Betty Bobo Pearson (b. 1922), a seventh-generation, plantation-born Mississippian, defied her cultural heritage--and caused great personal pain for her parents and herself--when she became an activist in the civil rights movement. Never fearing to break the mold in her search for the -best, - in her nineties she remains a strong, effective leader with a fun-loving, generous spirit.

When Betty was eighteen months old, a train smashed into the car her mother was driving, killing Betty's beloved grandfather and severely injuring her grandmother. Thrown onto the engine's cow catcher, Betty...