Reviews
Engaging and compulsive, this was a bullet train ride through the first thirty-five years of a unique international life propelled by love and defined by adoption and race. The memoir drips with tension and heartbreak as each new impossible odd seems to creep in off the edges of the page and dare Garon Wade to conquer it. When I turned the last page, there was a soaring hopefulness which lets you know anything is possible.
- ERIC WITHERSPOON
Every once in a while a book comes along at a time when it's message is most needed. Garon Wade's memoir 'You'll Always Be White To Me' is, without a doubt, one of those books. Beyond the backdrop of incredible world events and the lush scenes of exotic places, comes profound and intimate lessons of love, race, culture, belonging, sexuality, identity, and the definition of both family and home; both in how others try to define these things for us as to how they understand them as well as how we continuously define and redefine all of these elements for ourselves.
- PATRICIO DE SOUSA
I had a great time following Garon Wade around the world full circle, from the story of his adoption to that of his adopting his children; in the meantime, meeting those who have influenced him on his journey, from the humblest of servants to the first lady of the United States. This book is written with love, warmth, and an expansive, sincere gratefulness that is rare. Read it, you won't regret it.
-TINA PANELLA
Three years into Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war, an abandoned baby ends up in the adopted arms of a white American couple living in a Colombo home that doubles as a CIA safe house. They take him on an extraordinary journey around the globe as he’s launched into the diplomatic world of ambassadors, UN workers, and international schools.
Each summer he returns to the bayous of his parents’ small-town Louisiana, as exotic to him as the golden South African savannahs of his early childhood. He’s curious to know this America, a country he may someday be a part of. But with sincere love comes racism wrapped in the drawling sweetness of his grandparents’ good intentions.
Garon Wade’s transcendent memoir is an international coming-of-age story that explores how the heart of an orphan grew to love a world that didn’t always love him back. You’ll Always Be White to Me asks us who we are, what our common humanity is, and if it’s possible to look beyond our color and find our way there.
Garon wade earned his degree in political science and english literature from the university of texas at austin. he is also a graduate of the u.s. aeronautical academy.
garon has been an air traffic controller for over a decade working at both Washington tower (DCA) and Fort Lauderdale Tower (Fll).
He spends his time boating with his family, spending time along the beaches of south florida, and continuing to travel the world.