Book Description

On this extraordinary audio program, Julia Butterfly Hill, the remarkable woman who inspired the world by living in a giant redwood tree named “Luna” to protest the practices of the logging industry, shares her story of commitment, perseverance and courage with New Dimensions Radio host Michael Toms. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Inspiring Interview With An Environmental Heroine
New Dimensions Radio and Michael Toms are known for presenting some of the most important people and issues of our times. Gratefully, New Dimensions released this amazing interview with Julia Butterfly Hill. Her book 'Legacy of Luna' about her experiences 180 feet up a thousand year old redwood, and the resulting preservation of it and the surrounding grove, is fascinating and incredible. With this interview, we get to hear her speak of the ordeal/adventure in her own voice.

Even more than listening to the profound experience, her incredible spirit, generosity, and love for all living things is most inspiring. This tape is highly recommended for anyone who has respect for all forms of life and their protection.

The voice for those whom cannot speak
Julia Butterfly Hill's story is that in which is so awe inspiring and full of such powerful truth, its hard not to want to go out and do something extreme as well to protect our sacred environment in all of its natural beauty!

This audiocassette is wonderful, made by new dimensions radio ( whom is involved with many environmental issues), and is definetly a must have for you treehuggers, outdoor lovers, and spiritualists!

If you do not know of Julia's 2 year treesit in "luna", please go out and get this cassette! I guarentee it will leave you refreshed and inspired!

So take the journey with ms hill as she talks about her sit, and the trials and tribulations she experienced while participating in the longest treesit in history! (738days)

Happy listening! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The kind of advice your best girlfriend would give you...
I happened upon Dawn Steel's book and fell for the title. She speaks honestly and with humor about her triumphs and her trials, demonstrating that to succeed, you must first take some risks. I was saddened to learn of her death a couple of years ago--she's someone I wish I'd known in person.

must-read stuff for women in the work place
i just liked this book alot. i fell in love with dawn steel. she was a mover and a shaker. her energy jumps to you from the book. i recommend this book to any female who feels lost, misdirected, or going nowhere in her career. this book ought to be everywhere.

If you are a woman in the "business" you should read it.
I greatly enjoyed Dawn Steel's book, "They Can Kill You, But They Can't Eat You." It's comforting to know that others have been before you knocking down walls. It was a great read. She gives great advice. I highly recommend it for anyone who is in the "business" who dares to do the impossible. ... Read more

Book Description

The author of Bel Canto -- winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Orange Prize and long-running New York Times bestseller -- turns to nonfiction in a moving chronicle of her decades-long friendship with the critically acclaimed and recently deceased author, Lucy Grealy.

What happens when the person who is your family is someone you aren't bound to by blood? What happens when that person is not your lover, but your best friend? In her frank and startlingly intimate first work of nonfiction, Truth & Beauty, Ann Patchett shines light on the little-explored world of women's friendships and shows us what it means to stand together.

Ann Patchett and Lucy Grealy met in college in 1981, and after enrolling in the Iowa Writer's Workshop began a friendship that would be as defining to both of their lives as their work. In her critically acclaimed memoir, Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy wrote about the first half of her life. In Truth & Beauty, the story isn't Lucy's life or Ann's life but the parts of their lives they shared together. This is a portrait of unwavering commitment that spans 20 years, from the long cold winters of the Midwest to surgical wards to book parties in New York. Through love, fame, drugs and despair, this is what it means to be part of two lives that are intertwined.

This is a tender, brutal book about loving the person we cannot save. It is about loyalty and about being lifted up by the sheer effervescence of someone who knew how to live life to the fullest.

Reviews (31)

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A BROKEN HEART AND A BRILLIANT MIND
If you've read Lucy Grealy's book AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FACE, you must read Ann Patchett's book TRUTH & BEAUTY. Ann was Lucy's best friend and tells the story of their loving and literary friendship. Ann's book is filled with Lucy's letters. The book tells of how Lucy was taunted by kids and adults because of her facial cancer. Readers get to see into Lucy's heart and how because of her "ugly" face she thought no one would ever love her. yet she beds every man who says something nice to her out of a need to connect and feel "love.". this book is a fantastic look into the heart and mind of someone with a visible disability. it is about someone with a brilliant mind. and it's filled with triumph and tragedy. And if you haven't read AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FACE, I recommend that too. In both books you'll see the life of a driven woman hoping her genius and writing abilities will save her from what she thinks is the tragedy of her disability and make someone love her and she will live happily ever after. Sadly Lucy died of a drug overdose a few years ago. was it an accident or suicide?? she was heartbroken. she never thought she would find love. but so many of her friends loved her.

Patchett's Frank and Tender First Work of Nonfiction
Female friendships are one of the most complex human relationships, regardless of age. And in TRUTH & BEAUTY, author Ann Patchett does nothing to dispel the mystery of girlfriends. If anything, she adds to it.

Although this book is nonfiction, it reads like fiction. Readers will dive into the story, greedily gathering information about the two main subjects --- Patchett and her friend, Lucy Grealy --- like characters in a novel. They were two young and ambitious women who go directly from Sarah Lawrence to the Iowa's Writers Workshop, the most coveted graduate school for writers. They develop a friendship that straddles the lines of intimacy, and they find literary fame. Along the way they form a bond that is difficult to describe. It spans continents, weathers illnesses both physical and mental, and seems to survive even death. But this is not a work of fiction, and so the eloquent writing of this well-known author packs even more of a punch. These are real people; this is Patchett's life, her beloved friend who lives, metaphorically speaking, just beyond her reach.

Patchett recreates her life with Grealy by interspersing their history with letters she received from Grealy over the years, postmarked from Scotland, New York, Providence, Connecticut, and all of the other places she traveled, taught and lived. They are letters that reveal a literary voice filled with love and admiration for a woman to whom she referred as "Pet." She was a competitive woman who was known to jump into Patchett's lap and ask repeatedly, "Am I your favorite? Do you love me the most?" And inevitably the answer was yes.

"Dearest Anvil, she would write to me six years later, dearest deposed president of some now defunct but lovingly remembered country, dearest to me, I can find no suitable words of affection for you, words that will contain the whole of your wonderfulness to me. You will have to make due with being my favorite bagel, my favorite blue awning above some great little café where the coffee is strong but milky and had real texture to it."

Narrated by Patchett, TRUTH & BEAUTY could be described as an analysis of Grealy, a woman who fights an uphill battle to recover physically from a cancer that robbed her of her outward beauty as a child, though it amplified an inner beauty. Grealy, as Patchett tells us, had a kind of animal magnetism that drew the best of people to her. She underwent at least 35 surgeries to rebuild a jaw decimated by radiation and lived her life subsisting on mashed fruits, ice cream and the occasional milkshake. Despite the staggering number of surgeries, the procedures never quite worked and much of Grealy's life was spent lamenting what she believed were her physical inadequacies. Yet TRUTH & BEAUTY is not a sad story. In fact, it features the gifts of Grealy's best features: her wit, gaiety and zest for life.

And while it focuses on Grealy and Patchett's friendship, TRUTH & BEAUTY may be better described as a study of human nature. Patchett writes about the intricacies of the human heart in THE MAGICIAN'S ASSISTANT, THE PATRON SAINT OF LIARS and BEL CANTO, and she tackles the subject once again in TRUTH & BEAUTY. The constant search for a love that seems to be right in front of a person's eyes is a recurring theme for Patchett, who weaves a beautiful if not frustrating story of a friendship that she worked diligently to maintain.

In life many people struggle to find reciprocal friendships in men and women. And, frequently, outsiders perceive even the best of friendships to be one-sided. This may also be the case here. Readers will complete TRUTH & BEAUTY with a keen appreciation for the love that exists between women, the unwavering loyalty that friends can maintain through years of turmoil and emotional trials. And while loyalty (as we see in this 257-page story) may falter occasionally, it can withstand the test of time. And perhaps even beyond.

--- Reviewed by Heather Grimshaw

Not recommended for tender sensitivities
Well written, strangely powerful and often horrifying. I can't quite recommend it. It's a special sort of pathology that many of us have encountered.

Painful and Questionable
I read this book directly after reading Autobiography of a Face. Lucy seemed to have a huge black hole in her soul that she constantly looked to others to fill up. Obviously she never learned to love herself, so her friends were her mirrors to her soul. She searched endlessly for love on the outside but her greatest quest was her search for the ability to love herself with all her physical flaws.
I saw Lucy's repeated surgeries simply a way to stay connected with something she knew and a place where she felt comfortable and accepted. The surgeries were physically painful but they gave her an opportunity to have everyone care for her openly and with such extraordinary allegiance, a true sign of love. Lucy could never quite embrace it and assimilate that love into her psyche.
Was it guilt that drove Ann to write this book wondering if there wasn't something she could have done to make the ending different? I felt a sense of relief when Lucy's life was finally over. What quality did she ever have in her existence? I think Ann went above and beyond the realm of friendship. One has to wonder why she hung in there through everything for a one-way friendship? Why was Ann so possessed by Lucy? It's a question we will never know but one that the book continually asks.

Beautiful tribute
Patchett's book is a beautifully written tribute to an exceptionally intense friendship. The author takes you through her relationship with Lucy Grealy although side-stepping prolonged analysis of why their bond was so tight. The reader can draw his or her own conclusion; close attention should be paid to the excerpts from Grealy's letters, which reveal her intellect, her delight in words and her charisma. One thing that astonished me, despite having read Autobiography of a Face when it was first published, was how much physical discomfort Grealy constantly dealt with. Her problem was far more than just an aesthetic problem -- she had only six teeth left, couldn't chew food normally and was constantly in danger of choking because she couldn't close her lips. It amazes me that she was able to be as productive as she was despite to this condition, even before factoring in the multiple surgeries. Grealy clearly had the heart of a lion and it's no surprise that people were drawn to her inner strength, even when it was clouded by her understandable depression and feelings of isolation and want. ... Read more

Reviews (39)

An enchanting, humorous tour of Grace's high and low moments
An autobiographical plane ride through the highlights, success, and rock bottom moments of Grace Slick's life and her musical career with Jefferson Airplane/Starship. Grace pulls no punches as she describes her relationships, substance use and abuse , and her musical experiences, while adding a clever dose of humor and insight. Grace provides a candid view of her artistic inspiration through her early appreciation of literature and drama in a memoir that flows quickly and covers all the topics - Woodstock, Monterey, Altamont, and tours with the Doors, Rolling Stones, etc. Grace tells it like it was during a time of musical revolution, experimentation, and frequent excess. Chapters in the book are rather short, however, and often leave the reader looking for more on interesting, colorful subjects with so much nostalgic potential. Interestingly, Grace Slick proves in this memoir that she is, and wasn't, just "Spacey Gracey," as many consider her. A great deal of the book "Somebody To Love" demonstrates a true sense of her creativity, wisdom, and intellect, while refusing to deviate from the hard-edged, outspoken style for which she is famous. Grace also seems to have found her purpose and her peace, and the book overall is a rollicking jaunt through some serious rock and roll times from a music legend who added so much to the experience.

Grace Slick Feeds Our Heads with a look at her life.
Grace Slick, although long retired from the Rock and Roll scene has come up at age 59 with an interesting look at her life, loves, music, and being part of the dynamic Jefferson Airplane. After 1967 the Airplane emerged out the Haight-Ashbury as the leading edge of the San Francisco Sound that included the Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe and the Fish, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. Grace was viewed as the Acid Queen by psychedelic revelers who would time their peaking to commence with the Airplane set at San Francisco's Fillmore or Avalon Ballroom's. The memoir will have some historical value as an example of life and activities in San Francisco during the 60's and 70's. Some of her memories definately will become Rock and Roll trivia items now that they are in print - some of them are x-rated for sure and not for the timid reader. I guess you will have to read the book to find out more about it.

Good Weekend Read or Airplane Book for Boomers
In this book, one gets a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the early years of rock music from Grace Slick's perspective. Revealed also is the evolution of a young, pre-Boomer (born in '39, she remembers WWII), raised in an affluent West Coast family, into a rock goddess/acid queen (and, eventually, into a gray-haired, vegan, AA attending animal rights activist). She came through to me as surprisingly likeable and less weird than I used to think. She doesn't make many excuses, clears up a few misunderstandings, makes some apologies, and is generally non-caustic whenever mentioning Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane and Starship co-vocalist/rival). I suspect this book's main appeal is going to be limited to Baby Boomers who admired/observed figures like this from afar in their formative years, and would like to have a closer inside look. Good stories abound, and all the big moments are there: The Summer of Love, Monterrey Pop, Woodstock, Altamont - as well as characters such as Garcia, Crosby, Morrison and Joplin. There are a few photos. As usual, we also get an extensive pharmacopeia, as well as a detailed sexual history. The book is a little bit dated as it came out in 1998. Also, don't expect a serious music history or in-depth analysis of the cultural phenomenon we refer to as the "60's." It is more like eavesdropping on an old rocker reminiscing about the past. A good, quick weekend or airplane read, if you are in the right mood.

Entertaining and readable
A good book - light and entertaining. I enjoyed it a lot; though, I must confess, after I started the chapters about the Jefferson Starship period I kind of lost interest. I was more interested in the 60s Woodstock adventure . . . having not lived through it myself I found Grace's stories really personal and and it gave me a good idea of what times must have been like then. Made me sorry I missed it!
I recommend this book if you're looking for a first-hand account of the evolution of the 60s told by someone who is really down-to-earth. You can't help but love Grace!
The book was full of little inside moments too, such as the meaning behind "Our House" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. It made the songs seem more real to me after I heard stories of the people who had written them.
Pick it up sometime and browse through it - you'll find some great inside scoop; read the whole thing, however, and you may find your mind wandering a little.

Not all that I hoped for!
Overall I'd say this book was mildly interesting. I'd hoped for a lot more discussion and details about rock n'roll in the 60s but what I wound up with was pretty much a hodge-podge of disjointed events. Grace also has a tendency to promote her personal social and political agendas which gets tiring.
Since I picked it up at the local library, at least I didn't have to shell out any cash! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Review
I loved Mrs. Revell's testimonial book of her life! It showed that through struggles and tragedies God is always there to protect you! I've had the privelage to hear her speak and talk to her. Her book was and is an inspiration to me and to all women!

God does not forsake us, even in the darkest times!!
Ms. Revell offers a clear illustration of God's majestic power in her own life. Rather than use her childhood pain as an excuse to repeat the cycle of abuse or turn against God, she sought His face continually. Glenda came to the awesome realization that God did not forsake her in those darkest times, but rather used the events of her life to draw her ever nearer to Him. Her honesty and openess is clearly a sign of God's working in her life. She is an inspiration and an encouragement for women who have experienced her type of pain. Likewise, women who have not experienced the abuses Glenda Revell endured should also read this book so that they might better serve the women around them who are suffering. It can only lead to a greater understanding and relationship with our Lord and with the women whom we need to minister to.

Amazing story of God's mercy and grace. He is truly God!
Glenda writes as if your sitting in the room with her as she is telling you this personal and often times tragic circumstances in her life. However, Glenda makes sure you know that it was all for a purpose. How through it all God's hand was in it. All He allowed to happen to her was to bring her to Himself.

Her testimony will move you to praising Jesus for who He is and thanking Him for His willingness of dying on the cross for us.

I have heard Glenda tell her testimony in person which is even more amazing than reading about it! ... Read more

Book Description

Read by Fritz Weaver
Three Cassettes, 5 Hours

Galileo's Daughter introduces us to the man whose belief that the Earth moved around the sun caused him to be brought before the Holy Office of the Inquisition, accused of heresy, and threatened with torture.In contrast, his daughter Virginia chose the quiet life of a cloistered nun.Sobel takes us through the trials and triumphs of Galileo's career and his familial relationships, and simultaneously illuminates an entire era of flamboyant Medici Grand Dukes, the bubonic plague, and history's most dramatic collusion between science and religion. ... Read more

Reviews (195)

Galileo's World Under A Microscope
Galileo's Daughter is a rare gift. This marvelous duo biography of Galileo Galilei and his daughter Virginia evokes a sense of time and place, character and action and of cosmic importance that are usually the province of great works of fiction.

Author Dava Sobel's meticulous scholarship and keen insights provide us a literary microscope with which we can examine Galileo's seventeenth-century world as the great astronomer explored the heavens with his telescope.

Galileo's numerous scientific discoveries and his condemnation by the Church for heretically teaching the earth moved around the sun are familiar to most school children. Galileo's Daughter does much more than chronicle these familiar events.

Sobel transports us to the Florence of Grand Duke Ferninando de Medici, the Rome of Pope Urban VIII, the Covent of San Matteo where Virginia Galilei became Suor Maria Celeste and breathes life into Galileo's Italy during the era of The Thirty Years War. Superstition and science, loyalty and treachery, generosity and selfishness, the ridiculous and the sublime each combine in a rich Italinate tapestry of seventeenth-century life.

I recommend this wonderful book to men and women of all ages. It will satisfy even those with little interest in history, science or biography. If you are looking for a good story, well told, that illuminates the human condition, this book is for you.

Bringing a historical figure down to a more personal level
Galileo's correspondence with his favorite daughter (only her letters to him are present; his letters to her were lost or destroyed) gives us a new perspective on a well-known historical figure and events.

Sobel weaves fascinating historical background on everything from the plague to international politics around the tender letters from Galileo's daughter, Maria Celeste. Despite the fact that she's a cloistered nun, we learn quite a bit about the world at large.

It's interesting to watch Galileo, a devout Catholic, grapple with his faith and with church authorities who believe science and religion are mutually exclusive. We get to see the personal side of Galileo's famous trial.

The book also presents a suprising portrait of a strong, intelligent woman in a place where you might not expect to find her - a seventeenth-century convent.

If you're not a science or history buff the book can get a bit dry in places, but Galileo's discoveries and persecution generally make for enough plot to draw you along over the rough spots.

Refreshing Perspective
From the title of this book, I naturally expected it to be a biography of Galileo's daughter, which it is not exactly. I was a bit disappointed to begin with, as the first hundred pages or so are Galileo's early biography. Once his daughter, Virginia (later Suor Marie Celeste) came into the picture, the story became much more interesting.

Virginia was one of Galileo's three illegitimate children by the mistress of his early years, Marina Gamba. She eventually married, with Galileo's blessings, and he never lost interest in his children. Due to their illegitimacy which he felt would eliminate any chance of a decent marriage, Galileo had his two daughters entered into a convent at a very early age. The both became nuns at the convent of San Matteo on turning sixteen, Virginia taking the name Suor Marie Celeste and Livia that of Suor Arcangela. The son, Vincenzio, lived with Galileo in his late teens and eventually (after an unpromising start) became a good son to him.

This book recounts Galileo's personal and private life, using letters from Marie Celeste to give color to what would otherwise be a black and white, straight forward biography. Their shared love is beautiful to see in her letters--his to her having been lost--and the bits and pieces of every day life that she treats the reader to are thoroughly enjoyable.

This is a very detailed and readable history of Galileo, and gave me a much greater understanding of the man, his work and his difficulty with the Church. The conflict he felt between himself and his discoveries comes through very clearly and poignantly in his own words through his other letters. Her faith in him, and in the fact that he was not being heretical, is very apparent. It was interesting to me to see how differently Sobel portrays Galileo's fight was the Church--if her sources are to be believed (and I see no reason to disbelieve) it was not at all what history textbooks would have us believe.

As a history major and fanatic, I truly enjoyed reading this book. The alternate perspective of Galileo was refreshing and real--and made sense of a lot that had previously seemed murky to me about him and the Church. The addition of Marie Celeste's letters gave this book personality and took Galileo from a science god to a human being. My only regret is how few letters are in this book, and that the title is a bit misleading. Despite that, if you have any interest in Galileo, this is a must-read!

"The father...of modern science" had a loving daughter!!
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This six part, 33 chapter book, by Dava Sobel, has two themes running through it:

Theme #1: Decribes thoroughly the life and times of Galileo Galilei (1564 to 1642).
Theme #2: Describes the life of Galileo's daughter (1600 to 1634) through some of the actual letters she wrote to her father.

This is first and foremost a solid, easy to read biography of Galileo. His life is traced from him first entering a monastery before deciding to lead a life of scientific inquiry and discovery. Actual letters or parts of letters (translated from the original Latin, French, or Italian by various experts) by Galileo and others are included in the main narrative. Throughout, we are told of his numerous inventions and discoveries. Perhaps the most sensational is that his telescopes allowed him to reveal a new reality in the heavens and to reinforce the Copernican argument that the Earth moves around the Sun. For this belief, he was brought before the Holy Inquisition, accused of heresy, and forced eventually to spend his last years under house arrest. All the translated papers pertaining to these inquisition days are included and make for fascinating reading.

My favorite Inquisition story is with respect to the June 1633 renunciation or "confession" document (reproduced in this book) Galileo was to speak out aloud. The main point of this document is that the Earth does not move around the Sun and that the Earth does not move at all. After reading it aloud, it is said that he muttered under his breath "Eppur si muove" (translation: "But it does move.")

One of Galileo's daughters born "Virginia" and later appropriately named "Sister Maria Celeste," had the intelligence and sensibility of her father. As indicated by her letters, her loving support, which Galileo repaid in kind, proved to be her father's greatest source of strength through his most productive but tumultuous years. Sobel herself translated these letters from the original Italian. They are expertly woven into the main narrative adding an emotional element to this biography.

This book contains almost twenty-five complete letters and numerous large and small fragments from other letters by Sister Celeste. All letters she wrote begin with a statement showing love and respect for her father. Example: "Most Illustrious Lord Father." The first complete letter is dated May 10, 1623 and the last complete letter is dated December 10, 1633. Those letters Galileo wrote to his daughter have not survived.

Almost 75 illustrations are found throughout this book. They add (besides the actual letters of Galileo's daughter) yet another dimension to the narrative. Two of my favorite pictures are entitled "Moon drawings by Galileo in 1609" and "Sunspot drawings by Galileo."

Another intriguing aspect of this book is a chronology after the main narrative ends entitled "In Galileo's Time." This is not just a timeline of important events that occurred during Galileo's life but includes all significant events (especially scientific ones) between 1543 to 1999 inclusive. For example, what happened in 1687? According to this chronology, "Newton's laws of motion and universal gravitation are published in his [book] 'Principia.'" What happened in 1989? Answer: "[NASA] launches [the] 'Galileo' spacecraft [or space probe] to study the moons of Jupiter at close range."

Where did the author obtain all the fascinating information needed to write such an intriguing book? Answer: from the over 130 references found in the bibliography.

I noticed in the book's "Appreciation" section that the author gives thanks to many people. (Dr.) Frank Drake, who helped with the celestrial mechanics found in this book, caught my eye. She co-authored with him the excellent book "Is Anyone Out There?: The Scientific Search for Extraterrestral Intelligence" (paperback, 1994).

Finally, my only minor complaint is with the book's title. As mentioned above, there are two interconnected themes running through this book. Thus, I think a more appropriate title might have been "Galileo and his Daughter."

In conclusion, this book is a thorough biography of Galileo that includes some translated letters from one of his daugters. It is truly, as the book's subtitle states, "A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love!!!"

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A original perspective.
Dava Sobel made an excellent job in this book. Family is an aspect of Galileo's life never exploded before (at least not that I know) and totally gives you a different perspective of this controversial and heavily influential individual. Galileo's life, as exposed in Sobel's book, is a very human and touching one. Seeing Galileo from the eyes of his tenderly loving bastard daughter (a nun), evokes such intense conflicting emotions as one might expect only to surge by empathy, a characteristic only obtained when the author makes you compenetrate inside the personage life. A great book, highly recommended for curious people. ... Read more

Book Description

For seven decades Katharine Hepburn played a leading role in the popular culture of the twentieth century - reigning as an admired actress, a beloved movie star, and a treasured icon of the modern American woman. She also remained one of the most private of all the public figures of her time.

In 1983 - at the age of seventy-five, her career cresting - the four-time Academy Award winner opened the door to biographer A. Scott Berg - then thirty-three - and began a special friendship, one that endured to the end of her illustrious life.

From the start, Scott Berg felt that Katharine Hepburn intended his role to be not just that of a friend but also of a chronicler, a confidant who might record for posterity her thoughts and feelings. Over the next twenty years, Kate used their many hours together to reveal all that came to mind, often reflecting on the people and episodes of her past, occasionally on the meaning of life.

Here are the stories from those countless intimate conversations, and much more. In addition to recording heretofore untold biographical details of her entire phenomenal career and her famous relationships with such men as Spencer Tracy and Howard Hughes, Kate Remembered also tells the amusing, often emotional story of one of the most touching friendships in her final years. Scott Berg provides his own memories of Katharine Hepburn offstage - quiet dinners in her town house in New York City, winter swims (she swam, he watched) in the Long Island Sound at Fenwick, her home in Connecticut, weekend visits with family members and dear friends...even some unusual appearances by the likes of Michael Jackson and Warren Beatty. Finally, Kate Remembered discusses the legendary actress's moving farewell, during which her mighty personality surrendered at last to her failing body - all the while remaining true to her courageous character.

Kate Remembered is a book about love and friendship, family and career, Hollywood and Broadway - all punctuated by unforgettable lessons from an extraordinary life. ... Read more

Reviews (103)

Fascinating glimpse into the life of an extraordinary woman
I admit that I did not know much about the life of Katharine Hepburn. I always admired her movies and found her to be an attractive woman who always remained out of the public's eye. A.Scott Berg was fortunate to give her fans and people who wanted to know more about her a glimpse into her "everyday" life, her thoughts, her memories, and her likes and dislikes. While reading this book, it made me feel like I was an unseen observer who watched the author and Miss Hepburn carry on conversations ranging from flowers to her unforgetable romance with Spencer Tracy.

Miss Hepburn felt quite comfortable talking with the author. I find it amusing how they first met each other and the conversation that ensued. I too would be quite nervous in meeting Miss Hepburn. She was quite intimidating and didn't suffer fools lightly (not that I am one mind you).

It seems like Mr. Berg found a connection with Miss Hepburn that most people would envy to have. She talked openly about her past relationships with the men in her life, such as Howard Hughes, Spencer Tracy, and other famous men. She also talked about her family, the power brokers in Hollywood (Louis B. Meyer, Samuel Goldwyn to name a few). Her thoughts about famous actors of the past and those famous today. All told, I found this very interesting and fascinating because not much is written about this private woman.

I got from the book that Miss Hepburn very much missed her friends from Hollywoods "Golden Age". She had genuine feelings for people who helped her career and she kept in touch with them throughout the years, but always at an "arms distance".

The most touching is the genuine friendship she had with her assistant Phylis. It stuck me that these two were "sisters" who really admired each other. Miss Hepburn also had a unique relationship with her brother Dick. She was quite exhaused with him but as she said "what can I do? He's my brother".

A. Scott Berg gives the reader what Miss Hepburns days were like at Fennwick, at her apartment in New York City. She enjoyed the routines in her daily life. I think it is because outside of these routines, her life could of been quite messy due to her popularity.

It is sad to see what happened to Miss Hepburn in her final years, however I don't believe the author was being mean spirited or obtrusive when describing the declining health of Miss Hepburn. He was simply telling what she looked like and what she was thinking. I don't believe Miss Hepburn would of minded what he wrote, because I think she wanted the author to share what her life was like to those of us who are her fans and those who are interested in her, since she remained out of the public eye for so long.

This is an outstanding read and I for one am glad that I read it. It makes me feel like I know more about Katharine Hepburn and what she was like outside the moviescreen. She was an outstanding actress, stubborn as a mule, gracious to her loved ones, opinionated to a fault, yet a survivor of tragedy, which made her shine even more, even if she didn't know or understand it. What a woman!

Highly Recommended!

Superb and surprisingly funny
Anyone who wants to believe that Katharine Hepburn was as fascinating in life as she was on the screen - and put me on that list - will love this book. A. Scott Berg's memoir, Kate Remembered - and please note that the author informs at the onset that this is a memoir, not an official biography - captures a Hepburn who is always on, always ready with a pithy one-liner, always capable of a grand gesture, but who never seems fake or dishonest. It was impossible for me to read this without hearing her distinctive voice every time Berg quoted her.

Although this does repeat some of the material in Miss Hepburn's own two forays into writing, and perhaps they have more of an authoritative voice since they came from her pen, it is worth reading for the gaps it fills and for Berg's tender treatment of his subject.

To be honest, it is worth the entire cover price just to read about the surreal dinner party the evening that Michael Jackson came to dinner. Hepburn's one-liners interspersed with Jackson's silence and the other guests' continually failing attempts to make conversation is laugh-out-loud funny. When it became obvious that Jackson had never even seen a Hepburn movie (but said how much he loved them), I was laughing so hard, I dropped the book.

Berg grabbed me on page one, and held my interest through the end.

Read it. By the time you reach the end, you will probably want to go out and rent several of Hepburn's movies, if you don't have them already.

My Favorite Aunt
On June 3, 2004, Sotheby's opened an exhibition of Kathryn Hepburn's property which will be auctioned off from her estate. Sotheby's had inquiries from all over from fans to advanced collectors to galleries. What is it about this star that has created such interest in owning a piece of this star?

Scott Berg, who had long personal friendship with Hepburn, does an excellent job in providing a behind the scenes glimpse into her life, what made her tick, and possibly, why she has been so attractive to so many. "Kate Remembered" is a well-written, fast-paced biography. This is a biography written with the reader in mind.

Berg describes the source of her fierce independence and her moves from stage to movies and later to TV. He also gives us a glimpse of some of the biggest names in Hollywood during her era, and the role Louis Mayer and Sam Goldwyn played in shaping their careers. He spares no details of her relationships with George Stevens, Cary Grant, Howard Hughes, Leland Hayward, and, of course, Spencer Tracy.

Learn about her views of Sir Laurence Olivier (a "small" man), John Wayne, Timothy Dalton, Peter O'Toole, and Bob Hope (a big egomaniac), Warren Beatty (vanity), Michael Jackson (a ten year old boy in 25 year old body), and her favorite movies.

While Hepburn stood alone with her fierce independence, beauty, and brains, Berg shows us that this hardly defined the feisty woman from Connecticut. She was a woman "with attitude" not caught up with Hollywood, a woman who was grounded, a woman who never developed a sense of entitlement, and, yet, a woman who had few friends as she got older.

Berg goes into great detail about why Tracy was the event in her life that taught her how to love rather than seeking to be loved; why Judd Harris tired to destroy her after she resurrected her career; why she felt she could never attend the Academy Awards; and how "The Philadelphia Story," which saved her career, was created and produced.

Some of the book's priceless quotes include:

Her response after Sean Penn punched out a photographer... "Why wouldn't someone who pays to see your picture in the movies, not want to take your picture?"

On her profession..."Actors and actresses are prostitutes selling themselves for our entertainment."

On having children... She never wanted to have to make the choice between giving a scheduled performance or staying home to care for a sick screaming child.

"Life, it is not easy. Life is tough for everyone, most become its victim."

She was the keeper of her own flame, and while she maintained a starry distance, she always seemed like our favorite aunt. And Berg's book tells us why, she was our favorite aunt!

We are fortunate for her enduring relationship with Scott Berg that made this book possible.

Just an idiot bragging about his relationsip with a star
A. Scott Berg's book KATE REMEMBERED, is well-written, but shows false facts used by other authors (such as Anne Edwards, who THINKS she knows how to write a Hepburn Biography, but can't seem to get her facts straight), and jsut tells what his experience was with Kate. If he were going to write a book on Kate, and keep it a huge secret (it's been said that even Heburn's survivors were surprised, and appalled by this novel), thne relase it that they should at least give fans what they expect of a novel like that- a tell all book. Like KH had some huge secret she NEEDED to share with fans after her death.

Enjoyable
I enjoyed this book, but then I'd enjoy anything remotely connected to Katharine Hepburn. Scott Berg has given us a memorable and sometimes unusual portrait of a remarkable woman and those who love her should not miss this. Other books I've read recently and have enjoyed are Robert Harris' POMPEII and Jackson McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. Both of these, along with KATE are good summer reads. ... Read more

Reviews (50)

HAVING OUR SAY BOOK REVIEW
HAVING OUR SAY by Sarah L. Delany and Elizabeth Delany with AmyHill Hearth is a great book that describes an american black familythat lived in the l9 and 20 centuries.It is about the problems they found, their fights, their life.Finally this book shows us the history at racism between black and white people in those centuries.Also this book brings to us an important history of american culture. This book talks about two sisters, sadie and Bessie who lived in Raleigh, North Corolina,on the campus of St. Augustine's college with their parents. I liked to read this book and I recommend it to everybody who wants to know about American Black History. END

American History at its best
Having Our Say is a remarkable book written by Sadie and Bessie Delany that details their lives over a hundred year period.

Bessie and Sadie grew up in a large family on the campus of Saint Augustine's school in Raleigh, North Carolina during the 90s. They led sheltered lives; Sadie was quiet and well mannered whereas Bessie was very quick to anger and opinionated. They were also very intelligent women who were taught early on to aim high. In a time when most people did not go to school beyond high school, Bessie and Sadie received college degrees. Bessie became the second black woman to practice dentistry in New York.
Sadie became the first black home economics teacher in a New York high school. The Delany sisters spoke their minds, and what they give the reader is a story of pure American history.

This autobiography is filled with stories about racism and how it affected their lives. Sadie and Bessie lived together for over a hundred years. Although the sisters are deceased, their story and words of wisdom live on in the hearts and minds of readers.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in American History. This book is the best history book I've read and the pictures in the book make the story come alive.

Reviewed by Dorothy Cooperwood

An Amazing Story, it touched my heart!
All I can say is wow! This book was truly an inspiration for me. I learned a piece of my history that I don't often get to hear about from the point of view of people who actually lived it. These women went out there and made a positive contribution to the world and stayed true and honorable to themselves at a time when being black in America was a crime. To know that amid all the turmoil and opression it didn't stop them from getting their degrees and becomming prominant and just plain old good American citizens. My heart is proud...The Delany sisters are truly the ultimate representation of Black America. I suggest anyone interested in American, Women, and Black history (which all coincides anyway)to pick up this book and read it. You'll find pride and strengh in these sister's story.

Not dull if your old
Having Our Say is basically a recollection by two sisters, Sadie and Bessie Delaney (aged 102 and 104) of their lives. They began their tale way back with their great grandfather and great grandmother who were slaves and progress onward with their family history from there. Their lives seem to be full of great adventures and accomplishments as they recall them back to you, for example Bessie becoming the second black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York. Many historical events are chronicled through this moving historical record such as the Golden Age of Harlem and the Post Reconstructive South. The sisters go through many things such as Sadie almost getting lynched but they never allow them to bring them down. Even at age 102 and 104, which is the age they began to write the book they are still full of joy and encouragement for life.

The one thing I liked about the book was learning about some of our nation's lesser-known history from a different perspective. Since, it's a true story a lot of historical events were mentioned and I found out how it really was for black people during their younger years. One particular event that sticks out is when Sadie gets dared to drink from the whites only fountain and does it, though her father catches her. Its hard to believe that America was really like that in the past. This book was really a learning experience and I found out about things I wouldn't have otherwise.

The thing I disliked this book was its lack of action. It sometimes got very boring because it seemed to be relaying things no one cared about. Points in the book were often focused on to long until it lost your attention. For example, five pages would be used to describe the detail of some very minor thing. I wouldn't recommend it to people who love a book with mystery or suspense because this book has none. Its almost like your going to know what happens before it does.

Well worth a read
The short length and simple format belie the wisdom and inspiration contained in this book. Vignettes from the lives of two remarkable sisters, 102 and 104 years old, span the end of slavery and follow the continuum of American and black history to the present. Their lives, stories, and attitudes are admirable and this is a book well worth reading. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

This is an excellent book for everyone.
This book has been in my collection since its publication and has been read many times. It's still difficult to believe that this beautiful, young princess is no longer on her earthly sojourn but has moved on to a much better place.

The forward is written by The Reverend Tony Lloyd who is The Executive Director of The Leprosy Mission. The following quote is taken from the foreward on page 11: "Leprosy may not be mentally and physically damaging, but it is often erroneously seen as a curse from the gods, and the 'victims' then become outcasts. Since Diana herself was the frequent victim of pain and anguish, she had a special empathy for those who suffered in the same way. It is not a coincidence that five of her six remaining charities are associated with stigma.

"She was charismatic, witty, and, above all, a womain of extraordinary compassion. This was demonstrated both in the limelight and, more often, when there were no cameras or reporters present." So many times, one tends not to read the preface or the forward of a book and, often, valuable information can be gleaned from these. I, for one, feel that the last sentence of the above quote is crucial since there are still may people who think that Diana did everything in full view of cameras.

If one collects books on Diana, this book is a must. There is not any new material, there are several pictures not seen before; however, as with all books, it is presented in a different format and style. One is taken through Diana's life as a toddler, as a small girl, as a teenager, as an adult, and lastly, through her funeral service and to her final resting place on the small oval island at Althrop - her ancestral home.

Following are three quotations of Diana's: "I shall get married when I am sure that I am in love, so that we will never be divorced," said by Diana as a small girl - page 15. On page 30, "I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world when I looked at Charles through my veil. I had tremendous hope in my heart." On page 72, "I think the biggest disease this world suffers from in this day and age is the disease of people feeling unloved, and I know that I can give love for a minute, for half an hour; for a day, for a month, but I can give. I'm very happy to do that and I want to do that."

This is a great, but sad tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales. This book contains many beautiful pictures in color and a few in black and white. This book is a must for anyone who collect books on Diana, Princess of Wales.

A must-have for Diana book collectors!!
Just when you think that you've read all there is about the late POW, along comes this well-written volume. It wasn't just the same old text with a few changes of words to make you think it was all new. I really found this book refreshing in content. One of the best coverages of the funeral I've read to date! Also pictures that I had not seen previously--and I have an embarrassingly large collection of them! However, while you're waiting for this book at Amazon.com to be released, I purchased mine at Waldenbooks on the clearance table for $2.99. I was shocked to see such a great book at such a steal, it's definatly worth the asking price here!

This is a very excellent tribute to Diana.
I have a few books about Diana, but this one, A Tribute to the People's Princess, I found to be very excellent. It shows Diana in many pictures in her different roles in life:Princess of Wales, mother, wife and humanitarian. I recommend everyone who wants to learn more about Princess Diana, to read this book, you'll be glad you did.

This book was excellent it had some different photos
I have many books on Diana and was pleased to see this one come out. It has nice colourful pictures of her and some different poses. Highly recommend it.

This is one great book!
This is an awsome book on Lady Diana. It has TONS of pictures. I enjoyed it ALOT!! ... Read more

Book Description

George Allen was a top-ranked NFL coach throughout the sixties and seventies, coaching in turn the Chicago Bears, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Washington Redskins. Raised in a home dominated by her three football-obsessed older brothers and her father's relentless schedule, Jennifer Allen came of age in a cauldron of testosterone and win-at-all-costs mentality.

Buffeted by the coach's tumultuous firings and hirings, the Allen family was periodically propelled to new teams in new cities. And while her French-Tunisian mother attempted to teach Jennifer proper feminine etiquette, the author dreamed of being the first female quarterback in the NFL. But as she grew up, she yearned mostly to be someone her father would notice. In a macho world where only foot-ball mattered, what could she strive for? Who could she become?

Allen has written a poignant memoir of the father she tried so hard to know, about a family life that was willfully sacrificed to his endless fanatical pursuit of the Super Bowl. What emerges is a fascinating and singular behind-the-scenes look at professional football, and a memorable, bittersweet portrait of a father and his daughter, written in a fresh and perceptive voice. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

The Personal Football Book
As an avid football fan, George Allen is one of the greatest NFL Coaches of all time. Throughout the book, Jennifer Allen describes they storybook life of an NFL coach from a footbal and personal perspective. George's rough-and-tough attitude made two winningless teams, the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins, into champions. However, his personality as a coach effected his role as a father, which created tension between him and his children. As the his only daughter, Jennifer tries to win her father's affection as she struggles of being a product of an NFL coach and well-known celebrity.

Not what I was expecting.
As a lifelong football fan I was hoping that "Fifth Quarter" would include more about football than Allen puts into her memoir. However, the book is well-written and engaging. If you're looking for a book about George Allen, this isn't really the book to read. However, if you're looking for an interesting book detailing the childhood of a coach's daughter, "Fifth Quarter" might be the book for you.

What a depressing Whine-fest
This entire story could have been written on the cover of a matchbook and saved me the time I wasted reading it. Endless complaining about her parents and siblings, If the peoples identities had been with held until the end, one might have expected to find out this was the childhood of a serial killer or some one else you might have expected to have a miserable childhood. Why would anyone even bother to write a book about people she seemed to care for as little as her family is beyond me except to possibly capitalize on her Dad's famous name and make a few bucks. A depressing read.

This is a chick book, not a sports book
I was misled by a review in SI that said this was a great book. If you're an Oprah fan, then it's a great book. If you want to learn about the life of an NFL coach, the Washington Redskins or football in general, you're better off buying a subsciption to Sports Illustrated or reading the sports page.

About 80 percent of this book is about the struggle of the writer to get her father's attention and approval. Another 10 percent has to do with her mother, her brothers and the writer's life away from her house. Maybe 10 percent has to do with football. It is a maddening experience to put up with the "I was a girl, girls weren't important to my dad, someone please pay attention to me" anecdotes and thoughts in the hope of getting to, say, the Washington Redskins' 1972 season where the team finally made it to the Super Bowl, and then when you get there have Jennifer Allen say in almost these exact words, "I don't remember much about that the season the Redskins went to the Super Bowl." I almost hurled the book across the room.

It is unfortunate that George Allen essentially ignored his family in his obsessive quest to do what he believed he was born to do: coach. No kid should have to grow up with that kind of home life, and it's obvious that her father's inattention has left its mark on Ms. Allen. But darn it, this is an Oprah book of the month selection, not a sports book. Someone should be clear on that!

A few words about George Allen ... I am about Jennifer Allen's age. I am a lifelong Redskins fan and grew up in D.C. When Mr. Allen took the team to the Super Bowl, it was a highlight of my young life. I remember him licking his fingers, tugging his hat and mentioning milk as his drink of choice. I had no idea that he ignored his family. I'm sorry he did that, but I am also grateful that the man came to my hometown and coached my favorite team and finally made it a winner. I wish the book had a little more about what made George Allen such a successful coach and a lot less about the struggle of a little girl to get close to her daddy.

Your dad would be proud
Yes, I'm an old Redskin fan and was mildly curious about the George Allen era. I was not prepared for this powerful story of George Allen the father and his arms length relationship with his daughter, Jennifer. Yes, the mother Etty and the sons, George, Bruce, and Gregory, are in here too, but Jennifer you finally have the starring role in the George Allen Story. This is a sometimes gripping and often humorous story of a daughter's search for self. My only criticism is of the title which suggests a sports book. It is not worthy of this well-told story about a daughter's search for meaning in her life and, coincidentally, her dad's struggle to make sense of his own life too. ... Read more

Book Description

October is breast cancer awareness month. Did you know that one in nine women will face this frightening disease? That means there are many families and friends who need a healthy dose of hope, faith, and laughter. This audio book is the perfect gift for them! It's read by the author and includes a special chapter for caregivers, written and read by Walker's husband. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

"Thanks for the Mammogram" is just what women need...
"Thanks for the Mammogram" is a humerous yet heartwrenching book that exposes every woman's nightmare and offers proof that there is a way to confront this awful nemesis with humor. With 1 out of 7 women currently expected to someday face this enemy, it is most probable that we each know someone, be it a friend or cherished loved one who will enter the abyss of breast cancer. Laura Jensen Walker fell into this abyss and emerged victorious. This is her story... The reader will find themselves quickly drawn into her experience and will sometimes cry, sometimes laugh, and always feel relief that there is light at the end of the tunnel of such a devastating disease. I heartily recommend this book to anyone whose life has been affected by breast cancer. Read it, savor its humorous moments, and be touched by the love that the author poured into the pages.

Silly, Real, Refreshing
Breast cancer is a big deal. Serious stuff. Many women die from it. Other women endure masectomies. Why make light of such a heavy topic? Simple: humor is healing.

Laura Jensen Walker has something to say about breast cancer. She's a survivor. She has faced this beast, and now is able to articulately help readers smile in the midst of a tough time.

In "Thanks for the Mammogram!" Jensen tells her story. Most of the book details a narrative of her diagnosis, treatment and how she survived. However, in reflecting through the most difficult of moments, she draws us in ala Erma Bombeck into candid silliness. It is as practical as it is funny.

Boldly bringing humor into a discussion of cancer marks this book as a standout among its peers. Having lost my mother to lung cancer and flipping through too many solemn tomes of pop-psychology, I read through Jensen's book refreshed. I wished my mom could've read this book. At a certain point, cancer is cancer, and anyone with any cancer would enjoy "Thanks for the Mammogram!"

Each page is a different view of her situation. For example, she spends a delightful chapter on the end of her chemo, and how she and her husband (a 'Disnoid') celebrated this landmark at Disneyland. We read of her struggle to find a decent book to read (unless Mickey Mouse's various adventures appealed to an adult woman, that is).

The chapters are in very chewable chunks--none too long.

With chapters like, "To Baldly Go Where I've Never Gone Before" (a consideration of Capt. Jean Paul-Luc Picard, Michael Jordan and other sexy baldies, she looks for the upside of a hairless head), you, like me, might find a new way of seeing what so many people go through.

She admits her fears, but pushes also the benefits of having a realistic, yet positive view of dealing with breast cancer. Jensen explains her husband's point of view in the whole matter (even letting him write a chapter, "Her Body, His Pain"). She walks the reader through the process, citing how she related to people who had or didn't have cancer.

I fully recommend "Thanks for the Mammogram!" by Laura Jensen Walker. It is a very worthy gift for those whom you love who have cancer, or know someone who does.

Anthony Trendl

Laughing through the Pain
"Almost everyone - whether it's your friend, neighbor, coworker, wife, mother, or sister ? has been touched by breast cancer. The cancer survivors I've talked to over the years say that what helped them through their ordeal was faith and often humor." ~Laura Jensen Walker

What is more healing than laughter when you are faced with a situation you can't control? Even science has shown the healing power of laughter. Cancer isn't funny, but somehow the author finds a way to heal through her own vibrant wit. Many of the chapters are rather serious until the end when she gives the punch line.

This is a book about courage, hope and humor. Laura Jensen Walker demonstrates her ability to face the challenge of cancer and fight it with faith, hope and "mild/laid back" humor.

I learned a lot about reconstruction, chemo and was amazed at how Laura's husband stood by her through the entire process.

"How to Lose Thirty Pounds in Thirty Days: The Chemo Diet Way. The original Slim-Fast liquid diet. (But not one I'd recommend.)" was an interesting chapter to be sure. This spells it all out, tells you what chemo is all about and it isn't fun especially if your nurse forgets to give you "zofran." Yes somehow Laura finds a way to appreciate the effects of rapid weight loss even when it is the result of chemo.

If you want to understand what a cancer survivor goes through, this is the book. I recently read "Knowing Stephanie" which I can also recommend for the detailed information and pictures.

The last chapter on what really matters was also quite inspirational.

You may also enjoy:

Mental Pause
Through the Rocky Road and into the Rainbow Sherbet

A "Must Read" book when faced with breast cancer
This is an incredible book. Laura Jensen Walker has beautifully and sometimes humorously, written about her breast cancer journey. I read this book in the hospital following my breast cancer surgery (3/01) and have been very inspired by Laura's writing. This is the first book I loan out to others when they are first diagnosed. I highly recommend "Thanks For The Mammogram" !!
Karen Lange, Asst. Mgr., FriendsInTouch.net (an online breast cancer support site)

A must-read for anyone facing breast cancer
I have never been diagnosed with breast cancer, but I am certain anyone facing this disease would want a copy of Laura Walker's "Thanks for the Mammogram." Mrs. Walker remarks that this book was the hardest thing she ever had to write. Like any good memoir, it takes in the uncomfortable, even embarrassing moments as well as the lighter and uplifting ones.

Walker includes a lot of detail, from procedures like reconstruction, chemotherapy right down to the day-to-day patient care and how she felt emotionally. But this is not a gruesome story--instead it is intended to help anyone else along the road to recovery. The best chapter "Where do I go from here" gives eight important points (such as taking charge of your treatment, talking to your family, dropping the Wonder Woman cape for women who do it all) and also useful addresses and a list of books.

This book is interesting reading for any woman, but if you have a loved one facing this challenge or if you are a woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, you should get this book. Nothing I have read comes close to this book for frankness and assistance. ... Read more

Book Description

Dr. Jane Goodall's revolutionary study of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe preserve forever altered the very definition of "humanity." Now, in a poignant and insightful memoir, Jane Goodall explores her extraordinary life and personal spiritual odyssey, with observations as profound as the knowledge she has brought back from the forest.

As a toddler she was entranced by all living things, and over the years the little girl inspired by Tarzan and The Jungle Book became the woman who found herself working with famed paleontologist Dr. Louis Leakey; accomplished scientific breakthroughs in Gombe; and, ultimately, became a champion of the environment.

It has been a life blessed with faith, resolve, and purpose, though not without its crises. Jane Goodall endured the horrors of the London blitz and World War II, postwar hardships, vicious rumors and "establishment" assaults on the integrity of her work, a terrorist attack and hostage taking in Africa, and her husband's slow, agonizing death. But throughout, her religious convictions, although tested, have helped her survive-and Jane Goodall's pursuit of science has enhanced, not eroded, her belief in God.

In this book she candidly shares her life-talking of the love and support of her mother, her son, her late husband, of friends and strangers-as well as the Gombe chimpanzees she introduced to the world nearly forty years ago. And she gives us convincing reasons why we can and must open ourselves to the saints within each of us.

At one with nature and challenged by the man-made dangers of environmental destruction, inequality, materialism, and genocide, Dr. Goodall offers insight into her perceptions of these threats and celebrates the people who are working for earth's renewal. Here, indeed, is REASON FOR HOPE. ... Read more

Reviews (33)

A soul-searching book.
"So here we are, the human ape, half sinner, half saint, with two
opposing tendencies inherited from our ancient past pulling us now
toward violence, now toward compassion and love," 65-year-old
Jane Goodall writes in her soul-searching memoir (p. 143). When faced
with a world of environmental destruction, human suffering,
overpopulation, over consumption, pollution, deforestation, poverty,
famine, cruelty, hatred, greed, violence, and war (pp. 230-31), she
observes "it is these undeniable qualities of human love and
compassion and self-sacrifice that give me hope for the future"
{p. 148).

Goodall's journey through life has been an adventure.
"I have tried to write my story honestly," she says in her
book's introduction (p. xv). We meet Jane as a child dreaming
"about nature, animals, and the magic of far-off wild and remote
places" {p. 11}. Her parents divorced when she was twelve
{p. 17}, and it was on her trip to Africa at age 23 when her life was
forever changed upon meeting famed paleontologist/anthropologist, Louis
Leaky (p. 49). Jane then spent her twenties studying chimpanzees in
the solitude of Gombe before marrying National Geographic
photographer, Hugo van Lawick, in 1964 (pp. 83-84), and having a son
(affectionately nicknamed "Grub") in 1967. Reflecting upon
her divorce from van Lawick, Goodall writes, "I experienced, as
have many others, the bitterness of a close and joyful relationship
with a spouse slowly changing and souring, and the intense emotional
pain that this generates. And the sense of failure and guilt"
(p. 83). In approximately 1974, Jane married Derek Bryceson after the
two survived a plane crash, only to lose him to cancer roughly five
years later.

Although insightful, Goodall is not a great writer; but
her prose is simple and easy to follow. In addition to studying
chimpanzees in Gombe, she has been studying us "human apes,"
and her findings deserve our attention. The message, really, of her
book is "a very simple one: Each one of us matters, has a role to
play, and makes a difference. Each one of us must take responsibility
for our own lives, and above all, show respect and love for living
things around us, especially each other. Together we must reestablish
our connections with the natural world and with the Spiritual Power
that is around us" (p. 267).

G. Merritt

One of the most important books of the century.
Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey, by Jane Goodall with Phillip Berman, Warner Books, 1999, New York. by Marc Bekoff Reason for Hope is an amazing book by a most-amazing woman. Jane Goodall's autobiography is easy to read and will appeal to people of all ages. She writes about highly personal issues and reflects on science, religion, and spirituality. Goodall is clearly a "Jane of all trades and master of many." She wears many hats and she wears them well. Goodall is a naturalist at heart, can do multivariate statistics, write about God and spirituality, be a faithful and committed mother and wife, and find time tirelessly to share her experiences world-wide. There is so much between its covers that one can only offer a glimpse of the numerous topics that are considered in Reason for Hope. This very personal book touches on diverse issues ranging from practical matters we all face daily to more philosophical questions concerning the meaning of life and spirituality. We learn about the events in Goodall's development that led to her views of the world, the incredible importance of family and friends, her work with Louis Leakey (her incredulity when he chose her to begin studies of chimpanzees although, and perhaps because, she had no formal training and no degree), field studies of chimpanzee behavior, conservation biology, environmental ethics, evolution and its relationship to creationism, cultural evolution, the agonizing death of Goodall's husband, Derek, the ins and outs of how much science is done behind the scenes, science and politics, and how so many scientists shy away from confronting the ethical issues that are raised by "doing science." Goodall also learned that naming animals and describing their personalities (I think that "animalities" might have been more acceptable terms) was taboo in science, but because she had not been to university she did not know this. She "thought it was silly and paid no attention." In an interesting story, Goodall notes how fortunate she was when her mother, Vanne, found she had taken a whole handful of worms to bed at 10 months old she did not throw them out, but quietly told Jane they would die without earth, so she toddled with them back into the little garden outside their London apartment. In many ways Vanne is no less amazing than her daughter. In her mid-fifties, Vanne joined Jane on her initial journey into the wilds, leaving for five months a nice peaceful existence in England. Goodall also relates how her novel observations of tool-use in chimpanzees, which were responsible for redefining what is it to be human ("Man the toolmaker" no longer was tenable, tool use did not separate humans from other animals), were looked upon with skepticism by people who thought she was untrained to do the work she was doing, many of whom had never left their ivory tower or seen a wild animal. Photographs of tool use subsequently squelched their concerns. Goodall also ponders evil, warfare, love, and hope, and writes about such notions as reincarnation and the meaning of time and space. She also wonders if she should have brought a child into what many call a hopeless world. Goodall fearlessly discusses how science, intuition, religion, and spirituality merge. Few scientists ever attempt to walk in fields in which she strolls comfortably. Goodall claims, rightfully, that "Science does not have the appropriate tools for the dissection of the spirit." But perhaps changing our views of science will help us along. Goodall is also an accomplished poet and sprinkles some of her works throughout. Goodall also espouses how words, used as labels, can lessen an experience, make it too rational. She notes "Words are part of our rational selves, and to abandon them for a while is to give freer reign to our intuitive selves" What is so appealing about this book is that Goodall does not profess to be an expert in such matters of time and space or in such areas as moral philosophy and religion. Rather, she shows how questions that seem so irrelevant to many scientists are, in fact, highly relevant to the way they go about their business. And, a message that comes out loudly and clearly throughout is that after all is said and done, Goodall is a human being before all, a mortal made of flesh and blood. Just like all us, Goodall can cry, laugh uncontrollably, and most importantly, laugh at herself. So, what are Goodall's reasons for (3) the energy and enthusiasm that is found or can be kindled among young worldwide; and (4) the indomitable human spirit. Everybody can make a difference, and it is the little things we do for others that count so much. Goodall obviously loves what she does. She enters her standing-room-only lectures carrying her stuffed animal buddy Mr. H and begins by emitting a walloping pant-hoot. People laugh and then relax. Goodall then begins quietly to talk about her work and the world at large. Her audience is eerily silent. Goodall speaks softly with confidence, but carries a big stick. She also is light and sprinkles serious discourse with down-home humor. Goodall is not a quitter. Most people expected her to leave her difficult and dangerous field work after a few weeks, but she is now entering her fortieth year of research! She is unrelenting in carrying messages of hope across the planet. Just as she stills her audiences so will this book still you. There is no better model for us to follow as we head into the millennium and beyond. Reason for Hope is one of the most important books of the century. Marc Bekoff teaches in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology at CU-Boulder. He is editor of Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, for which Dr. Goodall wrote the Foreword

Very uplifting, insightful, and inspirational
Jane Goodall writes openly and honestly about her awesome and inspiring life. Jane Goodall tells us about her amazing travels-- from a young ambitious girl growing up in the birches of England to a brillant woman documenting apes' behavior in the forests of Africa to bravely fighting for environmental change around the world.

In this book, Jane Goodall pours from the deep corners of her heart. By sharing her personal experiences, Jane Goodall is a witness to the true innate goodness of all human beings, the triumph of the human spirit, and the great God in which we all live, move, and have our being.

Jane Goodall ponders the greatest of human questions throughout her book. Is God real and present in our world, even with all of the modern discoveries of science? Can human beings achieve greater levels of moral, intellectual, and spiritual growth and overcome the great obstacles that they face? Jane Goodall makes sense of these questions and helps the reader to come to a better understanding of how to live in the world.

I read this book for an assurance that science only adds to the wonder and mystery of existence, and that science can help us come closer to God. My favorite part was when Jane Goodall went to the forest after the death of her second husband, and felt a connection to the "great spiritual energy of life itself." She reaffirmed her conviction by discovering how science was only a part of the human pursuit of understanding and knowledge, not the complete and final truth.

At the end of the book, Goodall asks a significant question as she reaches the autumn of her life, "And when I reach the end, it will be the beginning?" I recommend this book to all who want to remember that the journey of growth, understanding, and knowledge we are all on is always just beginning.

Simply... remarkable. Utterly inspiring.
Jane is a remarkable woman, who's story of struggle as a young and inexperienced scientist with what were thought to be absurd ideals and methods of study, received much flack from the scientific community of her time. Still, many scientists under go the rigors of the scientific community's lateral and blinkered thinking. Reason for Hope, serves more than to encourage individuals into believing that each is capable of achieving their ideals and dreams, but that the simpler, intangible qualities like motivation, tenacity, courage and love, can triumph in the end with belief and resilience.
Jane made an amazing and commendable effort to be honest and humble with her readers, sharing her deepest and seemingly most private thoughts, which all have played a part in shaping her life and character. anyone will appreciate this book, be they from a scientific, animal welfare, spiritual or casual ba