Trymaine Lee in Conversation with Shamil Clay

We are honored to host Trymaine Lee for an event featuring his debut book: A Thousand Ways to Die. Trymaine Lee will be in conversation with Shamil Clay, a marketing and communications executive who leads strategic storytelling at Chicago Public Library. The event will feature a conversation and audience Q&A, with an author meet & greet and book signing to follow.

When: Tuesday, December 2nd at 6:30 pm (doors open at 6:15 pm)

Where: Three Avenues Bookshop - 3009 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60657

Copies of will be available for purchase during the event, and participants will have the opportunity to get their books signed by Trymaine Lee.

A deeply personal exploration of the generational impact of guns on the Black experience in America
A few years ago, Trymaine Lee, though fit and only 38, nearly died of a heart attack. When his then five-year-old daughter, Nola, asked her daddy why, he realized that to answer her honestly, he had to confront what almost killed him—the weight of being a Black man in America; of bearing witness, as a journalist, to relentless Black death; and of a family history scarred by enslavement, lynching, the Great Migration, the also insidious racism of the North, and gun violence that stole the lives of two great-uncles, a grandfather, a stepbrother, and two cousins.
In this powerful narrative, Lee weaves together three strands: the long and bloody history of African Americans and guns; his work as a chronicler of gun violence, tallying the costs and riches generated by both the legal and illegal gun industries; and his own life story. With unflinching honesty he takes readers on a journey, from almost being caught up in gun violence as a young man, to tracing the legacy of the Middle Passage in Ghana through his ancestors’ footsteps, to confronting the challenges of representing his people in an overwhelmingly white and often hostile media world, and most importantly, to celebrating the enduring strength of his family and community.
In A Thousand Ways to Die, Lee answers Nola and all who seek a more just America. He shares the hard truths and complexities of the Black experience, but he also celebrates the beauty and resilience that is Nola’s legacy.

Trymaine Lee — Pulitzer Prize– and Emmy Award–winning journalist, author, and MSNBC contributor — is known for his searing reporting at the intersection of race, justice, and democracy. As host of MSNBC’s Into America podcast, he has earned a Webby Award, four Signal Awards, and multiple NAACP Image Award nominations. From being the first national journalist to report on the Trayvon Martin case to leading groundbreaking coverage of Ferguson, the Tulsa Race Massacre, and police violence, Lee has become a defining voice in political and cultural storytelling. His upcoming book A Thousand Ways to Die and documentary film Hope in High Water continue his legacy of telling urgent, deeply personal stories rooted in American truth. For Trymaine’s full bio, visit: https://trymaineleeauthor.com/bio

Shamil Clay is a Chicago storyteller and communications leader shaping how the city connects to reading, culture and community. At Chicago Public Library she guided the 150 anniversary campaign, the first Good Day Chicago special for Summer at CPL and production of the Library for the People podcast. Her work on the One Book , One Chicago reveal of There There earned broad attention and her storytelling received a Golden Trumpet Award. Shamil was named a Notable Black Leader by Crain’s and is guided by purpose, culture and meaningful storytelling.

Three Avenues Bookshop's goal is to be a safe, accessible, and inclusive space for all. Please email us at [email protected] to let us know if you need any accommodations for this event, and we'll do our best to meet them. Accommodations can include but are not limited to the following: space for a wheelchair or other mobility device, masks, answering questions about the space over the phone or email ahead of time, etc.

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