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On 26 January 2021 HarperCollins published Just as I Am, the memoir of Cicely Tyson. Two days later she died in New York, aged 96, after spending her last weeks promoting it. Born in 1924 to parents from the Caribbean island of Nevis, she grew up in East Harlem, was discovered as a model by an Ebony photographer, and became one of the first Black women to hold a regular role in an American television drama. Sounder (1972) brought an Oscar nomination, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman two Emmys, and at 88 she won a Tony. Within weeks of her death the memoir was No. 1 on The New York Times nonfiction list. This guide covers her one book: what it is about and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 1 key books · 2021–2021 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Cicely Tyson wrote one book: Just as I Am (2021), a memoir written with Michelle Burford and published by HarperCollins two days before her death. It runs from her childhood in East Harlem and a first marriage at 18 through modelling, Sounder, Miss Jane Pittman and Roots, to her marriage to Miles Davis and her late career on stage and in How to Get Away with Murder. Start there; it is the only place she tells the whole story herself.
Where to Start with Cicely Tyson
If you want the story of a Hollywood career on her own terms
→ Just as I Am (2021) — from a bit part in 1956 to an honorary Oscar in 2018.
If you want her side of the marriage to Miles Davis
→ Just as I Am (2021) — the relationship she described to NPR as the Miles Davis people did not know.
If you want a Harlem childhood and a family story
→ Just as I Am (2021) — West Indian parents, a strict mother and a church upbringing.
The Book by Cicely Tyson
Just as I Am
Written with Michelle Burford, the 432-page memoir follows Tyson from an East Harlem childhood with parents from Nevis, her father’s infidelity and a first marriage at 18, through a chance start in modelling to Sounder, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots. It gives a long account of her turbulent marriage to Miles Davis, and explains why her birth year was long given as 1933. HarperCollins published it on 26 January 2021; Tyson died two days later, and it reached No. 1 on The New York Times nonfiction list. The audiobook is read by Tyson with Viola Davis and Robin Miles.
How to Read Cicely Tyson
There is only one book, so there is no order to work out. Just as I Am is told broadly in sequence, from her parents’ arrival from Nevis and her childhood in East Harlem to the honours of her last years, with her career and her private life in the same chapters rather than kept apart.
Readers who know her mainly from How to Get Away with Murder will find that the late television work takes up little room; the weight of the book is in the decades before, from her first roles in the late 1950s to Sounder, Miss Jane Pittman and the years with Miles Davis.
A reading path
1. Just as I Am: A Memoir (2021)
The years · 1924–2021
Quick facts about Cicely Tyson
- Known for
- Tyson is known as an actor who spent more than six decades on screen and stage, from Sounder and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman to Roots, and who became the first Black woman to receive an honorary Oscar.
- 1924
- Born in the Bronx, New York City
- 1963
- Regular role in East Side/West Side
- 1972
- Oscar nomination for Sounder
- 2013
- Tony Award at 88 for The Trip to Bountiful
- 2021
- Just as I Am
- Born
- 19 December 1924, the Bronx, New York City; her parents came from Nevis
- Died
- 28 January 2021, New York City, aged 96
- Screen
- Sounder (1972, Oscar nomination), The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974, two Emmys), Roots (1977)
- Stage
- Tony Award for The Trip to Bountiful (2013), at 88 the oldest winner of Best Actress in a Play
- Honours
- Kennedy Center Honors (2015), Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016), honorary Oscar (2018), Peabody (2020)
- Married
- Miles Davis, 1981; she filed for divorce in 1988, final in 1989
The red mark is 2021: Just as I Am, her memoir and only book, published two days before her death.
How Cicely Tyson Tells Her Story: Career and Conscience Together
Just as I Am was written with Michelle Burford, a founding editor of O, The Oprah Magazine, and it reads as Tyson’s own voice: direct, unhurried and frank about family. She starts with her parents from Nevis, her father’s infidelity and a strict mother, and does not skip her first marriage at 18 or the years she supported her daughter with odd jobs before modelling began.
The book treats her choice of roles as a matter of principle as much as craft. Speaking to NPR’s Michel Martin in January 2021, she said that after Sounder she decided she “could not afford the luxury of just being an actress”, and that some of what she went through “happened simply because of the color of my skin and my sex.” The memoir follows that line from Sounder and Miss Jane Pittman to Roots.
She is equally direct about Miles Davis. Kirkus notes how she writes that “He had a strong need to be cared for”, and on NPR she said: “I wish people knew the Miles Davis that I knew.” For writers who share her subjects, from Harlem childhoods to Black women’s lives in public, see Authors like Cicely Tyson.
Listen
Cicely Tyson on Just As I Am
In an NPR interview published in January 2021, days before her death, Cicely Tyson reflects on her long career, her memoir Just As I Am and Miles Davis. From the archive of NPR.
Frequently asked questions about Cicely Tyson’s book
How many books did Cicely Tyson write?
One: Just as I Am: A Memoir (2021), written with Michelle Burford and published by HarperCollins.
How many books has Cicely Tyson written?
There is only one, Just as I Am (2021).
Where should I start with Cicely Tyson?
With Just as I Am, her only book. If you want to see the work it describes alongside it, Sounder (1972) and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) are the two performances the memoir returns to most.
What is Cicely Tyson’s most famous book?
Just as I Am (2021), her only book. It reached No. 1 on The New York Times nonfiction list in February 2021, weeks after her death.
When did Cicely Tyson publish her memoir?
Just as I Am was published on 26 January 2021. Tyson died two days later, on 28 January 2021, at the age of 96.
Does Just as I Am cover her marriage to Miles Davis?
Yes, at length. They married in 1981, she filed for divorce in 1988 and it was finalised in 1989. The book describes a turbulent marriage, and in interviews for it she said she wished people knew the Miles Davis she knew.
Who helped write Just as I Am?
Michelle Burford, a founding editor of O, The Oprah Magazine, wrote the book with Tyson.
Who narrates the Just as I Am audiobook?
Tyson reads part of it herself, together with Viola Davis, her co-star in How to Get Away with Murder, and the narrator Robin Miles.
How old was Cicely Tyson?
She was born on 19 December 1924 and died on 28 January 2021, aged 96. For decades her birth year was given as 1933; in 2013 she confirmed the 1924 date, and in the memoir she says a former manager had taken years off her age.
What awards did Cicely Tyson win?
Among others: two Emmys for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), a Tony Award for The Trip to Bountiful (2013), the Kennedy Center Honors (2015), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016) and an honorary Oscar (2018), the first given to a Black woman. She was nominated for an Oscar for Sounder.
Footnotes
- Cicely Tyson — Wikipedia
- Just as I Am — Kirkus Reviews
- ‘Just as I Am’: Cicely Tyson reflects on her long career — NPR (via KUNC), 2021
- Cicely Tyson memoir tops Amazon — Deadline, 2021
- List of The New York Times number-one books of 2021 — Wikipedia
- Just as I Am: the autobiography of Cicely Tyson — The Root
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“I could not afford the luxury of just being an actress.”
— Cicely Tyson, interview with Michel Martin, NPR (January 2021)
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