Posterity: Letters of Great Americans to Their Children

(Paperback)

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Description

An elegantly designed, beautifully composed volume of personal letters from famous American men and women that celebrates the American Experience and illuminates the rich history of some of America's most storied families. Posterity is at once an epistolary chronicle of America and a fascinating glimpse into the hearts and minds of some of history's most admired figures and storied families. Spanning more than three centuries, these letters contain enduring lessons-in life, love, character and compassion-that will surprise and enlighten. Included here are letters from Thomas Jefferson to his daughter, warning her of the evils of debt; General Patton on D-Day to his son, a cadet at West Point, about what it means to be a good soldier; W.E.B. Du Bois to his daughter about character beneath the color of skin; Oscar Hammerstein about why, after all his success, he doesn't stop working; Woody Guthrie, writing from a New Jersey asylum, to nine-year-old Arlo about universal human frailty; Eleanor Roosevelt chastising her grown son for his Christmas plans; and Groucho Marx as a dog to his twenty-five-year-old son. Here are renowned Americans in their own words and in their own times, seen as they were seen by their children. Here are our great Americans as mothers and fathers.

Reviews

Each letter has a distinct tone, from congratulatory to scolding, which shines a light on one facet of each great Americans personality. A one-of-a-kind collection. Library Journal

Years ago, parents wrote to their children letters of instruction about duty, industry, proprietya ritual that has largely disappeared from American life, and this book reminds us of why we should be sorry about it. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Author Bio

Dorie McCullough Lawson graduated from Middlebury College, where she majored in history. She works and lives in Rockport, Maine with her husband and three children. This is her first book.