Welcome to Under the Maples. The old adage, “you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl,” applies to me. I live in a concrete jungle today, but I grew up “under the maples.” While I enjoy many of the more cosmopolitan aspects of city living, I’m still most at home where there are more trees and grass than concrete and steel. In these pages I’ll be talking about anything that strikes my fancy, but expect to find an emphasis on history and genealogy.
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29 July 2010
Great Reads - Katherine Graham's Personal History
Anybody contemplating writing a memoir needs to read Katherine Graham's Personal History. I almost passed on this 600+ page memoir, it seemed excessive for an autobiography....who remembers that many details of their life. Of course, most of us haven't lived a life like Mrs. Graham's. It was published during my Watergate phase, so I picked it up anyways, figuring I'd read a few chapters then skip to the WoodStein sections. Instead, I found myself captivated by the extraordinary life of this woman, from girl to Washington institution. Graham has told the story of her life as just that a story, and she's told it with an objective frankness not usually found in an autobiography. This reader found herself turning each page and wondering just exactly what was going to happen next. Don't pass this up just because you don't like memoir; I'm glad I didn't. It is well worth the time.
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