CCNY Made: Profiles in Grit (The History Press)

5 Star Review

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Editorial Book Review:

By Julian Walker

Here's something worth knowing about the City College of New York before you open this book. It was founded specifically to give free education to people who couldn't afford it anywhere else. The children of immigrants, the kids from the Lower East Side tenements, the ones who had every reason to expect nothing and somehow became everything. That founding mission is what makes CCNY Made so much more than a collection of famous alumni profiles. It's a book about what happens when opportunity meets people who have absolutely no intention of wasting it.

Ronnyjane Goldsmith clearly loves these stories, and that love shows in how she tells them. Jonas Salk developing the polio vaccine while facing antisemitism from the very scientific community he was trying to contribute to. Felix Frankfurter arriving in America at twelve years old without a word of English and ending up on the Supreme Court. Yip Harburg, the son of Russian immigrants, writing the lyrics to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." These aren't just success stories. They're stories about what it costs to get there, and Goldsmith never lets you forget the cost.

What's lovely about the book is that it doesn't require any prior connection to CCNY to move you. Yes, alumni will find it deeply meaningful. But anyone who has ever been told that where you start determines where you end up will find something here that pushes back on that idea in the most satisfying way possible.

Goldsmith's writing is warm and well-paced, and she has a real gift for knowing exactly how much of each life to share. Long enough to feel the weight of the journey. Short enough to keep you moving through thirty-two remarkable people without losing steam.

And the fact that every penny of proceeds goes to students facing hardship at CCNY today? That's not a footnote. That's the whole spirit of the book made real.

About the Author

Ronnyjane Goldsmith

In 2021, Ronnyjane Goldsmith, Public Servant, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist added Author to her moniker with the publication of Temple Made. Profiles in Grit.

In 2023, Goldsmith announced the publication of the multi-award winning book, CCNY Made. Profiles in Grit.

Like the alumni she profiles in both books, Goldsmith, B.A., M.A., PhD., began life at the bottom and found success through luck, determination but most importantly grit.

The proceeds from Temple Made. Profiles in Grit and CCNY Made. Profiles in Grit are dedicated to funds the author established at each University to provide assistance to students without financial resources who are facing catastrophic life events.