe's art, philosophy, and culture widen his world even as he confronts the contradictions of colonialism. Returning to an independent Kenya as a doctor, Pius discovers oppression has simply changed hands. This powerful memoir traces his journey from dirt-poor village boy to physician and eventually to surgeon, proving resilience, intellect, and courage know no color or border.

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Reviews

""Tells a powerful story."" -Denver Post ""Pius Kamau's riveting coda about what life was like before, during, and after that era offers important learnings through his journey of discovery and achievement. A beautiful memoir!"" -Gregory Moore, journalist, former editor of the Denver Post, and former cochair of the Pulitzer Prize Board ""Poignant storytelling and a reminder of how persistence and a vision can make dreams come true."" -Tamara Banks, Emmy Award-winning journalist

""Pius Kamau's riveting coda about what life was like before, during, and after that era offers important learnings through his journey of discovery and achievement. A beautiful memoir!"" -Gregory Moore, journalist, former editor of the Denver Post, and former cochair of the Pulitzer Prize Board ""Poignant storytelling and a reminder of how persistence and a vision can make dreams come true."" -Tamara Banks, Emmy Award-winning journalist

Author Information

Pius K. Kamau, MD, thoracic surgeon and author, has written for HuffPost, Denver's Dailies, and the Denver Gazette. He's been published in NPR's This I believe, Marlo Thomas's The Right Word at the Right Time, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Cancer Book, and Medical Business. He also penned the mystery novel Doctor's Date with Death. Kamau established Africa America Higher Education Partnerships (AAHEP), a nonprofit that helps African women scientists to pursue graduate degrees in the US, and is the host of Never Again, the podcast of the Coalition Against Global Genocide.

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