Walter Mosley
 lecture at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Feb 6th 2003

It was a cold cold night here in Milwaukee. Not surprising to anyone who has been here in February. But the reception Walter Mosley got at UWM was quite warm indeed.

I’ve always found Mr. Mosley to be charming, eloquent and just plain great to listen to. Well tonight was no exception. What was different however was what he was speaking about. It was a lecture / reading from his new book, What Next*. I can’t do justice to what he had to say so I won’t even try to paraphrase it. But the talk had more of a global and political edge than normal.

He talked about the role of African Americans in society and what they can do to make the world better. In his discussion he mentioned his Father quite a bit and it’s my feeling that people who met the elder Mosley were the better for it. After listening it seems to me that there might indeed be a bit of Walter Mosley’s father in each of his books. After his reading he entertained questions from the audience. He said he didn’t have all the answers, and that he was also looking for more questions. Mr. Mosley actually makes me believe that individuals can make a difference.

Jon Jordan