Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion

The challenge for May is to read a bio, autobio, or memoir by or about someone you admire. In your review tell why you admire them.

Huh. So maybe not true crime this month!

! Funny, I came across this book at church yesterday called Just Like Jesus: Learning to Have a Heart Like His.
It's not strictly a memoir though you could say all the gospels are memoirs about Jesus.

Fishface wrote: "Huh. So maybe not true crime this month!"

Oh c'mon. I'm sure there are some criminals you admire!!

Well, there's a shade of difference between envy and admiration. :)

The ERHBC catalogue just came to the house and I ordered, not one, but 2 books that fit the challenge AND are true crime. Saints be praised! One is The Valentino Affair: The Jazz Age Murder Scandal That Shocked New York Society and Gripped the World, about some sort of criminal behavior that led Rudolph Valentino to stardom somehow, and one I really wanted to read anyway, Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime.

Fishface wrote: "The ERHBC catalogue just came to the house and I ordered, not one, but 2 books that fit the challenge AND are true crime. Saints be praised! One is [book:The Valentino Affair: The Jazz Age Murder S..."

Are you admiring the criminal or the investigator...?

I admire Alexandra Fuller as a writer and her memoir leaving before the rains came is probably my favourite of all.

Selina wrote: "Are you admiring the criminal or the investigator...?"

The movie star fleeing besmirchment in the case of The Valentino Affair: The Jazz Age Murder Scandal That Shocked New York Society and Gripped the World. The investigator in the case of Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime. Although I have to admit that, having seen the movie, any girl would dream of a romantic evening with Ivanhoe!


As Dean Wormer said in ANIMAL HOUSE -- and he is so right -- "fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son!"

Starting Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life. Its a big book so it will probably be a while before I get it done.

Take Two Hearts: One Surgeon's Passion for Disabled Children in Africa by Richard Bransford


A surgeon who devotes his life to serving disabled children in poverty stricken areas of Kenya. He also shares his faith. I have a niece who goes to South America about once a year to work with poor children and this is something I greatly admire as they are not paid to do this.

Selina wrote: "! Funny, I came across this book at church yesterday called Just Like Jesus: Learning to Have a Heart Like His.
It's not strictly a memoir though you could say all the gospels are mem..."
I finished reading this book. Its written by Max Lucado, who is a pastor, so its kinda preachy but in a good way. He does talk about his own life and american things a bit like playing golf and living the american dream. Which I do sometimes find a bit funny. But then he looks at Jesus character, his heart and the way he responds to people, in the Bible.

If you have faith, you will find it uplifting. Why do I admire Jesus..he faced all sorts of things, even death and the devil but nothing fazed him, he forgave his enemies and rose from the dead!

He is just amazing, plus..we can all be like Him. If you do get to know Him, He will transform your life, spiritually. Of all the people in the entire universe, Jesus is tops. An encouraging book.

Sylvia wrote: "I admire Alexandra Fuller as a writer and her memoir leaving before the rains came is probably my favourite of all."

I'll look for this, Sylvia--I've enjoyed her books tremendously.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life by Jane Sherron De Hart
4 stars

Ruth Bader Ginsberg has led an interesting life. She went to law school when very few women did and became a lawyer, mother, and wife when very few women worked outside the home, let alone worked as a lawyer. She worked tirelessly for human rights and specifically for gender and racial equality. She became a Supreme Court judge and was only the second woman to do so. I thought her personal life was interesting but got bogged down with the details of the court cases she has worked on. An interesting lady who is still going strong in her 80's.

Finally got a start on Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime. Stallworth is one of those wonderfully clear writers.

It looks like I dont really have a proper bio for this challenge Koren, still waiting on Michelle Obamas book...! I admire her because...she's a gardener and being married to the big chief and racial prejudice didnt stop her from making a difference to peoples lives in america.

Selina wrote: "It looks like I dont really have a proper bio for this challenge Koren, still waiting on Michelle Obamas book...! I admire her because...she's a gardener and being married to the big chief and raci..."

No problem. If you get it read you can stop by here and post something about it. I never lock the discussions.

The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick
Mallory O'Meara
5/5 stars
Mallory O’Meara, the author of this book and also a horror screenwriter and film producer, through sheer tenacity was able to track down and put together the story of Milicent Patrick. Patrick came from an artistic family and grew up in the town near the Hearst Castle in California where her father worked on superintendent of construction on the Castle. Milicent, who was quite artistic, was involved in the designing of the monster from the movie The Lady From the Black Lagoon and also worked on the animation/drawings of A Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia but who eventually lost her job due to a jealous boss. What a wonderfully interesting book!

I didn't plan on doing this challenge but it is the perfect book for this challenge. I did not know about this person before reading it but I do admire her tenacity. I think of all the things she could have done in film if she hadn't lost her job due to the pettiness of her male boss!

Is that a real job? Design a monster? What would you call these monster designers?

Can they be hired.

Well, Edith Head designed all the women's costumes for every movie that counted for decades. If there is a woman out there designing monsters for B pictures, more power to her!

The disc extras on the newer generation of movies have directors and producers for flix like THE THING and ALIEN talking about how they tried to get this or that creature designer on board so there must be some sort of network. You always want Stan Winston for monsters from outer space, for instance. And Eiji Tsubaraya was your main man if if you needed any city stomping done. His crews would build a perfect miniature Ginza and a monster suit so heavy you needed a bodybuilder to wear it, so he could shatter the tiny hospitals and camera shops to smithereens. Good, good times.

*sigh*

TOTAL dream job. Designing monsters.

Koren do we have a challenge for June?
I havent been reading many bios lately. Still waiting on Michelle Obamas. MAybe I ought to read her husbands in the meantime, it will probably be aviailable!

Fishface wrote: "Well, Edith Head designed all the women's costumes for every movie that counted for decades. If there is a woman out there designing monsters for B pictures, more power to her!

The disc extras on ..."

There was also Helen Rose, who designed Grace Kelly's wedding dress.

Selina wrote: "Koren do we have a challenge for June?
I havent been reading many bios lately. Still waiting on Michelle Obamas. MAybe I ought to read her husbands in the meantime, it will probably be aviailable!"

I can do a challenge if you want. I was debating on doing one as it seems only 2 or 3 people have been doing them but I have a list of ideas so I will do a June challenge.

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama

This is a children's picture book of bios of 13 inspiring Americans, written for Obama's daughters, who I am not sure how old are now. It is illustrated with paintings of these inspiring Americans. They are a mix of men and women of all different backgrounds. This was published in 2010. The pictures show his daughters being inspired by these heroes/heroines lives and their traits.

Some I hadn't really heard of before. I will mark those I'm unfamiliar with an asterix. I may read some bios of these later for this challenge. Seems Barack has already answered this challenge by penning this book Koren. You should invite him in our group. And Michelle!

Georgia O Keefe*
Albert Einstein
Jackie Robinson*
Sitting Bull*
Billie Holiday
Helen Keller
Maya Lin*
Jane Addams*
Dr Martin Luther King
Neil Armstrong
Cesar Chavez*
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington

Of the above I've read bios of Martin Luther King, Billie Holiday and seen a movie of the life of Helen Keller. I don't know if Neil Armstrong has written a memoir but I have read one by his companion, Buzz Aldrin.

I like this book. I recently came across a childrens picture book about our current Prime Minister in the library, it's called Ssh, don't wake the Baby! Jacinda Adern gave birth to a baby girl last year. She has announced now she and her partner are getting married. A link to about the book https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entert...

On that note I am wondering if Bill Clinton's cat Socks had a book written about him....

must read Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets by Hillary Clinton

And it seems there's other books...! According to wikipedia

Socks Goes to Washington: The Diary of America's First Cat

I'm going to be reading My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King
It's more about Coretta's life after she was widowed, and the work she was doing for social justice in America. The first chapter is pretty unsettling, as she remembers the day white racists burned down her home.

Sorry, I forgot to post my challenge review here:

Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime, Ron Stallworth
4 stars!

This is the happiest, most positive true-crime story I've come across in ages. Told from the point of view of a very new police officer, the very first black detective Colorado Springs PD ever had, who was working an intelligence detail when he stumbled across an unusual opportunity, and grabbed it and ran with it, with some genuinely satisfying, and hilarious, results. Some people are just born to break new ground, but who on this planet expects to be the first-ever black member in good standing of the KKK? This story is simply not to be missed. Well written, too -- I found exactly two (2) typos in the whole book. Read this book!!!

Hoorah Becoming by Michelle Obama has finally come in! I'll probably race through it.

My Life, My Love, My Legacy By Coretta Scott King

Coretta's second memoir, her first was mostly about her life with her husband Martin Luther King Jr, in this one she shares more about her life after his death and what she did to carry on his legacy.

I was shocked to learn that she reckons that the US govt or FBI had a hand in her husband's death and that the assassin James Earl Ray, was not acting alone. Of course the US govt covered all that up and wouldn't even do a proper investigation. However she was never bitter about those things and carried on with raising her children and her music and being leader of so many things including advocating for world peace, being anti-vietnam war, reconciliation in South Africa, full employment, even gay rights. She started the King Center which was from a file cabinet in her house to become a center for non-violent teaching and inspiration for the Black community and beyond in Atlanta.

There was so much in this memoir that I thought was so important, anyone who cares about social justice or even just being a christian and having christian values ought to read this book and study the history of the civil rights movement. This was published after Coretta's death in 2006, she died of a stroke, and some of the things she shared she couldn't share in her lifetime. She also addresses some of the rumours about her husband's infidelity - which some people alleged to try to discredit him. But here was a man who was killed for standing up for what he believed in.

I admire Coretta for being not just a wife of a great man but finding the strength to carry on and make the world a better place. She lobbied for 15 years to get her husband's birthday made into a national holiday. May her and her husband's dream continue to be realised.

Selina wrote: "My Life, My Love, My Legacy By Coretta Scott King

Coretta's second memoir, her first was mostly about her life with her husband Martin Luther King Jr, in this one she shares more a..."

I've often wondered what Martin would think about race relations today. We've made strides but have a long way to go. Sometimes it seems we are going backward. I wonder if there will ever be a time when no one is judged because of the color of their skin.