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Start giftingOfficer Clemmons
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Learn moreOfficer Clemmons: A Memoir details the incredible life story of François Clemmons, beginning with his early years in Alabama and Ohio, marked by family trauma and loss, through his studies as a music major at Oberlin College, where Clemmons began to investigate and embrace his homosexuality, to a chance encounter with Fred Rogers which changed the whole course of both men’s lives, leading to a deep, spiritual friendship and mentorship spanning nearly forty years.
When he earned the role as “Officer Clemmons” on the award-winning television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Clemmons made history as the first African American actor to have a recurring role on a children’s program. A new, wide world opened for François ― but one which also required him to make painful personal choices, and sacrifices.
From New York to the Soviet Union, Berlin to California, Clemmons has performed for audiences around the world, and remains a beloved figure. Evocative and intimate, and buoyed by its author’s own vivacious, inimitable energy, Officer Clemmons chronicles a historical and enlightening life and career of a man who has brought joy to millions of adults and children, across generations and borders.
Dr. François S. Clemmons received a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College, and a Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University. He also received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Middlebury College. In 1973, he won a Grammy Award for a recording of Porgy and Bess; in 1986, he founded and directed the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble; and from 1997 until his retirement in 2013, Clemmons was the Alexander Twilight Artist in Residence and director of the Martin Luther King Spiritual Choir at Middlebury College in Vermont, where he currently resides.
Reviews
"Clemmons, who played Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, tells of his life as a gay African-American in the postwar era, in this uplifting memoir.… Clemmons’s thoroughly delightful, inspiring story will speak particularly to artists in marginalized communities."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Clemmons's voice is serene and unwavering as he paints a vivid picture of his difficult upbringing, which was marked by violence, abuse, discrimination, and confusion about his sexuality.… This expertly narrated audiobook leaves nothing to be desired as Clemmons gives listeners a glimpse of the life of the groundbreaking Officer Clemmons."
—AudioFile Magazine
"Narrating with a colorful cadence, Clemmons shares deeply affecting reflections on life as a Black, gay, ordained person of the theater. Listeners hear the pain of his abusive family life, the tender thrill of first relationships in the closeted '60s, and the outrage of discrimination during the dawn of the civil rights movement."
—Booklist