Springboard in the Pond: An Intimate History of the Swimming Pool

Book Description

Although others have written eloquently on the relationship of water to built form, until now no one has investigated the swimming pool as a quintessentially modern and American space, reflecting America's infatuation with hygiene, skin, and recreation. In The Springboard in the Pond, Thomas van Leeuwen looks at a familiar hole--the domestic swimming pool--and discovers an icon indispensable to the reading of twentieth-century modernism.

At one level, the book is a rereading of modern architecture that will leave that story permanently altered. At another level, it is the story of the origin and evolution of the private swimming pool as a building type and cultural artifact. And at still another level, it is a material philosophy of water. Van Leeuwen explores the human relationship to water from a variety of viewpoints: social, religious, artistic, sexual, psychological, technical, and above all architectural. Throughout the book, he weaves a series of analogies to three emblematic animals--frog, swan, and penguin--that represent the three prevailing human attitudes toward water: hydrophilia, hydrophobia, and ambivalence. The books many illustrations--drawings, plans, and photographs--come from an unusual variety of sources, creating what is surely the most provocative visual archive of the swimming pool ever assembled.

This book is the second in a planned tetralogy by the author, with each volume centered on the relationship of architecture to one of the four classical elements: sky, water, fire, and earth. The first volume was The Skyward Trend of Thought: The Metaphysics of the American Skyscraper (MIT Press, 1988). The third volume, Columns of Fire: Architecture and Destruction, is currently in preparation.

Customer Reviews:

Judge a book by the title.......2002-04-03

A clever title and a very clever book. Wide ranging in scope, with many unusual insights. At the present bargain price it is a must have. Makes you think, and not in the usual way you think.

Oceanomare of all feeling & thoughts connected with the pool.......2001-03-16

Oceanomare of all feeling & thoughts connected with the pool, T.A.P. van Leeuwen, a teacher of mine, has written a book about all the different aspects of the swimming pool. TAP van Leeuwen manages to evoke new kinds of interesting emotions concerning water- and he manages to fill the pool with these emotions. After all, the pool, as he himself describes it, has no very interesting shape: it's just a floating boarding or a concrete hole-in-the-ground.

History of Swimming Pool.......1999-11-20

This is the second in an anticipated series of four unorthodox books by a Dutch historian on architecture in relation to the classical elements: sky, water, fire and earth. The first volume, about the metaphysics of the American skyscraper, was published in 1988; while the third, which will focus on buildings destroyed by fire, is in preparation. This second volume, which is illustrated by more than 200 drawings, plans and vintage photographs, is a wonderful visual and verbal review of the origin and evolution of the domestic swimming pool, which is, as the author describes it, "the architectural outcome of man's desire to become one with the element of water, privately and free of danger." To swim in a hole in the backyard, he continues, "is a complex and curious activity, one that oscillates between joy and fear, between domination and submission, for the swimmer delivers himself with controlled abandonment to the forces of gravity, resulting in sensations of weight- and timelessness." This is a history of architecture, as exemplified by a single building type; while, at the same time, it is a rich, multi-faceted social history in which the behavior of humans toward water is shown in relation to religion, sex, art, psychology, engineering and architecture. (Copyright by Roy R. Behrens from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 15, No. 1, Autumn 1999.)

Oceanomare of all feeling & thoughts connected with the pool.......1999-03-25

T.A.P. van Leeuwen, a teacher of mine, has written a book about all the different aspects of the swimming pool. TAP van Leeuwen manages to evoke new kinds of interesting emotions concerning water- and he manages to fill the pool with these emotions. After all, the pool, as he himself describes it, has no very interesting shape: it's just a floating boarding or a concrete hole-in-the-ground.

TAP van Leeuwen has made an excellent choice to show as much as possible in different media, all shattered around on the spread: notes next to the text next to pics. The very thorough and beautiful design of the book itself makes this possible- and points back to its archetype, the "Bauen in Frankreich"-book by Sigfried Giedion (a lifelong teacher for van Leeuwen). I liked very much the part about all the fifties-Hollywood-stars, sitting besides or floating atop of the water, in their expensive tweed costumes, afraid of the water and proud of their success (of owning a pool?). Let's all take a dive into the richness of this book, a book definitely not about architecture, only, architecture is the only housing into which these stories have a room.

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The Springboard In The Pond: An Intimate History Of The Swimming Pool
Helen (ed): Thomas A P Van Leeuwen Searing
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OR4HJO

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The Springboard in the Pond: An Intimate History of the Swimming Pool
Thomas A. P. Leeuwen, Thomas A. P. Van Van Leeuwen
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQTMPO

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72 Drawings by David Hockney
David Hockney
Manufacturer: Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0670636657

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72 Drawings
David Hockney
Manufacturer: Jonathan Cape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Drawing | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 022400655X

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72 Drawings by David Hockney, chosen by the artist
David Hockney
Manufacturer: Viking
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JWHZAW

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ACCEPTED DENTAL THERAPEUTICS, 1971/72
Various
Manufacturer: American Dental Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KA8B10

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Gods, Graves, & Scholars: The Story of Archaeology
Illustrated with 49 Photographs and 72 Drawings. Ceram Illustrated C.W.(translated from the German By E.B. Garside)
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf 1952
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MCDTS6

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Max Ernst: Prints, collages, and drawings, 1919-72 : [catalog of an exhibition held at] Edinburgh, Scottish Arts Council Gallery, 15 February-16 March 1975
Max Ernst
Manufacturer: Arts Council of Great Britain
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Printmaking | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0728700514

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Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee 13th Report of Session 2004-05 Drawing Special Attention To: Asylum And Immigration Tribunal (Procedure) Rules 2005: House of Lords Paper 72 Session 2004-05

Manufacturer: Stationery Office
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Law | Subjects | Books
Reference | Law Practice | Law | Subjects | Books
Reference | Law Practice | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0104850280

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Train Shed Cyclopedia No. 72 - Locomotive Drawings & Boilers (Part 2)

Manufacturer: Newton K Gregg
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0879620749

Product Description

64 pages reprinted from 1912 Locomotive Dictionary.

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Your Baby Book Star Book No. 72

Manufacturer: American Thread
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JJK97Q

Merits Of Statutory Instruments Committee 2nd Report Of Session 2003-2004 Drawing Special Attention To Draft Accession (immigration And Worker Registration) ... House Of Lords Paper 72 Session 2003-2004

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Merits Of Statutory Instruments Committee 2nd Report Of Session 2003-2004 Drawing Special Attention To Draft Accession (immigration And Worker Registration) ... House Of Lords Paper 72 Session 2003-2004

Manufacturer: Stationery Office
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0104849282

Book Description

Matt Sinkage, a reporter in the Fifties, is sure aliens are taking over people¹s bodies and our society. Others aren¹t so sure... Mixes humor and an involving suspenseful yarn.

Customer Reviews:

Execution doesn't live up to potential of idea.......2003-01-06

Sometimes the germ of an idea is better than its execution. This is the case in The Silent Invasion: Secret Affairs and Red Shadows, a science fiction/paranoid conspiracy tale.

I was immediately intrigued by a graphic novel set in 1950s America focusing on a reporter searching for evidence of aliens based on an encounter that he had. When a secret group that controls the media and government is involved in the alien cover-up, and a sub-story dealing with the Red Scare and communist infiltration, I was sold. Lots of elements that interest me and furthermore, this comic was originally published in the late 80s, so it preceded The X-Files and the countless imitators that dealt with many of these themes in the 90s and today.

However, I was disappointed until the final chapter of this collection, when the pacing of the story gained steam and the storytelling (both words and art) finally came together. Cherkas' black and white artwork, which I have enjoyed in other comics, didn't quite work because the heavy inks and stylized artwork made it difficult to follow the numerous characters. The art does work for a story set in the 50s though and the detail work is appropriate.

Hancock's story takes a while to get rolling, but once it does, it is engaging. By the end of this volume, I was involved with many of the characters and looked forward to another volume.

There are aspects of the storytelling that I found distracting, such as the multiple shifts from first-person to omniscient narrator that hindered the flow of the story. While I am not against this device, it was awkwardly done in this volume, often in the middle of a page. The use of English spellings of "favour," "realise," and "honour" which I don't have a problem with when reading a British or Canadian book seemed out of place in a story set in America. Most of the use of humor (or "humour") falls short and distracts rather than adds to the story.

This volume is worth reading if you are a fan of the time period and the type of story popularized in The X-Files. Two other volumes Tarnished Dreams and The Great Fear are also available.

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The Silent Invasion: Book One -- Secret Affairs; Book Two -- Red Shadows
Michael and Larry Hancock Cherkas
Manufacturer: New York Nantier Beall Minoustchine 1988.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LTN6RY

Book Description

The Rwandan Government outlines its vision for the development of the country in "Vision 2020," which elaborates the economic goals the Government aims to achieve. One of the major themes that lies at the heart of this vision is the refurbishment and development of Rwanda's core economic infrastructure. This book looks at the progress Rwanda has made and provides a review of the country's infrastructure in the transport, energy, telecommunications, and water and sanitation sectors and presents suggestions on improving the environment for private sector involvement in infrastructure. Although the span of the content is broad, the book focuses in particular on the potential that exists to involve the private sector in infrastructure and the policies and actions that are necessary to make this happen.

Private Solutions for Infrastructure in Rwanda provides an objective assessment of the condition of Rwanda's infrastructure sectors and of the institutional and policy frameworks that are associated with them. It also provides a clear route map for infrastructure sector reform, as well as highlights both the opportunities that exist for the private sector and the role that the donor community can play in assisting the Government with establishing priorities in infrastructure.

Download Description

"The Rwandan Government outlines its vision for the development of the country in ""Vision 2020,"" which elaborates the economic goals the Government aims to achieve. One of the major themes that lies at the heart of this vision is the refurbishment and development of Rwanda's core economic infrastructure. This book looks at the progress Rwanda has made and provides a review of the country's infrastructure in the transport, energy, telecommunications, and water and sanitation sectors and presents suggestions on improving the environment for private sector involvement in infrastructure. Although the span of the content is broad, the book focuses in particular on the potential that exists to involve the private sector in infrastructure and the policies and actions that are necessary to make this happen. Private Solutions for Infrastructure in Rwanda provides an objective assessment of the condition of Rwanda's infrastructure sectors and of the institutional and policy frameworks that are associated with them. It also provides a clear route map for infrastructure sector reform, as well as highlights both the opportunities that exist for the private sector and the role that the donor community can play in assisting the Government with establishing priorities in infrastructure. "

Book Description

Is your organization constantly battling the nursing shortage? Are you having to cancel elective surgeries due to lack of available nursing staff? Are your current nurses nearing retirement age?

If your organization is suffering from the decreasing number of qualified nurses, this new practical book, Rx for the Nursing Shortage, will help you create an environment that both attracts new nurses and helps you keep the ones you have on staff.

Written by two nurses with over 50 years of experience between them, this practical book provides strategies for recruiting and retaining nurses; describes the roles of the executive, senior, and middle nurse managers; and highlights the qualities that make an organization attractive to nurses. Also included are "toolbox lists" of 100 practical ways to recruit, retain, and lead RNs.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent reference.......2006-02-20

Every word of this book is valuable if you are trying to recruit and retain nurses during a shortage which is reaching crisis levels.

Book Description

Adoption and foster care is a new and burgeoning area of historical and interdisciplinary research. Too often, however, birth parents, adoptive parents and foster parents, social workers, and the children themselves have been either ignored or demonized. This authoritative and accessible work is the first comprehensive introductory resource that gives a fuller portrait of the many individuals and groups that have contributed to the perceptions of what children are in need of care. Also discussed is the role of orphanages, the primary institution for children without parents as well as a stopgap measure for poor children needing temporary care. Divided into three sections, original essays review the practice of adoption, orphanage placement, and foster care from the colonial period to the present day. Selected primary documents, including materials by children, as well as an in-depth bibliography section, provide crucial information and insight for high school and college students. Social workers, journalists, and others will also find much value in this historical overview and guide. Star contributors include Elizabeth Bartholet, Marilyn Irvin Holt, Martha Satz, and Claudia Nelson.

Customer Reviews:

A `must' for any involved in children's social work, and for college-level specialty holdings........2006-09-03

Lori Aqskeland edits Children And Youth In Adoption, Orphanages And Foster Care: A Historical Handbook And Guide an outstanding and unusual survey providing the first comprehensive introductory resource on individuals and groups which have contributed to ideas of what children need temporary care. Three sections of original essays survey the practice of adoption, foster care and orphanages from colonial to modern times, using primary documents by adults and children alike to round out the historical review. A `must' for any involved in children's social work, and for college-level specialty holdings.

CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ADOPTION, ORPHANAGES, AND FOSTER CARE: A HISTORICAL HANDBOOK AND GUIDE. Children and Youth: History and Culture

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CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ADOPTION, ORPHANAGES, AND FOSTER CARE: A HISTORICAL HANDBOOK AND GUIDE. Children and Youth: History and Culture
Lori (editor). Askeland
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N7GFAE

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Lincoln Finds A General A Military Study of the Civil War VOLUME ONE
Kenneth P. Williams
Manufacturer: The Macmillan Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MMKJI4

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Lincoln Finds a General A Military Study of the Civil War VOLUME TWO
Kenneth P. Williams
Manufacturer: The Macmillan Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MMIWLA

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Lincoln Finds a General A Military Study of the Civil War **Volumes 1-4 of 5**
Kenneth P. Williams
Manufacturer: Macmillan Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VFFOFA

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The Only President

Colorful; technically correct, yet also easy to read

Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War
Kenneth P. Williams
Manufacturer: MacMillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006AS204

Customer Reviews:

The Only President.......2001-08-04

(This pertains just to Volume I) We have had three Presidents who conducted a major war: Lincoln, Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt. Wilson had John J. Pershing; Roosevelt had George C. Marshall. Lincoln had none; his greatest prospect was Robert E. Lee. So the very title of this book conveys a task for Lincoln that had to be done, if the Union were to survive. And so, Professor Williams starts out telling us in no uncertain terms that the beginning of the war showed no generals likely to be able to do the job . . . he completes Volume One with McClellan--who is not the general Lincoln wants. And we are anxious for subsequent volume(s) for Professor Williams takes us to Sam Grant--the general Lincoln finally found. This book moves along, and as it does, we fairly ache with the disappointment Lincoln suffered time and time again.

Colorful; technically correct, yet also easy to read.......1999-10-02

Excellent analysis of beginning of Civil War and McClellan's rise/beginning of his fall. William's easily readable, yet thorough analysis of the political and military goings-on just prior to the fall of Fort Sumter through Antietam makes one anxious to read the complete set of Lincoln Finds a General. Obviously no fan of McCellan, Kenneth Williams makes an eloquent case against "the redoubtable McC" and gives a clear picture of the difficulties he made for Lincoln by his hesitancy and obtuseness. In this volume, Williams paves the way for other volumes illustrating the further trials of Linclon in his search for a military man who could help him save the nation-one who was not overawed by Bobby Lee. One can imagine his thankfulness and relief when he found Grant: "I can't spare this man--he fights!" As a Civil War buff of 40 years, I was enchanted by this book and have spent over 10 years searching for the complete set--I found it once in an antique book store in Columbia, SC for $350 (first edition set of the complete original volumes) at a time when that seemed a fortune to me. I wish I had gotten that set as I have never seen it again, but I have re-read this little volume so many times that it is greatly worn--proof of its readabiliy and texture. A real treat for any Civil War buff.

Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War (2 Volumes)

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Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War (2 Volumes)

Manufacturer: Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HLOEYK

Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War (Five Volume Set)

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Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War (Five Volume Set)
Kenneth P. Williams
Manufacturer: Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WU2XKS

Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War Volume 1

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Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War Volume 1
Kenneth P; Maps By Clark Ray Williams
Manufacturer: Indiana Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NY2786

Lincoln Finds a General a Military Study of the Civil War (Lincoln Finds A General, 1)

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Lincoln Finds a General a Military Study of the Civil War (Lincoln Finds A General, 1)
Kenneth P. Williams
Manufacturer: The Macmillan Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000OTQACY

Lincoln Finds a General a Military Study of the Civil War (Lincoln Finds A General, 2)

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Lincoln Finds a General a Military Study of the Civil War (Lincoln Finds A General, 2)
Kenneth P. Williams
Manufacturer: The Macmillan Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OTPD7W

Lincoln Finds a General, A Military Study of the Civil War, Volume 2

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Lincoln Finds a General, A Military Study of the Civil War, Volume 2
Kenneth P. Williams
Manufacturer: The Macmillen Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000M2RKL8

Product Description

Study of A. Lincoln

Book Description

The Black church is often praised for its contribution to Black culture and politics. More recently Islam has been recognized as an important force in African American liberation. Anthony Pinn's new anthology By These Hands demonstrates the crucial, often overlooked role that Humanism has played in African American struggles for dignity, power and justice. Pinn collects the finest examples of African American Humanism and shows how its embrace by a variety of prominent figures in African American thought and letters has served as the basis for activism and resistance to American racism and sexism.

Pinn uncovers little known treasures of African American Literature such as The Slave Narrative of James Hay, where an abused slave decides to rely on himself, rather than God, for deliverance from the horrors of slavery, and a letter from Frederick Douglass which scandalized his religious friends by proclaiming that "One honest Abolitionist was a greater terror to slaveholders than whole acres of camp-meeting preachers shouting glory to God." Essays by Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright demonstrate the profound influence of Humanism in the Harlem Rennaisance, and pieces by James Farmer, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) and Huey Newton show Humanism's impact on the civil rights and Black Power movements.

Designed for classroom use, this radical reconsideration of African American history will be a must read for anyone interested in African American History, African American Religion and Philosophy, and American History.

Contributors: Norm Allen, Jr., Herbert Aptheker, James Baldwin, Amiri Imamu Baraka, J. Mason Brewer, Sterling Brown, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B.Du Bois, James Foreman, Duchess Harris, Hubert H. Harrison, Harry Haywood, Zora Neale Hurston, William R. Jones, William Loren Katz, Benjamin E. Mays, Huey P. Newton, Daniel Payne, J. Saunders Redding, William L. Van DeBurg, Alice Walker, and Richard Wright.

Book Description

In any other context, saying that someone was "for the birds" would hardly be polite. But applied to Connie Hagar, it would be high praise. The diminutive birdwatcher nicknamed Connie was reared as Martha Conger Neblett in early twentieth-century Texas, where she led a genteel life of tea parties and music lessons. But at middle age she became fascinated with birds and resolved to learn everything she could about them. In 1935, she and her husband, Jack, moved to Rockport, on the Coastal Bend of Texas, to be at the center of one of the most abundant areas of bird life in the country.

Her diligence in observation soon had her setting elite East Coast ornithologists on their ears, as she sighted more and more species the experts claimed she could not possibly have seen. (Repeatedly she proved them wrong.) She ultimately earned the respect and love of birders from the shores of New Jersey to the islands of the Pacific. Life magazine pictured her in a tribute to the country's premier amateur naturalists, and she received many awards from nature and birding societies.

Hagar's life history is more than just a bird book. It is a story of dedication to nature and the role she could play in promoting it to others, despite recurring threats of blindness and other health problems. The hundreds of species of birds that visited Rockport each year brought thousands of other birders, and Hagar patiently hosted and assisted both the greenest beginners and the most magisterial experts.

Hagar and McCracken's Boswellian-Johnsonian relationship, Hagar's own "Nature Calendars" containing thirty-five years of observations, and interviews with those who knew the "bird woman of Rockport" provide the basis for this narrative. It was Hagar who, more than anyone else, made coastal Texas a mecca for serious birders.

Customer Reviews:

birders will love it.......2002-12-20

Connie Hagar lived the birder's dream: she settled on the Texas coast just a stone's throw from the wintering ground of the whooping crane, and spent just about every day of her life birding the various surrounding habitats. The location is the neck of the major north American migration flyway, and so there were new birds to be discovered every day. She also had a photographic memory, and recounted detail after exciting detail, bird by bird, to her biographer. Most amusing are her encounters with the high and mighty of birding deans; remember that this was long before women's lib. Most amazing are the accounts of the fallout of migrating birds-and sometimes devastation--caused by storms. Her supportive husband ran their motel court, and so they were able to play host to many notable birders. By the time Roger Tory Peterson visited, her reputation was well-established. Public speaking and a leadership role in nature organizations made her known to thousands. The author is a journalist, and the book is smoothly written and factual.

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