A fascinating biography of the world-famous photographer, written by the daughter of Lange's assistant in the 1930s. Born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn in 1895 in New Jersey, she was stricken with polio at age seven, and later spoke of it as "the most important thing that happened to me. It formed me, guided me, instructed me, helped me, and humiliated me." Taking her mother's maiden name when she began her professional photography career, Lange went from portraits to documenting the "disastrous human consequences" of the Great Depression. "I had to get my camera to register things that were more important than how poor they were_their pride, their strength, their spirit," she wrote about photographing migrant workers in California. She also photographed sharecroppers in the South and Japanese-American internment camps during WWII. Lange's life has been well-documented, but Partridge's conversational tone and intimate details of the Lange household will draw readers in. She also makes vivid Lange's lasting contributions; her photographs_many of which have been reproduced in these pages_captured some of the darkest episodes in American history and continue to touch all who ponder them. (b&w photographs) (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-670-87888-X
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1998
This excellent, well-researched book offers a rare peek into a fascinating culture, history, and people, in portraits of eight intrepid children and their families during the Alaskan/Yukon Territory gold rush. Murphy and Haigh give voices to children who tell of dangerous journeys to Alaskan mining camps, the brutal, cold winters, building small towns in rough terrain, and the disintegration of many families due to gold fever. The children adapted to a whole new way of life, prospected, entertained miners, and felt the effects of sudden fortune or bleak poverty. Fascinating sidebars address other children of the gold rush or other facets of that life, from schooling and the use of sled dogs, to panning for gold. Although the hardships are never glossed over, the design of the book has an antique charm, with photographs, ticket stubs, old handbills, maps, and journal excerpts. (glossary, further reading) (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-57098-257-0
Page Count: 79
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
From Lewin (Fair!, 1997, etc.), a memorable assortment of anecdotes and encounters that weren’t, for one reason or another, picture-book material. At a page or two each, they never form a connected narrative, but make vivid, stand-alone verbal snapshots, “taken” in Botswana, Egypt, Norway, and other exotic places: witnessing the killing and butchering of a wildebeest in the Kalahari; nervously pushing a truck over a submerged bridge past the “DANGER—CROCODILES” sign; laughing as a caribou deliberately spooks a group of hikers in Alaska, then turning to see a grizzly not 50 feet away; visiting a brawling Egyptian camel market; renting a jeep from the king of Ranthambor, India; vainly trying to stop the fire from smoking in a reindeer-hide tepee 125 miles above the Arctic Circle. Illustrated with a glossy section of watercolor sketches and full-color photos, these vignettes are written with an eye for arresting detail, plus the offhand humor that made Lewin’s memoir, I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler (1993) such a delight. (Memoir. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-14109-9
Page Count: 68
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
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