That's the theme of a book just signed by editor Chris Jackson at Crown, who paid a "solid" low- to mid-six figures at auction for Blood Done Sign My Name by young civil rights historian Tim Tyson, beating out four other bidders to take North American rights. Tyson's book is a combination of memoir and true crime story set in Oxford, N.C., where Tyson was a boy when a white mob killed a black man in 1970 and the town erupted in interracial violence. Tyson's father, a moderate minister, was run out of town, and the author later returned to interview dozens of participants in the battle. Jackson bought North American rights from agent Charlotte Sheedy.
Blacks Battle Back
Jun 18, 2001
A version of this article appeared in the 06/18/2001 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: