Building Atlanta

March 15, 2014
The lifelong journey from shoeshine boy to construction mogul. Born in Atlanta in 1930, Russell was no stranger to hard work. From the age of 6, he tended his family's chickens; when he turned 8, he had a paper route; by 11, he was mixing mortar for his father's plastering company. "The truth is that I always wanted to work," he writes. "Everyone I knew and respected worked, and worked hard." From those earliest moments, Russell, who wrote this book with the assistance of veteran business writer Andelman (Why Men Watch Football--A Report from the Couch, 2013, etc.), knew the key to success was to consistently strive to do his best. He broke racial barriers while segregation was still deeply entrenched in the South and established a construction company that built everything from apartment buildings to airports. He used his hard-earned money and astute business sense to help those at the forefront of the civil rights movement by providing much-needed monetary funds and behind-the-scenes support for Martin Luther King Jr. and others. Seeing there was a lack of bankers willing to support blacks, Russell branched out to provide banking and insurance for his community in Atlanta and eventually was invited to join the all-white chamber of commerce. One venture and connection fed into another, with Russell understanding the importance of networking long before it was hip to do so. "I'm often asked how I could have owned a portfolio of almost two thousand rental units, a property management company, and an insurance agency before the age of forty," he writes. He honestly admits he was judicious with his spending and always reinvested in the company before allowing himself personal luxuries. Family and friends played an important role in Russell's life, as well, and his memories of fond moments are interspersed throughout the story of the rise of his successful businesses. A candid, straightforward account of one man and his rise from rags to riches.

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February 1, 2014
Russell bought his first property at age 16 with funds saved from his shoe-shine business and skills in building construction he learned from his father. Income from the duplex paid for his college education. Born the last of eight children in a poor Georgia family, he rose to be a major builder and developer in Atlanta and a civic leader who helped elect Andrew Young, the first black congressman from the South since Reconstruction, and Maynard Jackson, the first black mayor of Atlanta. During the civil rights era, Russell worked behind the scenes with influential black clergy and businessmen, helped finance the black-owned newspaper, and provided bail money for those arrested for civil disobedience. As a businessman, he built homes for the newly emerging black middle class as racial restrictions were lifted, and he went on to desegregate the clubs, cliques, and boards of Atlanta's movers and shakers. Detailing a long career of setbacks and successes, Russell shares memories of growing up in Atlanta during challenging and pivotal times.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)