From the Heart

Rule 1: “Position Yourself to Take the Shot.”

Robin Roberts, host of Good Morning America, says the secret of her success is the example of her parents and the way she was raised. Her father, who had dreamed of flying planes from the time he was a little boy, joined the Air Force during World War II and became one of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first black air corps, which became famous for flying 1,578 missions without losing a single plane. Roberts’ mother was the first in her family to attend college, at the prestigious, historically black Howard University. At age 60, after her children were grown, she became a Democratic Party activist and began a political career.

Because Roberts’ father was in the military, she and her family moved often when she was a child. After they’d spent two years in Turkey, the family moved to Biloxi, Mississippi – over the loud objections of Roberts and her siblings, who were well aware of the state’s racist reputation. However, they grew to love the “picturesque region and its lovely, caring people – not to mention the unbelievable food.”

When Roberts’ father retired from the military, her parents bought a house in Pass...