Mrs. Lucimarian Tolliver Roberts may be best known as the mother of Good Morning America coanchor Robin Roberts, but the 88-year-old woman has achieved great success in her own right. Lucimarian Tolliver was born in 1924 in Akron, Ohio. As a teenager she was awarded the John S. Knight Scholarship, given by the publishers of the Akron Beacon Journal. The first person in her family to go to college, Tolliver graduated in 1946 from Howard University, where she met her future husband, Lawrence Roberts. The couple had four children and moved 27 times as part of Mr. Roberts' career as an Air Force officer. Mrs. Roberts' achievements include serving as director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, New Orleans Branch; chair of the Mississippi Department of Education; and as a board member for the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She also served on the Presbyterian Church (USA) National Committee on the Self-Development of People and was co-chair of the national steering committee for the mission initiative: Joining Hearts and Hands. In 2011 Mrs. Roberts received the Medgar W. Evers Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gulfport branch of the NAACP. Mrs. Roberts collaborated with daughter Robin Roberts and author Missy Buchanan to pen My Story, My Song: Mother-Daughter Reflections on Life and Faith (Upper Room Books, April 2012). The book brings together pivotal moments of Lucimarian Roberts' intriguing life with personal reflections from Robin Roberts.
Book synopsis:
This book is a beam of light, just like the author herself. So much hope and healing and a song to lift up every heart. In these pages, the wonderful Robin Roberts and her mother have a conversation that will make every mother and daughter smile. And I promise you, if there is ever an eclipse of the sun, no one will notice it if Lucimarian is around. She brings all things bright and beautiful into the room. --Diane Sawyer, Emmy Award-winning journalist
Being the daughter of a phenomenal mother, I know Robin Roberts became who she is because she is the daughter of Lucimarian Roberts. This book must be read by every woman who wants to raise a daughter who dares to face life fully with enthusiasm and an adventurous spirit. --Dr. Maya Angelou, poet and best-selling author
I have always believed in the power of music, and when you put that together with a good story, I am hooked! Thank you to Lucimarian Roberts for sharing her life s journey with us. And, oh, what a story-- growing up with an alcoholic father, dealing with racial prejudice, raising four children, and married for fifty-seven years to a Tuskegee Airman! This story is an inspiring and poignant example of what really matters in life. --Gayle King, editor-at-large, The Oprah Magazine
Being the daughter of a phenomenal mother, I know Robin Roberts became who she is because she is the daughter of Lucimarian Roberts. This book must be read by every woman who wants to raise a daughter who dares to face life fully with enthusiasm and an adventurous spirit. --Dr. Maya Angelou, poet and best-selling author
I have always believed in the power of music, and when you put that together with a good story, I am hooked! Thank you to Lucimarian Roberts for sharing her life s journey with us. And, oh, what a story-- growing up with an alcoholic father, dealing with racial prejudice, raising four children, and married for fifty-seven years to a Tuskegee Airman! This story is an inspiring and poignant example of what really matters in life. --Gayle King, editor-at-large, The Oprah Magazine
