The Quander Quality: The True Story of a Black Trailblazing Diabetic

James W. Quander & Rohulamin Quander
Robert D. Reed (2006)
ISBN 1931741162X
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (11/06)

James Quander was a trailblazer.  He was an African American living in a society that had not yet accepted equality of all.  He was a man with diabetes at a time when it was considered a disability and something that should be hidden. 

After a severe insulin reaction, Rohulamin encouraged his dad to write his courageous story.  Rohulamin felt that reading about James’ struggle with juvenile diabetes could encourage millions of others.  Others needed to know that you can live successfully with this ailment.  Together James and Rohulamin wrote this book.

James was born in 1918 in Washington, D.C.  He was officially diagnosed with diabetes. 
Bedwetting had become a problem. On one particular Easter Sunday James woke up tired and grouchy.  He wasn’t feeling well and was barely dragging along.  “I collapsed onto one of the two forest green park benches that we always sat on in the front yard in the evenings.  I just could not move and relished the fact that I was home… at least almost in my own room, in my own bed.”  When his father rushed to see if he was ok, “I answered, “Papa, Papa come get me.  I’m too weak to get up.  I can hardly move.  Come get me.”  James was too weak to walk.  Dr. Wilder was called, he suspected Juvenile Diabetes.  Dr. Wilder and James became a team working together to prevent the condition from getting worse.  “Never once did Mama or Papa ever let on to me that they believed that I was not going to make it.  Instead they decided that they would do everything within their human ability to provide me with a quality of life equal to that of my two brothers and three sisters.”

James Quander shares his experiences with us, from being diabetic to playing basketball in high school, to his struggle with Scarlet Fever, to his academic achievements.  I enjoyed reading Mr. Quander’s story.  It is one of success, and courage.  The writing is superb; the cover introduces the book well.  I highly recommend “The Quander Quality” to all who enjoy non-fiction, and to those who have diabetes or are parents of a diabetic.

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