My Florence: A 70 Year Love Story

(Paperback)

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A collection of striking moments drawn from the shared life of renowned Chicago photojournalist Art Shay and his beloved wife, Florence. By turns casual and glamorous, the photographs start the day Art and Florence met in 1942, as 20-year-old camp counsellors in the Catskill Mountains, and continue for seven decades, till her death from cancer at 90. Former LIFE magazine staff reporter Shay is famous for immortalising some of America's most compelling 20th century figures, but the story of Florence was Shay's constant beat. The result is a story that runs deep as a call to joy.

Reviews

"Florence Shay was a force to be reckoned with, a marvelous, witty, beautiful and well-read lady whose husband Art loved her very much and took some pictures of her that pierce my heart: there she is, glorious Florence. I miss her (and her book shop, too). Art Shays photographs bring us into their family, so immediately and warmly that it is a little shocking and quite wonderful."Audrey Niffenegger, author ofThe Time Travelers Wife

"The photographs in Shays latest collection portray his late wifes brimming effervescence in . . . [a] spirit of reverence and love "Amy Danzer, New City

"In 'My Florence' we encounter her pregnant with her first child, and later beaming proudly with their baby daughter Jane in her arms. We see her bringing home their youngest, Steve, greeted by three of their four children at home. . . .[I]t seems that for Art Shay the past really is prologue and continues to be present in the life of this prolific, insightful photographer."Dorothy Andries, Chicago Tribune

"The golden age of photojournalism may be long past, but the work of its giants . . .
continues toamaze and inspire.Many Chicagoans may not realize that one of those giants, Art Shay, still walks among us. . . .These are . . . poignant images [of Florence] . . . vivacious and flirty in Las Vegas, hard at work at her book shop, in the latter stages of terminal illness."Kevin Nance, Crain's Chicago Business

Author Bio

After flying fifty-three combat missions in World War II, ART SHAY joined Life magazine as a staff reporter before leaving in 1951 to become one of American's leading photojournalists. His pictures regularly appeared in Life, Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated among many other magazines. Several have been singled out as among the most enduring American photographs ever taken.