In this moving biography and memoir, Blair Underwood, acclaimed star of film, stage, and television, pays homage to his mother, sharing her well-lived life, and key lessons learned as a fashion designer, mother, and soldier’s wife.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Marilyn Ann Scales Underwood dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. Moving to New York City to study at the Traphagen School of Fashion, she became an assistant designer and eventually returned to her hometown where she began her career as the first Black female executive at Barmon Brothers Company. Independent and content with being single, she wasn’t interested in marriage until she met Lieutenant Frank Underwood.

Blair Underwood honors his mother with this remarkable work, bringing into sharp focus her life as a soldier's wife, mother, and successful entrepreneur, drawn from his memories, her letters, and interviews with family and friends. Told thematically, organized around essential pillars, Underwood gently peels back the layers of his mother’s life and character to reveal highly, triumphant, and sometimes-scary moments told in Marilyn’s warm and witty voice that connects with readers. Painting a wonderfully rich and deeply human portrait of a woman whose indelible mark is felt by all privileged to know her.

Blair Underwood is a Tony and two-time Golden Globe nominee, and an Emmy, Grammy, Peabody, and eight-time NAACP Image Award–winning actor, director, and producer. Underwood has starred in numerous film, television, and stage productions, including Sex and the City, Set It Off, Madea’s Family Reunion, Longlegs, L.A. Law, and Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.