APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - A Wisconsin educator with a familiar name and a unique story to tell has published his first book.
Former Pulaski Superintendent Milt Thompson is tackling his own family history with race and major current events in his book "The Only One in the Room".
"Whenever I would go to the state conferences for superintendents, board members, business officials, I began to notice that I would be the only one," Thompson says, referring to being the lone person of color in the room. "When those words came to my mind, I thought that would be a killer title for a book."
That final time in 2013 when Thompson attended the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators conference in Madison was when he began to formulate the ideas which would become this book.
"A day or so later when I was driving back to my apartment in Pulaski, I began to organize my thoughts as far as the book," says Thompson. "What motivated me to write the book was a lifetime of experiences of being one of the few African-Americans in a variety of settings."
Thompson goes all the way back to his parents’ upbringing in northern Mississippi, how they met, life in the Jim Crow south, and his older brothers.
Later, the Thompson family would move to St. Louis before finally settling in Racine. You learn about a teenage Milt, his college years up to his current life with his wife Peggy and their 4 sons.
Thompson also delves into his unceremonious split in Pulaski and what he believes is the reason he was forced out.
The book also goes into the subject of race in America and why Thompson believes those problems persist. Beyond that, Thompson's story is about how he’s overcome and dealt with adversity, in many situations we can all relate to.
"The Only One in the Room" is available for purchase online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
You can hear Part 2 of the uncut interview with Milt Thompson by clicking here.
