“Medgar & Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” by Joy-Ann Reid

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER Romeo and Juliet. Abelard and Heloise. Beyonce and Jay Z. For centuries, we’ve studied the great romances, cried over them, and dreamed of having one of our own. Some of the great romances are educational. They impress and entertain. And in the new book “Medgar & Myrlie” by Joy-Ann Reid, some can inspire. When Medgar Evers came home from World War II, he figured that if he was good enough to be a soldier, he was good enough to be treated the same as a white man. He was twenty-five years old, outspoken, bold… and a gentleman when he met Myrlie Beasley. He was at college on the GI Bill. She was a freshman, away from her grandmother and aunt for the first time. She didn’t know quite what to think about Medgar Evers. Mama and Aunt Myrlie wanted “Baby Sister” to get a good education. They had big dreams for her, and marriage wasn’t one of them. Still, Medgar “intrigued” her and their romance went slow but “Myrlie didn’t dare tell Mama.” It took awhile for him to tell her that he loved her. Medgar was always ordering her around and they argued sometimes. After she...