Thu Feb 09 2012
To commemorate Mother's Day, let's take a look at the lives of some real women.
"It Is Well with My Soul: The Extraordinary Life of a 106-Year-Old Woman" is the autobiography of Ella Mae Cheeks Johnson, written with Patricia Mulcahy. Johnson made the news in 2009 when, at the age of 105, she traveled in "bone-chilling weather" to Washington, D.C., "to witness history" at the inauguration of President Obama.
She was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1904, "at a time when there were no official records in America for people of African descent." Her mother died when Ella Mae was 4, and the neighbors took in the little girl. They had "no toilet, no running water, and no electricity," but the woman she called "Mama" had a garden and canned fruits and vegetables. Ella Mae grew up under the South's Jim Crow laws of segregation ("separate but equal"). She writes, "Public facilities were denied me, including public transportation, swimming pools, restaurants, and most hurtfully, libraries." But she worked hard at school and went on to attend one of the nation's "historically black colleges," where she first heard civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois speak, and she was deeply stirred. After she earned her bachelor's degree, she went into social work and moved to Cleveland to attend what later became Case Western Reserve University, where she earned a master's in social sciences. She decided she would always help "the needy," not just "the poor," and went to work for the federal program Mother's Pension, which became Aid to Dependent Children.
Johnson was eminently practical, and apparently she didn't let problems get her down, including her bout with breast cancer. She often writes that things weren't important or didn't matter; people did "the best they could," she writes. "One of the keys to successful aging is taking things under advisement, but then ultimately making your own decision. Independent thinking is the key to freshness of thought and consideration." She writes, "I don't relish the idea of telling people what they should do. I don't think I rule the world. I don't accept that I am always right," even with her own children. She adds, "Compassion is the key to the good life," as well as "being useful" and striving for moderation. "We can get along" if we simply respect one another.
Ella Mae Johnson died March 22 in Cleveland at the age of 106. The book, which includes quotes from people who knew her, now stands as a tribute to a remarkable woman. There's even a list of her favorite books at the end.
Moving from one extreme to the other, "Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach" by Meryl Gordon gives us insights into the life of Brooke Astor, "glamorous socialite and philanthropist." She was born in 1902 and died at the age of 105 in 2007. In 1953, she took as her third husband Vincent Astor, son of gazillionaire John Jacob Astor IV (who went down with the Titanic in 1912). Vincent died only 5 1/2 years after they were married, leaving her "a trust fund of more than $60 million," three homes and a staff of 42. Put in charge of the Astor foundation, she "became a symbol of aristocratic beneficence." She took a personal interest in her beneficiaries, and "instead of just writing checks, she went out to see how her money was being spent and to meet the recipients."Meanwhile, her only son, Anthony Marshall, who "had been managing his mother's money as a full-time job," was "accused of swindling tens of millions of dollars from his mother" in a suit brought against him by one of his own sons. This juicy account reveals details of the life of a woman who was intimate with privilege but was living proof that money can't buy happiness.
For Anglophiles, the veddy British "The Bolter" is the biography of Idina Sackville (a cousin of the writer Vita Sackville-West) written by Sackville's great-granddaughter, Frances Osborne. It exposes a world of upper-class social decadence and scandal, and it brings to life a daring woman who "pushed the boundaries of behavior to extremes" during a time when women had few rights. Sackville lived from 1893 to 1955, was a flapper during the Jazz Age, was married and divorced five times, and was never without a husband for long. She was "an apparently tireless pleasure-seeker," carried a tiny dog named Satan around with her, and didn't care about "her blackened reputation." Her life was the basis for the character of "the Bolter" in Nancy Mitford's novels, including "Love in a Cold Climate.""What Idina wanted out of life was adventure," writes the author. Her first husband was handsome and "rich as Croesus," but she left him and their two children (i.e., bolted) for another man, who took her to Kenya (then British East Africa) to live on a farm overlooking Africa's Rift Valley. "Idina fell in love with the landscape, dazzled by its beauty and the sense of adventure it offered." She had an "open marriage" with one husband, and there was a whole lot of morally questionable and even bizarre behavior among her acquaintances.
"Amelia Earhart: The Thrill of It" by Susan Wels is a gorgeous, rich-looking coffee table book. It is absolutely loaded with photos and biographical information about the fascinating pilot who is surely one of the most-written-about women in American history. Highlights include her days growing up as a tomboy in middle America, her first interest in flying, becoming the media's darling, her reluctant marriage and her alleged affair, her solo flight across the Atlantic, and her mysterious disappearance over the Pacific Ocean in 1937. There are photographic images of people, airplanes, correspondence, maps and documents. Besides her career as an aviator and celebrity icon, the book reveals that she was also a poet and a fashion designer and believed she had psychic powers. This would make a very nice gift.Copyright © 2010 by Mary Louise Ruehr.
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BOOK NOTES, One for the Books Extra Online
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For best-seller lists and more book news, go to:
http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4816005
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Here are links to other recent One for the Books columns. More links are available on my blog at http://blogs.dixcdn.com/shine_a_light/one-for-the-books/
A Bit of Southern Hospitality -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4813799
Marriage -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4805797
Politicians Behaving Badly -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4796121
A Vicarious Vacation in Ireland -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4786929
Sex, Drugs, and Rock ’n’ Roll -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4768003
Keep It Short! -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4758011
Revisiting Jane Austen -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4743712
Palin-Tology -- http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4718844
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“One for the Books” appears the second and fourth Fridays of the month in the Record-Courier. Extra columns may appear on occasion, especially preceding Christmas and Hanukkah.
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