Cascade To Publish The Lou Miller Story: An Unsung Civil Rights Icon

Cascade Publishing House is pleased to announce we have reached an agreement to edit and publish the life story of Rev. Louis K. Miller, a lifelong mentee of Rev. C. T. Vivian. The working title of Miller’s book is The Lou Miller Story: God’s Church Planter and Civil Rights Preacher.

Miller organized a successful clean-up campaign in his Nashville neighborhood as a fifth-grade student. It received excellent coverage in The Tennessean, Nashville’s daily newspaper. Coming off this successful campaign, Miller introduced himself to C. T. Vivian and James Lawson. At that time, Vivian and Lawson were training college students in the science of non-violent demonstration, their target, the Woolworth Department Store in downtown Nashville.

Vivian told the young civil rights crusader that he was too young to participate and would not allow him to take a seat at the lunch counter. But Miller would not go away. He attended many of the training sessions conducted by Vivian and Lawson, and when he reached adulthood, Vivian welcomed Miller into the fray against segregation.

In 1965, Miller marched from Selma to Montgomery in the historic march to vote. Viola Gregg Liuzzo, the only White woman killed in the civil rights movement, befriended Miller. Liuzzo drove Miller to Selma before the rally. Plans called for Miller to ride back to Selma after the march. Instead, Miller hitched a ride on the back of a truck.

The morning of the march, Liuzzo called her husband in Detroit and told him they had another son, and she wanted him to meet Miller. After her death, Mr. Liuzzo asked Miller if he would retrieve her property from the undertaker. Among the items given to Miller was crime scene evidence, Mrs. Liuzzo’s bloody clothes.

“The Lou Miller Story laid buried for 56 years,” said Harold Michael Harvey, publisher and senior editor at Cascade Publishing House. “It’s beyond time for the public to hear Rev. Miller’s perspective on the turbulent 1960s. These are precisely the kind of stories Cascade Publishing House likes to tell. We are humbled and honored to be trusted to tell this most important story in American history,” Harvey added.

FROM THE DESK OF C. M. HARVEY

Harold Michael Harvey is the Living Now 2020 Bronze Medal winner for his memoir Freaknik Lawyer: A Memoir on the Craft of Resistance. He is the author of a book on Negro Leagues Baseball, The Duke of 18th & Vine: Bob Kendrick Pitches Negro Leagues Baseball. He writes feature stories for Black College Nines. Com. Harvey is a member of the Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, HBCU and PRO Sports Media Association, and the Legends Committee for the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. Harvey is an engaging speaker. Contact Harvey at hmharvey@haroldmichaelharvey.com.