Residents meet Rickey Smiley on book tour
Residents stood in line last night at Books A Million to get a signed copy of Rickey Smiley’s new book.
“My manager is a literary agent. He thought 28 years in the business that it would be a great idea to write a book because with the TV show, the radio show, it doesn’t give you an opportunity for people to know who you really are,” said Smiley.
In his book Stand by Your Truth: And Run for Your Life! Smiley shows readers who the man is behind the radio mic.
“Sometimes you have to tell the truth and keep it moving because people get offended by the truth. It’s a great book because it is my truth. A lot of things happened to me. I was almost murdered. It took me six years to find my son. I went through a lot of stuff.”
Originally from Alabama, Smiley explains details of his childhood and delves into what it’s like being a single father.
“At some point you would have thought that kids only have mothers because there’s such a big deal on Mother’s Day and nobody recognizes fathers for the work that we do. We do little girls’ hair. We cook. We do laundry.”
He also shares the challenges he still faces at the height of his success.
“The challenge is the workload. The workload and staffing. Being in charge of people and making sure they get along. You’re dealing with egos and people that are sensitive. You’re in the South, so you have to walk in the room and hug everybody and ask everybody how they’re mothers are doing before you go to work.”
Smiley will be promoting his book the rest of November, traveling to over 40 cities.
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