This memoir is a guidebook for all who wish to make the decades of one's life count for civility, for progress, for social interaction with the best motives. It is a moving read. Olin Sansbury's pragmatic life journey through more than one fruitful career is a heartening example of making choices, some good, some not so good, and some lucky. He always accepts responsibility for his choices and gives credit to others who have had a collaborative part in his considerable success. Dr. Sansbury is a historian and political scientist, a teacher, whose perspective on the 20^th century and recent past, is well worth your time. Life is indeed a JOINT VENTURE.

--Elaine T. Freeman

Olin Sansbury's Joint Ventures is a thoughtful portrait of the institutional and political changes occurring across seven decades of South Carolina history. While the focus is predominately on a life well spent in higher education, Olin's perspective shifts frequently to themes more relevant to ever changing times, as he and South Carolina come of age intellectually and professionally. This work is more than simply another memoir, it's a reflective tale of an educated man living an exhaustive life in the most beguiling state in the country. -- Luther F. (Fred) Carter, president of Francis Marion University

After reading Joint Ventures, I now have a better understanding why Olin Sansbury, who was the chancellor at the time, gave me a chance to work in his office after my four years of basketball eligibility was finished and I found myself still three semesters away from graduating. He mentored me on how to become the businessman that I aspired to become. Now, 40 years later, as I travel and lead others to destinations around the world I often thank about where I would be if it hadn't been for Dr. Sansbury believing in me.

--Pastor Odell Cleveland, Mount Zion Baptist Church of Greensboro

Joint Ventures is the memoir of a visionary. Olin Sansbury encouraged the pursuit of African American professors and staff to better connect the urban community of dreamers in Spartanburg to the possibilities of higher education. The benefits are still being realized.

--Brenda Lee Pryce, former South Carolina state representative