SABF's Get Lit event with Cheryl W. Thompson

The San Antonio Book Festival, in partnership with Alamo Colleges District, Texas Public Radio, and the San Antonio African American Community Archive & Museum, proudly presents author CHERYL W. THOMPSON with her new book, Forgotten Souls: The Search for the Lost Tuskegee Airmen.

Author signing to follow with book sales provided by Nowhere Bookshop. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended so that we may gauge attendance. Walk-ins are welcome.

Event Details

• 6:00PM Doors Open
• 6:30PM Presentation
• 7:30PM Book sales and signing

Parking Information

• Free parking at City Tower garage (60 N. Flores) for the first 150 guests.
• Select “TAKE TICKET” upon entry. Do not insert credit card.
• Bring ticket to event for validation.

ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE BOOK

Forgotten Souls: The Search for the Lost Tuskegee Airmen examines the lives of the 27 pilots who went missing while battling the enemy abroad – and honors their lives, their sacrifices and their legacy. This book serves as long overdue closure for the pilots who gave their lives.

Author Cheryl W. Thompson, an award-winning investigative reporter for NPR, was inspired to profile these airmen in memory of her late father, who also served in the elite Tuskegee group, and made similar sacrifices to his country and his family.

These remarkable men hailed from the cornfields of Iowa and Nebraska, to the tobacco plantations of North Carolina and the Texas Coast. They disappeared during critical missions in Europe, while valiantly fighting for a country that was hesitant to even acknowledge their existence. The U.S. military didn’t want these specialized and highly trained pilots, graduates of prestigious and respected institutions like West Point, Morehouse College and the University of Michigan. After years of pressure from civil rights organizations like the NAACP and the National Urban League, as well as support from President Roosevelt and particularly from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, these men became part of the Tuskegee Institute’s flying school.

With the help of family members to reconstruct the lives and legacies of these remarkable men who gave their lives, Thompson has crafted a remarkable narrative testament to these true American heroes. Built upon the stories of children, grandchildren, and family who open their doors and hearts to the author to tell their precious family stories, their most cherished memories and especially of their heartbreak, she paints a poignant picture of a generation of survivors who themselves are vanishing, who vividly remember those who never came back.

Forgotten Souls ensures that the sacrifices of these 27 lost Tuskegee Airmen are not lost to time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cheryl W. Thompson is an award-winning investigative correspondent for National Public Radio and an associate professor of journalism at George Washington University. She is the recipient of more than 40 journalism awards, including an Emmy, five National Headliners, and three from IRE – Investigative Reporters and Editors. Thompson served as reporting coach for the Pulitzer Prize-winning NPR podcast No Compromise. During more than 20 years as a reporter for The Washington Post, she was part of teams that won two Pulitzer Prizes for national reporting. She served as a Pulitzer Prize juror for the Investigative Reporting category in 2022 and chaired the jury in 2023.

Thompson is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and Investigative Reporters and Editors, where she was elected the first Black president in 2018 and served an unprecedented three terms. She is also a founding and current board member of the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism and a member of the advisory board for the Fund for Investigative Journalism. She is currently a member of the National Press Foundation Board and the Spotlight DC Board, and a two-time graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The daughter of a Tuskegee Airman, Thompson is a Chicago native who lives outside Washington, DC. Her new book is Forgotten Souls: The Search for the Lost Tuskegee Airmen.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Deborah Omowale Jarmon is a retired civil servant with a 27-year career in the world of air traffic control. She is also the former owner of a bed and breakfast in the King William area of San Antonio, “Eva’s Escape at the Gardenia Inn,” named for the family matriarch. Deborah turned to community advocacy with a mission to connect the African American community to each other, opportunities, and our history. Her work as the CEO/Director of the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, a board member of Visit San Antonio, and serving on the City of San Antonio’s Airport Advisory Commission provides an opportunity to carry out that mission.

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