This book is the memoir of Francois S Clemmons who played the opera singing, African American police officer on the Mr. Roger's Neighborhood PBS program. The famous scene where he sits with Fred Rogers as they dip their feet in a child's plastic pool and then Fred Roger's dries Officer Clemmon's feet is probably one of the most iconic scenes from the series. (Remember this was portrayed during the civil rights era when segregation made such actions on a public television series for children quite a radical demonstration.) A photograph of this moment is portrayed on the front of the book and this, coupled with the title of the book OFFICER CLEMMONS, led me to believe the book would be more about the television series and the author's role as well as his relationship with Fred Rogers. The book turned out entirely different. While the author does point out some touching moments of his relationship with Fred Rogers, these moments are only a fraction of the entire story which begins with the history of Francois's family and the family ties to slave and sharecropper ancestors. The book contains violence in the form of domestic abuse and altercations within the family, a lot of racial tension for the author throughout the story, and a lot of talk about sexuality, some quite explicit.
I always try to glean something from memoirs (knowledge, empathy, understanding). Remembering that a memoir is an individual's personal story and individual reflections, I can't say that there are "bad memoirs" but there are some that don't resonate with me as others do. This was one of those memoirs. I think my biggest disappointment is the misleading title and photo which is probably what has sold so many copies of the book.
I gave this book two stars on Goodreads after reading the Ebook version which I borrowed through Libby.