PATHS TO PEACE

The grandiloquent subtitle captures the heavily earnest tone of this artist’s tribute to 16 modern men and women who might—broadly, in several cases—be characterized as peacemakers. Most of Zalben’s choices are familiar ones, from Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Einstein to Anne Frank, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa, but the final three—Kikuyu conservation activist Wangari Maathai, Burmese Nobelist and political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi and Princess Diana—do give the roster a personal tilt. She profiles each with a page of basic biographical facts and quick looks at significant activities or achievements, adding a pithy quote from each and also an evocatively designed border and a strong, semi-abstract collage illustration. Closing with notes on the art, plus generous lists of further sources of information, this might not light fires under many readers, but it supports the author’s theme that “one person can make a difference.” (Collective biography. 10-12)