Thea's Song: The Life of Thea Bowman

Those who know something about Sister Thea Bowman might recall her as an African-American nun in the mid-century U.S. who used her charismatic personality and musical talent to evangelize, uplift, and educate her people. This well documented biography details that history in depth, from her teaching days and scholarly work through the civil rights era and on to efforts to promote and organize black Catholics, encouraging them to share their particular gifts within the church. We come to know Thea as a joyous and tireless person who learned to express herself and her culture for the enrichment of all, even as cancer ravaged her body and led to her premature death. It is therefore a bit strange that she is not widely known even in Catholic circles although she preached (or perhaps, in the best sense of the word, "performed") throughout the U.S., Europe, and Africa. This book seeks to remedy that void and does so in such detail that it sometimes becomes just a listing of her many appearances, workshops, conferences. However, one cannot help but admire and be amazed by this dedicated and genuinely engaging personality who has now been proposed for canonization.

I really wanted to like this book; I have been strongly affected by Sr. Thea Bowman's charism. However, the book has too much editorializing. The author tends to inject herself in too many asides and parenthetical statements. However, the weakest point was the focus on Sr. Thea's celebrity status. Instead of focusing on who Sr. Thea was and what she did, the focus was placed on her connections with Harry Belafonte and Whoopi Goldberg. It seemed more pride was taken in these Hollywood connections than in the person of Sr. Thea. Likewise her segment on "60 Minutes" was exploited throughout the last third of the book several times.However, to be honest, as bad as the second half was, it is the best book on Sr. Thea that I have read (my third). Someday someone will tell the story right.

Thea Bowman was a remarkable woman, so I really enjoyed reading about her life. However I thought the book was somewhat repetitious and could have been better written.

Awesome story

This book is a blessing. I have been studying Sr. Thea for awhile and this is a wonderful book to add to your library.

Great book!!! Great condition

Her years coincide at the same time frame that I grew up.

Sister Thea was a remarkable woman and this book makes that abundantly clear. An inspiring read!