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Joe Barry Carroll 9/24 Preview

Purdue University photo/Mark Simons

Joe Barry Carroll is a Purdue alumnus and former NBA All Star who reinvented himself as a wealth advisor, philanthropist, author, and painter. He appears this weekend at theWest Lafayette Public Library, Sunday at 1pm for a reading and signing of Black American Voices, and a Children's art and writing workshop at 3pm. WBAA's John Clare spoke to Carroll about the event and his books.

Credit joebarrycarroll.com
Black American Voices

BLACK AMERICAN VOICES: SHARED CULTURE, VALUES, AND EMOTIONS byJoe Barry is a wonderful collage of narratives, photographs, and works of art that celebrates our shared culture, values, and emotions. The narratives speak truths about legacy, success, faith, soul food, entrepreneurship, family, skin tones, the arts, hair, sexuality, music, Barack Obama, and more. The photographs were gathered from the photo albums and archives of families of African descent living in America. The narratives and photographs are joined by art from the Antonio and Betty Zamora Collection of African Art.

Carroll was born the tenth of thirteen children, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and spent his teen years in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from Purdue University with a degree in economics, was an All American in Basketball, and became the No 1 overall pick in the 1980 National Basketball Association Draft by the Golden State Warriors. His eleven-year professional career included selection as an All Star, appearances in NBA playoff games, and playing for the Warriors, Milano (Italy), Houston Rockets, New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, and Phoenix Suns. Carroll’s NBA totals are 12,455 points, which included a career high average of 24 points; 5,404 rebounds, 1,264 assists and 1,122 blocked shots.

Carroll’s first book was an award-winning memoir, “Growing Up…In Words and Images,” published in 2014. Available in coffee-table book format and e-book, it features Carroll’s stories, and expressive paintings that shed light on the people, places, and experiences that shaped his character, beliefs, and actions. Both of his books were released under the Joe Barry Carroll Publishing imprint.

Recognition for “Growing Up” includes praise from Publishers Weekly, and three awards from the Indie Book Awards: Winner—Book Cover Design Non-fiction, Finalist—Memoirs (Other), and Finalist—Coffee Table Book. Carroll and “Growing Up” were featured at the Arkansas Literary Festival, Decatur Book Festival, Georgia State University, and Georgia Center for the Book. Carroll’s paintings from the book have been exhibited at Purdue University, and Arkansas Historic Museum.

John Nasukaluk Clare is comfortable behind a microphone, streaming video or playing violin. A former broadcaster for NPR, John has previously worked with Voice of America, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and stations in Texas, Kansas, Nevada, California, and Pennsylvania. In 2005, Clare earned the Deems Taylor Award from ASCAP for radio broadcasting, citing his work on 20/20 Hearing. Having performed with famed tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli, John has worked with the Mozart Festival Texas, Mid Texas Symphony, Nevada Chamber Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, Abilene Philharmonic and Wichita Symphony Orchestra.
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