The story would begin with President Obama’s inauguration. It would be about asking questions and learning about American democracy, politics, history and culture. Ms. Kalman said studying this subject had a surprising result.
MAIRA KALMAN: “What happened was, I fell in love. I fell in love with the country in a way that I never had. And I fell in love with every single person in the country, which is a big job.”
“And the Pursuit of Happiness” takes place over twelve months. Ms. Kalman studies the men who helped create American democracy, including Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. She visits national museums, presidential homes, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and a military base. She meets important people and asks them questions. She writes about voting, women’s rights, the law and immigration.
The story comes alive through the details she notices on her travels which she paints: The cherry pie she eats at a military base. The funny, fur hat Benjamin Franklin once wore. The red ballot box at a town meeting in Vermont.
Maira Kalman was born in Israel in nineteen forty-nine. She and her parents moved to New York City when she was very young.
Last week, Ms. Kalman gave a talk at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. She spoke about her new book and how she created it. She also talked about her childhood and how her mother would take her to the library to read. She said this is what influenced her to become a writer. But she said that becoming an artist was also influenced by the special kind of freedom her parents gave her and her sister.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25