From WHITE to BLACK

One Life Between Two Worlds

By: Iris Duplantier Rideau

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

The moving and inspiring story of a young Creole/Black woman born in 1936 in New Orleans. Stung by the ugly hatred of racism, young Iris Duplantier Rideau learned from her grandmother to pass for white, affording her better opportunities than her darker-skinned friends and family. Moving to California with her mother, Iris experienced horrors that no child should endure, leaving her a single teenage mother without a future at 17. What would have stopped most people, only made Iris more determined. She took a grueling job in a sweatshop to support herself and her baby. Needing more education to get a better job, Iris took night classes. However, once her school counselors discovered she was Black, doors began to shut. Iris pounded the pavement and landed a front-office job with an insurance company that didn’t care about her race—only that she could answer phones and type fast. Iris’s determination and never-give-up spirit led her to start her own insurance company, eventually providing insurance to Black-owned businesses and non-profit agencies that “white” insurance agencies wouldn’t touch. Iris’s talent then led her to open a second business managing the city of Los Angeles’ supplemental pension fund—the first Black woman to do this! When Iris retired, she moved to the Santa Ynez Valley and created the award-winning Rideau Winery, earning her the title of the first Black woman in the country to own a winery. Iris’ Creole heritage brought people from all races and backgrounds together. Photos and recipes included.

Great Story. Awful Narration by an AI Bot!

Iris shares her mind shifting story about being the first black woman to own a fledgling yet, ultimately, successful winery in California.
The narration murdered the story because it was atrocious and permanently high pitched.
I stayed the course because I wanted to learn as much as possible about Iris and her precarious journey in the cut throat world of wine, provenance and betrayal. Audible owes this book a new recording as the current one is abominable. For now, I would say buy the book and skip this narration!

The opening.

I was a true life story of challenges and perseverance, which led to ultimate success in multiple businesses.