The Sharecropper Boy Goes Back Home: A Memoir of a Personal Journey Beginning With the Great Depression

The memoir chronicles the life of a sharecropper boy from Upstate South Carolina, detailing his family's struggles during the Great Depression and the impact of World War II. Born in 1926, Jim White recounts the loss of his family's cotton farm and their transition to sharecropping. He highlights two key factors in his rise from humble beginnings to becoming a successful writer and EPA manager: an insatiable love for reading and resilience in the face of setbacks, including surviving advanced prostate cancer. The narrative also reflects on personal triumphs, including restoring a historic mansion and finding love later in life.