Hugh Pearson (1957–2005) was descended from generations of African-American surgeons, including his great-uncle, who was the first black surgeon in south Georgia and who built the largest private hospital for blacks in the state. Pearson's distinctive voice weaved together autobiography and investigative journalism to offer a unique window of understanding into the nature of the American experience. He was the author of Under the Knife: How a Wealthy Negro Surgeon Wielded Power in the Jim Crow South (2000) and The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America, a New York Times Notable Book of 1994.
