Salt of the Red Earth: A Century of Wit and Wisdom from Oklahoma's Elders

by Mary Jane Alexander

Alexander has found gold inthe hills and plains of Oklahoma with a portfolio of 100 luminous portraits of elders born in or before 1907. The Centenarians within these pages radiate beauty and strength, grit and grace, showing 100 different ways to be 100. Their copper-washed portraits are elegant in their simplicity. Alexander traveled nearly 4,000 miles of Oklahoma's highways, main streets, and dirt roads. Along the wasy, she discovered America's last pioneers including Trail of Tears descendants, a World War I widow, Land Run children born in sod houses, squatter's cabins and dugouts, early pilots, wildcatters, and Dust Bowl farmers.

Genres: Native American

215 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Josh Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing! And my great-grandma is in it!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Granny's in it, what more do I need to say? M J Alexander found men and women of Oklahoma who were 100 years old or older and took their pictures and a short bio of them, along with a quote of something that they remembered of their lives or growing up in Oklahoma. Its a very thoughtful book sharing the wisdom of this older generation that more people need to realize that they have much to share with the younger generations. My Granny, Julia Keddie Lydia Smally Blevins lived to be 103. I greatly miss her and I'm sure the families of the other ones in the book feel the same way if their loved ones have passed into a better life.