Black and White

The fascinating, “upfront and unapologetic” ( Kirkus Reviews ) memoir of Richard Williams, a businessman, tennis coach, and father to two of the greatest athletes and professional tennis champions of all time—Venus and Serena Williams.

Born into poverty in Shreveport, Louisiana in the 1940s, Richard Williams was blessed by a strong, caring mother who remained his lifelong hero, just as he became hero to Venus and Serena later on. From the beginning of his life, Richard’s mother taught him to live by the principles of courage, confidence, commitment, faith, and love. He passed the same qualities on to his daughters, who grew to love their father and value the lessons he taught them, contrary to public rumors. “I still feel really close to my father,” says Serena. “We have a great relationship. There is an appreciation. There is a closeness because of what we’ve been through together, and a respect.”

A self-made man, Williams has walked a long, hard, exciting, and ultimately rewarding road for seventy years, surmounting the many challenges to raise a loving family and two of the greatest tennis players who ever lived. Black and White is the extraordinary story of that journey and the indomitable spirit that made it all possible.