Giants: the parallel lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln

[Shirley Diegelman]

Frederick Douglass began life as an American slave. He faced incredible hardships in a bid to lead a good life - learning to read and write (illegal for slaves) was just one major hurdle. Becomming known for his abilities as an orator and writer, his life paralleled and intersected with the life of Abraham Lincoln who also came from an impoverished background and struggled educate himself. Their struggles lead both to the Whitehouse, Douglas as the first black American to stand for President, and Lincoln to take office. Stauffer describes their struggles quite vividly and I gained a good sense of the time. The stories of these two men are extraordinary and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about them.

[Lindach]

I was reading Vampire Zero last night and a character was made a US Federal Marshall and it mentioned famous marshalls including Frederick Douglass. Is it the same Frederick Douglass do you think?

[Shirley Diegelman]

After the Civil War, Douglass was appointed a US Marshall for the district of Columbia, so quite possibly it is.