Blackberry Winter

About this book

During her life Margaret Mead represented many things to the American public; sage scientist noncomformist crusader for world peace & archetypal grandmother. An enduring cultural icon she came to symbolize a new kind of woman one who successfully combined marriage & motherhood with a career & scholarship with a singular concern for its role in the lives of ordinary people. Even today when memoirs of successful women scientists & scholars remain scarce Blackberry Winter 1st published in 72 provides a rare glimpse of a pioneering womans formative journey. In her chapters "On Being a Granddaughter" & "The Pattern My Family Made Me " Mead examines the wisdom she gained from her maternal grandmother as well as the inheritance she recieved from her ancestors & how her upbringing fueled her desire for a fulfilling career that would reflect her own emerging values. We are treated to captivating portraits of bohemian life in NYC in the 20s; her early days at the American Museum of Natural History where she met her longtime mentor Franz Boas & friend Ruth Benedict; & 1st field trip to study adolescent girls in Samoa. Near the books end in "On Being a Grandmother " she reflects on the legacy she leaves her descendants indeed all of humanity. This autobiography reissued for a new generation of readers will appeal to any eager to discover a woman of our century who made her way in a world seldom hospitable to the dreams & accomplishments of women.