Andrew Young to appear at Barnes and Noble book-signing

Andrew Young, the former civil rights activist, Atlanta mayor, diplomat and leader of Atlanta’s 1996 Olympic bid, will make an appearance in East Cobb this weekend.

He’ll be signing copies of “The Many Lives of Andrew Young,” a 2022 biography, at the Barnes and Noble at Avenue East Cobb (4475 Roswell Road, Suite 102) on Saturday from 2-4 p.m.

Young cooperated with the book, written by AJC journalist Ernie Suggs and published by the University of Georgia Press, that tells the story of Young’s long and distinguished career.

The foreword was written by the late former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, whom Young served as United Nations Ambassador from 1977-79.

Last month Young turned 93, and a gala event was held in in his honor to benefit Atlanta Jewish Health. In an interview with Georgia Public Broadcasting, Young said that he’s not interested in slowing down.

“It’s the funny thing about birthdays — everyone has them, but nobody knows what to do with them,” he said.

Young said that he’s gratified at how the Atlanta area has changed and grown in his time since he arrived in the early 1960s to work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference founded by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King III.

After that, he served as a member of Congress and in his UN post before becoming Atlanta Mayor and spearheading the Olympic effort. The school of policy studies at Georgia State University is named in his honor.

“Just go out anytime, look up and look around. And see what you see. If you’re in Atlanta, any direction in which you look is amazing,” Young told GPB.

“It’s been a wonderful life. And I can’t think of any place I’d rather live.”