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RUN: The Wilmot Collins Story—From Liberian Refugee to the First Black Mayor in Montana
Not yet published
Expected 6 Oct 26The incredible true story of how Wilmot Collins fled his war-torn African homeland to make a new home in America, becoming a community activist, a political leader, and an inspiration for hope in a time of rising anti-immigration sentiment.
Run tells the inspiring story of Wilmot Collins, who fled the brutal and bloody Liberian Civil War in the early 1990s—where over 250,000 Liberians were killed, including two of Collins’s brothers—and managed to make it to Helena, Montana, one of the whitest places on the planet. Enduring and overcoming racism and xenophobia, he joined the Montana National Guard, became an active member of the Helena community, and in 2017 rose to become mayor of the capital city and the first Black mayor in Montana’s history.
Collins garnered a national reputation not only as a beloved Democratic politician in a ruby red state but also as a shining example of how being a racial and political outsider in a highly partisan society can be transformed into an effective and engaging form of political leadership.
Wilmot’s story highlights the tragic decision to abandon one’s homeland when it turns on its people. Collins came from a highly educated family and, when civil war erupted, he was fresh out of college working as a middle school teacher at Monrovia’s SOS Children’s Village School. He had recently found a great companion, Maddie Muna, whom he met after college graduation. They became fast friends and soon life partners in marriage. But they first had to negotiate forces threatening their very lives.
Through extensive interviews and his masterful command of storytelling, award-winning author and filmmaker Daniel Blake Smith tells how Wilmot and Maddie, through great perseverance, plenty of ingenuity, and inspiring displays of generosity, journeyed to the United States and have made their new home a better place for everyone. Run offers an emotional, inspiring, and deeply personal story of survival, racial injustice, political hope, and the challenges one family faced to realize the American dream.
Run tells the inspiring story of Wilmot Collins, who fled the brutal and bloody Liberian Civil War in the early 1990s—where over 250,000 Liberians were killed, including two of Collins’s brothers—and managed to make it to Helena, Montana, one of the whitest places on the planet. Enduring and overcoming racism and xenophobia, he joined the Montana National Guard, became an active member of the Helena community, and in 2017 rose to become mayor of the capital city and the first Black mayor in Montana’s history.
Collins garnered a national reputation not only as a beloved Democratic politician in a ruby red state but also as a shining example of how being a racial and political outsider in a highly partisan society can be transformed into an effective and engaging form of political leadership.
Wilmot’s story highlights the tragic decision to abandon one’s homeland when it turns on its people. Collins came from a highly educated family and, when civil war erupted, he was fresh out of college working as a middle school teacher at Monrovia’s SOS Children’s Village School. He had recently found a great companion, Maddie Muna, whom he met after college graduation. They became fast friends and soon life partners in marriage. But they first had to negotiate forces threatening their very lives.
Through extensive interviews and his masterful command of storytelling, award-winning author and filmmaker Daniel Blake Smith tells how Wilmot and Maddie, through great perseverance, plenty of ingenuity, and inspiring displays of generosity, journeyed to the United States and have made their new home a better place for everyone. Run offers an emotional, inspiring, and deeply personal story of survival, racial injustice, political hope, and the challenges one family faced to realize the American dream.
179 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 6, 2026
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Review of advance copy received from Author
Daniel Blake Smith’s Run is a compelling political biography and refugee narrative about a life shaped by survival, family, public service, and the search for belonging. The book follows Wilmot Collins from the violence of Liberia’s civil war to his historic election as Helena, Montana’s first Black mayor. Smith opens with scenes of hunger, gunfire, and desperate escape, then carries that urgency into the long bureaucratic struggle that separated Collins from his wife, Maddie, and their young daughter. It’s an American immigrant biography with a remarkable trajectory, but its emotional center remains the bond between Wilmot and Maddie as they keep building a future through uncertainty.
The early chapters are the book’s most intense, placing Wilmot and Maddie inside a Liberia where ordinary routines have been overtaken by terror. Smith writes these passages with the momentum of narrative nonfiction, moving between historical context and intimate moments of fear, grief, humor, and devotion. Once the couple escapes, the story becomes an immigration history centered on waiting: waiting for paperwork, interviews, sponsors, approvals, and the chance to reunite. That slower stretch has its own tension because every administrative delay carries a human cost. Wilmot’s persistence gives these chapters warmth, while Maddie’s determination and practical intelligence make her much more than a supporting figure.
When the story reaches Montana, it expands into a thoughtful civic leadership biography. Wilmot takes whatever work he can find, joins the military, becomes active in his church, counsels young people, coaches soccer, advocates for human rights, and gradually becomes part of Helena’s public life. Smith doesn’t separate this community work from Collins’s later political success. He shows that the campaign was built through years of conversations, service, and personal trust. The book also addresses racism directly, including threats and vandalism against the Collins family, while paying equal attention to the neighbors and friends who stood beside them. That balance gives the account a conversational honesty and helps explain why voters eventually saw Collins as one of their own.
As a political biography, Run is especially engaging when it examines Collins’s idea of leadership as service. His mayoral years, policy priorities, public meetings, Senate campaign, and responses to national debates all grow naturally from the experiences that came before them. Smith’s admiration for Collins is clear, and the book sometimes states its lessons more directly than it needs to, but the wealth of family memories and community voices keeps the portrait grounded. Ultimately, this refugee success story is about how citizenship gets practiced in daily life. It presents Wilmot Collins as a gifted connector whose political achievements came from showing up, listening closely, and treating public office as another way to care for his community.
The early chapters are the book’s most intense, placing Wilmot and Maddie inside a Liberia where ordinary routines have been overtaken by terror. Smith writes these passages with the momentum of narrative nonfiction, moving between historical context and intimate moments of fear, grief, humor, and devotion. Once the couple escapes, the story becomes an immigration history centered on waiting: waiting for paperwork, interviews, sponsors, approvals, and the chance to reunite. That slower stretch has its own tension because every administrative delay carries a human cost. Wilmot’s persistence gives these chapters warmth, while Maddie’s determination and practical intelligence make her much more than a supporting figure.
When the story reaches Montana, it expands into a thoughtful civic leadership biography. Wilmot takes whatever work he can find, joins the military, becomes active in his church, counsels young people, coaches soccer, advocates for human rights, and gradually becomes part of Helena’s public life. Smith doesn’t separate this community work from Collins’s later political success. He shows that the campaign was built through years of conversations, service, and personal trust. The book also addresses racism directly, including threats and vandalism against the Collins family, while paying equal attention to the neighbors and friends who stood beside them. That balance gives the account a conversational honesty and helps explain why voters eventually saw Collins as one of their own.
As a political biography, Run is especially engaging when it examines Collins’s idea of leadership as service. His mayoral years, policy priorities, public meetings, Senate campaign, and responses to national debates all grow naturally from the experiences that came before them. Smith’s admiration for Collins is clear, and the book sometimes states its lessons more directly than it needs to, but the wealth of family memories and community voices keeps the portrait grounded. Ultimately, this refugee success story is about how citizenship gets practiced in daily life. It presents Wilmot Collins as a gifted connector whose political achievements came from showing up, listening closely, and treating public office as another way to care for his community.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
Run: The Wilmot Collins Story offers a compelling and deeply human account of resilience, displacement, perseverance, and public service. Daniel Blake Smith brings Wilmot Collins’s extraordinary journey from war torn Liberia to Helena, Montana, into sharp focus, creating a narrative that connects personal survival with the broader questions of belonging, leadership, and the American experience.
What makes the story particularly powerful is the contrast between the circumstances Collins fled and the life he worked to build in a community where he initially stood out as an outsider. His journey through the Liberian Civil War, immigration, military service, community involvement, and eventual election as Montana’s first Black mayor gives the book an important historical and personal dimension.
The emphasis on Wilmot and Maddie’s perseverance also adds emotional depth, showing that the pursuit of a new life is not simply an individual journey but one shaped by partnership, sacrifice, courage, and community. The book’s exploration of racism, xenophobia, political division, and civic leadership gives the story relevance beyond one person’s remarkable biography.
With its combination of historical context, firsthand interviews, political insight, and personal storytelling, Run has the potential to resonate strongly with readers interested in biography, immigration, American history, leadership, and stories of overcoming extraordinary adversity.
What makes the story particularly powerful is the contrast between the circumstances Collins fled and the life he worked to build in a community where he initially stood out as an outsider. His journey through the Liberian Civil War, immigration, military service, community involvement, and eventual election as Montana’s first Black mayor gives the book an important historical and personal dimension.
The emphasis on Wilmot and Maddie’s perseverance also adds emotional depth, showing that the pursuit of a new life is not simply an individual journey but one shaped by partnership, sacrifice, courage, and community. The book’s exploration of racism, xenophobia, political division, and civic leadership gives the story relevance beyond one person’s remarkable biography.
With its combination of historical context, firsthand interviews, political insight, and personal storytelling, Run has the potential to resonate strongly with readers interested in biography, immigration, American history, leadership, and stories of overcoming extraordinary adversity.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews