“The best book award acceptance speech ever?”

StevensonI write occasionally about people who fight for justice—especially if they might make good characters in novels—and I’ve mentioned Bryan Stevenson and his work with prisoners on death row and other issues related to justice and inequality. Last month at the annual American Library Association convention, the ALA awarded Stevenson its Andrew Carnegie Medal for Exellence in Nonfiction for Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (Spiegel & Grau). Publisher’s Weekly reprinted his acceptance speech, asking “Is this the Greatest Book Award Acceptance Speech Ever?” His comments illustrate some of the statistics related to his work, but mostly he tells us—he shows us—what working for justice really means. Read it.