Sunday, May 14, 2017

Katharine Graham’s Book

   I have let more than the usual amount of time go by for adding a post on my blog, because I have simply been too busy. I am reading an utterly fascinating book—and a long one. It is Personal History by Katharine Graham (née Meyer, 1917-2001). I’m not done, though probably not all that far from the end. (There are no page numbers in a Kindle text and the percentage read, given at the bottom of each page is of the entire book, before you know how much there is after the end of the text, by way  of appendices, end notes, illustrations, etc. and of course an often sizeable index.)
   I may yet do a post or two, but right now I will only put forward a plug for this remarkable achievement. It is very well written and consistently interesting. It is not only about a time to varying degrees familiar to most readers will be familiar with, but its cast of characters includes a great many familiar names, not excluding Presidents Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. They and many others are not casual acquaintances, but friends who saw each other with some frequency. Katharine’s father was a very wealthy financier with entrée into many worlds, assisted by many servants in a variety of houses. He bought the Washington Post which came to play a signal role in Katharine’s life.
   Personal History is extremely well-composed and well- written; there is not a dull page in a long text. It won a Pulitzer Prize. If there were a prize for a life well-lived, Katharine should get that too. Read the book.

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