Redefining Manhood, Success, and Choosing Our Legacy: A Conversation with Author Melvin E. Edwards Artwork

Persistence U with Lizbeth

An award-winning author turned Lifetime TV movie subject, host Lizbeth Meredith works to tame trauma and increase resilience leveraging the power of persistence.Created for and by survivors and strivers, Persistence U podcast with Lizbeth hosts guests willing to share from the heart to both inform and inspire. Whether they've published a first book after 70, or slowly re-entered life after a crushing setback, they'll tell who and what helped. Because big goals and obstacles are no match when you have a good community.

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Persistence U with Lizbeth

Redefining Manhood, Success, and Choosing Our Legacy: A Conversation with Author Melvin E. Edwards

September 24, 2025 • Lizbeth Meredith • Season 5 • Episode 193

On this episode of Persistence U with Lizbeth, I’m joined by Melvin E. Edwards, journalist, podcaster, sixth-generation Texan, and author of The Eyes of Texans: From Slavery to the Texas Capitol. Mel shares not only his love of history but also his deeply personal journey of resilience shaped by family, loss, and a lifetime of persistence.

Connect with Melvin at Stories From Real Life Podcast HERE

Raised in Houston, Mel grew up close to his father, who instilled in him a vision of success beyond physical labor. That influence, coupled with the sudden loss of his father at age 13, shaped his writing life and his understanding of what it means to be “man enough.” His story weaves together themes of identity, fatherhood, healing, and the power of family legacy.

Listeners will also hear about Mel’s decades-long search into his family’s genealogy, including the remarkable discoveries of ancestors who lived through the Republic of Texas era and survived slavery. His books bring those stories to life in ways that honor the past while inspiring the present.

This is a conversation about resilience, the long shadow of history, and how one man turned personal loss into a legacy of storytelling.

If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a friend. Forward the link by text or post it on your social media to help grow the Persistence U community.

You Will Learn:

How personal tragedy at a young age shaped Mel’s writing and resilience.
Why discovering family history can be both heartbreaking and empowering.
The importance of redefining manhood, fatherhood, and success for yourself and future generations.

Lizbeth’s links

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Lizbeth's memoir Pieces of Me: Rescuing My Kidnapped Daughters can be ordered where books are sold, and is now a TV movie, #Stolen By Their Father on Lifetime.

Lizbeth's second book, Grounded in Grit: Turn Your Challenges Into Superpowers is available to order wherever books are sold!

Tilka Faces the Odds, One Man at a Time, new release novel https://books2read.com/u/4j760X