Meet the Author
Martin Lehfeldt was born in New York City, raised in Camden, New Jersey, and attended Quaker institutions from Moorestown Friends School through Haverford College. Strongly encouraged to follow his grandfather and father into the Lutheran ministry despite a desire to become a journalist, he earned a Master of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary in New York—but then “self-defrocked” in the mid-1960s. The opportunity to direct a program that recruited and placed outstanding young faculty members at historically Black colleges throughout the South gave him a unique perspective on that region, and lured him to Atlanta. What was intended to be a brief sojourn blossomed into a career as a college development officer, a fund-raising consultant, and President of the Southeastern Council of Foundations. During five decades as a “naturalized” Southerner traveling widely in the region, he has become known as a speaker and author whose books include The Sacred Call, Notes from a Non-Profitable Life, and (with Jamil Zainaldin) The Liberating Promise of Philanthropy.
Details
Format: Paperback
Pages: 178
ISBN PB:978-1-953021-96-0
Release Date: 10/20/2022
Endorsements
“Although a white Northerner by birth, Martin Lehfeldt has spent more than half a century in Atlanta, first working for a Black college, always living in a middle-class Black neighborhood, and supporting the city’s Black leadership. From his unique vantage point as an activist and an observer, Lehfeldt has written a warm, insightful, often humorous chronicle of his own transformation, and of Atlanta’s emergence as the capital of the New South.”
— Michael L. Lomax, President, United Negro College Fund
“When New York-born Martin Lehfeldt became an adoptive son of the South, it meant more than an affection for pulled pork sandwiches and warm Januarys. It became a love affair with a place and its people. The South is the environment where Lehfeldt’s discerning vision and his talents for storytelling have come to full flower. Those gifts are on vivid display in this book, which is witty, wise, and a sheer delight to read.”
— Thomas G. Long, Professor Emeritus, Emory University
“Martin Lehfeldt’s wit and humor are matched by thoughtful observations as he recounts his engagement during the past five decades with people from all walks of life in the South. His stories about Atlanta and the Atlanta University Center help to preserve their history for future generations and offer life lessons that inform and inspire.”
— Shirley C. Franklin, Former Mayor, City of Atlanta
