Key Takeaways
- LeVar Burton opens up in his memoir Take My Word for It about childhood violence, his bipolar II diagnosis and how Reading Rainbow gave him “an anchor and someplace to put my purpose” during a mental health crisis.
- Burton traces his shift from aspiring priest to actor, landing Kunta Kinte in Roots at 19 and later playing Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- The memoir arrives as Reading Rainbow enters a new chapter without Burton, with librarian and online creator Mychal Threets hosting a YouTube reboot that debuted Oct. 16.
LeVar Burton spent nearly five decades helping tell other people’s stories. Now, the man behind Kunta Kinte, Geordi La Forge and Reading Rainbow is putting his own life on the page. Burton’s new memoir, Take My Word for It, is out now through Random House, pulling together the landmark roles, family relationships and mental health struggles that shaped his life away from the camera.
The 69-year-old actor traces his path from a turbulent childhood to a career that made him one of television’s most familiar faces. In an exclusive excerpt published by People, Burton writes about growing up with violence in his home, his complicated relationship with his father and the influence of the women who raised and supported him.
He also reveals that he was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder and experienced a mental breakdown while balancing the pressures of Hollywood with his public role on Reading Rainbow.
Acting was not Burton’s original plan. He once intended to become a priest, but a high school production of T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral sent him in another direction. “Acting—storytelling—is sacred as well,” Burton said.
That belief followed him to USC, where he answered a casting call for Roots and landed the role of Kunta Kinte at 19. The 1977 miniseries became a television phenomenon and forced the young actor to confront both the violence of American history and questions about his own ancestry.
Then came Reading Rainbow. Burton began hosting the PBS series in 1983, guiding children through books, field trips and recommendations from young readers for more than two decades.
The show became a classroom staple and helped make him a trusted presence in millions of homes.
Behind the scenes, however, Burton says the job arrived during one of the most unsettled periods of his life. “It gave me an anchor and someplace to put my purpose,” he said.
The memoir also recounts heated disagreements with PBS producers over his appearance.
Burton joined Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 while still filming Reading Rainbow, taking on the role of blind engineer Geordi La Forge. As a lifelong Star Trek fan, he understood what it meant to see Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura on television and later became part of that representational lineage himself.
“Representation is important,” Burton said.
The memoir arrives as Reading Rainbow begins another era without him. A reboot hosted by librarian and online creator Mychal Threets returned to YouTube on Oct. 16, introducing the franchise to children far removed from its original PBS run.
