To Smile in Autumn: A Memoir

Description

Gordon Parks was born with, he says, "a stubborn need to be somebody." Though Parks is remembered most notably as a photographer and filmmaker, on his enthralling climb to fame between 1944 and 1978 he was successful in many pursuits, including journalism, poetry, and music. It was not always an easy journey, but by thirty-six he had overcome many obstacles to become a photographer and writer for Life magazine. This autobiography, with a new foreword by Alexs Pate, is a testament to a person much attuned to the greater world and driven to leave his mark on it.

Gordon Parks was a photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist, and film director. He was the author of several books, including The Learning Tree, and director of the 1971 film Shaft. Alexs Pate is author of several novels, including Amistad, West of Rehoboth, and Finding Makeba.

"Mr. Parks's achievements would be exceptional no matter what his background, but when compared with the bleakness and hardship of his childhood they seem nothing less than outsized." -New York Times, 1979