Children passing a Nelson Mandela wall mural in the Township Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa
Alamy
I spent a couple of months this summer researching and writing a children’s biography, Nelson Mandela: Freedom For All. Growing up in the 1980s, I knew about Mandela more as a symbol and a legend: the tireless champion in the struggle against injustice who went from prisoner to president. But working on the book, I was pleased to learn about Mandela the person, who didn’t set out to be a hero.
Marvin E. Smith 