Whitelaw follows They Wrote Their Own Headlines (1994), on American women journalists, with a probing biography of the greatest of them all. Focusing on the internal obstacles Katharine Graham overcame in building a moderately successful newspaper into a major communications empire, the author develops a conspicuous theme, creating a portrait of a woman whose innate drive was buried beneath feelings of personal and gender inferiority until her husband’s suicide propelled her into a leadership role. While chronicling her subject’s change from submissive wife to strong, independent woman, Whitelaw notes without comment the way Graham’s early interest in labor issues and membership in the Newspaper Guild did not keep her from breaking a union at the Post, or responding late and not very forcefully to complaints of racial discrimination within her organization. The book is not going to win any journalism awards; as the sources bear out, the author relies heavily on Graham’s Personal History (1997) for much of the material; still, if Whitelaw doesn’t always line up independent comment, she is also never blindly adulatory. The narrative sometimes bogs down in details of corporate acquisitions, and the back matter, which includes an arbitrary list of noteworthy events in American journalism that ends in 1981, is more extensive than useful; still, all quotes are traced, and Graham’s achievements, both public and personal, are clearly laid out. (b&w photos, glossary, bibliography, index) (Biography. 12-15)
Pub Date: Dec. 8, 1998
ISBN: 1-883846-37-4
Page Count: 112
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In a sequel to the well-received I Have Lived a Thousand Years (1997, not reviewed), Bitton-Jackson writes of her life as Elli Friedmann in 1945, when she, her brother, and mother were liberated from Auschwitz and sent back to their former home in Czechoslovakia. Finding only a shell of the place they had known, they struggled to rebuild some semblance of life and waited for the return of Elli’s father. When they realized he was gone for good, their only hope through all their efforts was the prospect of obtaining papers that would allow them to emigrate to America. Through the long years that they waited, Elli found work teaching, and helping other Jews escape to Palestine, a dangerous and illegal undertaking. When they finally arrived in New York City, relatives welcomed them; an epilogue collapses most of the author’s adult life into a few paragraphs so readers will know the directions her life took. Interesting and inspiring, this story makes painfully clear how the fight to survive extended well beyond the war years; the discomforts and obstacles the author faced and articulates in such riveting detail will make readers squirm at the security and ease of their own lives. (Memoir. 12-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-82026-7
Page Count: 258
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
Marguerite Henry died barely two years ago, after living the life of which most writers dream: She wrote from the time she was young, her parents encouraged her, she published early and often, and her books were honored and loved in her lifetime. Her hobby, she said, was words, but it was also her life and livelihood. Her research skills were honed by working in her local library, doing book repair. Her husband Sidney supported and encouraged her work, and they traveled widely as she carefully researched the horses on Chincoteague and the burros in the Grand Canyon. She worked in great harmony with her usual illustrator, Wesley Dennis, and was writing up until she died. Collins is a bit overwrought in his prose, but Henry comes across as strong and engaging as she must have been in person. Researchers will be delighted to find her Newbery acceptance speech included in its entirety. (b&w photos, bibliography, index) (Biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 10, 1999
ISBN: 1-883846-39-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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