The Triumph of Rosemary: A Memoir

Baby Rosemary - born to an Italian teen and a married black man in Detroit in 1946 - is adopted from an agency by a black couple in Saginaw Michigan The adoptive mothers abuse instills in the girl whom they name Marylin Elnora ambition to achieve great things on her own. At age 19 Marylin sparks a racial and religious scandal by marrying former Roman Catholic priest Thomas Lee Atkins who is white and 25 years older. Poor in finances but rich in love they have two biracial daughters Elizabeth Ann Atkins and Catherine Marie Atkins Greenspan who look white. Team work makes the familys dream work as Marylin attends the University of Detroit School of Law at night while she and Tom work full time; he becomes Mr. Mom-- taking the high-achieving girls to lessons for swim piano and skiing. He journals nightly inspiring the girls passion for reading and writing. All the while family rifts in the wake of their interracial union begin to heal fostering harmony and healing. The familys lifestyle includes friendships and associations with people of a cornucopia of race religion and culture as Tom even serves as president of an American Indian association. Marylin becomes an attorney putting the girls through the University of Michigan. Sadly Tom dies before seeing the girls earn graduate degrees in writing from Columbia University and University of San Francisco. And he never saw Marylins illustrious and highly respected career as a judge which included 12 years as chief judge of Detroits 36th District Court. The Triumph of Rosemarys vivid dialogue raw revelations and heartwarming messages will make you laugh cry and appreciate the power of one woman to pioneer a place for herself and her family in a sometimes unwelcoming world that ultimately embraced and celebrated her familys legacy of colorblind love.