Bessie’s Prayer

“I am Walter, Bessie’s Son”
That Made All the Difference

A Memoir by Walter. D Braud

Bessie's Prayer Book Cover, by Walter D. Braud

Softcover: $18.99
E-Book: $6.99
Audiobook also available

About the Book

Bessie’s Prayer is a vivid and wondrous memoir of love for family, faith, and adventure by African American Catholic author Walter D. Braud. From the Great Black Migration and life in Chicago to a triumphant law career and Chief Judgeship in the heart of the Midwest.

Walter Braud offers a memoir of gratitude, joy, and celebration of the enduring power and love of family. He credits his remarkable mother, Bessie, and her very specific prayers for him, which he knows made all the difference in his life. His story begins during the era of the first great migration from the US South by so many Black individuals and families like his own grandparents who each sought greater opportunities in the North. Never feeling “poor” despite the circumstances of his childhood on the South Side of Chicago, he was inspired by his family heritage of schoolteachers, musicians, and an uncle who was a superstar baseball player.

Though this child prodigy and natural performer did not achieve the particular “first” his family envisioned for him as the first Negro opera tenor to perform in Carnegie Hall, he blazed his own series of firsts in his quest to live up to his mother’s goals for him—to put God and family above all things, pursue worthwhile endeavors, and help others before you help yourself. Walter will be the first to say that he fell way short on too many occasions. “But I gave it my best shot every day of my life. No regrets!”

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“A delightful read, full of charm and warmth and abiding love of family.” —Marcia Wattson

Marcia Wattson, ret. senior librarian, Hennepin County Library and former buyer and merchandise manager for B. Dalton Bookseller
"Judge Braud has a way of making the reader feel right there alongside him. —Vicki Bluedorn, court administrator, IL 14th Judicial Circuit "Before there was a Johnnie Cochran in Los Angeles, there was a Walter Braud in Rock Island, Illinois.”

—Lewis Washington, ret. probation officer, Davenport, Iowa
“Being able to preside over a jury trial as a young judge and see Walter Braud work in a courtroom in front of that jury was an honor and a privilege I won’t forget. His life story is an inspiration for all to enjoy . . . he can sing too.”

—Dana McReynolds, ret. circuit judge, IL 14th Judicial Circuit

About the Author

Walter D. Braud was born and grew up on the South Side of Chicago, where he held several different jobs: teacher, taxi driver, postal worker, train switch operator, and doo-wop singer. He went on to become a public-school teacher, a lawyer, and the ﬁrst Black prosecutor in Rock Island, Illinois. In his private practice, he served as a criminal defense and civil rights trial attorney for twenty-seven years. In 2001, he became the ﬁrst Black circuit judge in Western Illinois. In 2014, he became the chief justice of the 14th Judicial Circuit of Illinois, only the second Black chief judge in Illinois history.

After retiring in 2019, Walter decided to put his life stories to paper, and he began writing this memoir. Writing is a way for him to follow his mother’s commandment, “Stay busy doing something worthwhile all day, you can rest when God takes your breath away!”

For Walter, writing this book is also a way to keep alive precious memories of some of the people who made every day of his life such a wonderful adventure. He claims, “My life has been a daily serving of sunshine and strawberry ice cream!”

Walter lives in Rock Island, Illinois, with his wife Gertrude. He plans to write books so long as God gives him breath.

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An open hand
is never empty…

Photos

Austin and Olivia Braud’s wedding (summer 2023): Jerry, Carolyn, Stefan, Rita, Julian, Annie, Marielle, Charlotte, Michelle, David, Mikal, Rebecca, Olivia, Austin, Alysa, Ayden, Latecia, Walter, Gertrude, Cody, Kaylynn, Cathy, and Alberto
Three Strong Ladies of Greenville, Mississippi: Great-Grandma Bessie Feather, Grandma Alta Feather Mayﬁeld, Mama Bessie Belle Mayﬁeld (1920)
The Ted Mack Amateur Hour, Walter at age twelve (1952)
Herman (Dad) and Mama (Bessie) 1955
Bessie with children Catherine, Rosemary, Barbara, and Charles (1950)
Grandma Alta Barnett and Aunt Katherine Ladner
Uncles Charlie and Dave Malarcher
Tena (“Cousin” Tena) M. Roseman, PhD (1900–1982)
“Gentleman” Dave Malarcher (1900–1983): All-Star Third Basemen for Championship Negro League Team, the Chicago American Giants (Uncle Dave)
Holy Cross Catholic Grade School Altar Boys (1951)
Walter at age thirteen, graduation from Holy Cross School (1953)
The Kings Men: Dinky, Walter, Bubbles, Pancho, and Mickey (1956–1957)
Walter and Gertrude Fall in Love – Gertrude Age 19 and Walter Age 20
Gertrude’s parents, Charlotte, and Irvin Hammons (1960)
Roosevelt University Graduation (1964)
Sixth Grade Public School Teacher (1964–68) Walter with his students at Skinner School (January 1966)
Gertrude, Charlotte, and Charlie on Easter, 1967
Chicago-Kent College of Law Graduation (1968)
Celebrating Law School graduation in Acapulco: Walter and Gertrude with Mariachis
Eighteen months before we moved from Chicago to Rock Island
The Spanish colonial mansion, 1720 22nd Street in Rock Island
In the yard at our “White House”
Charlotte, Charles, Gertrude, and Walter
Prosecuting Attorney, Rock Island, Rock Island County, Illinois (1969–1971)
Braud/Warner, LTD. (1971-2001)
The senior partners: Mike Warner, John Westensee, Braud, and James Neppl
Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride swears in Walter to be a Circuit Judge (2001-2014)
Walter being sworn in as Chief Judge (Photo by Quad City Times, 2014)
Chief Judge Walter D. Braud (2014–2019) in The Quad City Times
Unobstructed view of the new courthouse from 15th Street
The family in Clearwater, FL (2015)
Walter and Gertrude Running the Bix (1991)
Walter and Gertrude, Till Death Do Us Part (2023)
Bessie and Walter cruising (1986)
Bessie Belle Braud (1911–1998)