"America's great promise and its atonement for the evils of slavery are exemplified in this African-American family that rose to its own form of fantastic fulfillment. It has been my privilege to know many of the Hornes and I believe the entire USA has been enriched by their stories, their grit, their talents and their rise. Of course, Lena is the greatest of these, one of the most talented artists of her generation." - Liz Smith, syndicated columnist

"Lena Horne has long been an incandescent light in my life. Since my youth, her family has been like one of our first families. I love her family story, it's wonderful reading." - Quincy Jones

The Hornes: An American Family (00314519), Gail Lumet Buckley's critically acclaimed book about her mother Lena Horne and the rich family heritage of the Hornes of Brooklyn, was reissued in trade paperback by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books in March of 2002.

In recreating the rise of her family from slavery to fame and fortune, Buckley presents both a stunning portrait of America's black bourgeoisie and a riveting multigenerational family drama. It is as well as candid portrayal of the star who was heiress to a treasured tradition that includes achievement and success.

Buckley writes that her mother Lena Horne "was by no means the first star. [The Hornes] were ALL stars..." There was her great-great-great-great grandmother, Sinai Reynolds, born in Maryland around 1777, who bought her way out of slavery in 1859. Family cousin Antonine Graves, Jr., was a musical prodigy and violin virtuoso before the First World War. Edwin Horn (no "e"), a prominent journalist and businessman, was dubbed "The Adonis of the Negro Press" during the latter part of the 19th Century. In 1918, Lt. Errol Horne was among the first black troops who made up 11 % of the American Expeditionary force in WWI. There was Cora Horne, a pioneering feminist, and Frank Horne, an acclaimed poet of the Harlem Renaissance and a member of FDR's "Black Cabinet."

And there is Lena Horne, a legend in her time... the beautiful girl who was featured on the cover of an NAACP magazine at the age of two, who joined the Cotton Club chorus as a young teen and who had to pay her dues before becoming America's first and - at the time - only black movie star. It is a compelling behind-the-scenes portrayal of her trials and triumphs integrating Hollywood in the middle part of the last century.

As it chronicles over 200 years of pride, achievements and the individual personalities that have been part of this remarkable family's life, THE HORNES: AN AMERICAN FAMILY becomes a richly woven tapestry of the Black social and professional experience in America.

Author bio: Gail Lumet Buckley, the daughter of Lena Horne, has written for VOGUE, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS and THE NEW YORK TIMES. She collaborated on an AMERICAN MASTERS documentary on her mother, and narrated a documentary on black American families for PBS. She is the author of the recently published AMERICAN PATRIOTS: THE STORY OF BLACKS IN THE MILITARY FROM THE REVOLUTION TO DESERT STORM. She and her husband, journalist Kevin Buckley, reside in New York City.