I just finished one of those books. You know the type. The book you can't believe eluded you for a decade yet when you finally discover it, you are completely spellbound.
Ina Coolbrith: The Bittersweet Song of California's First Poet Laureateis a book I bought possibly years ago yet just now read. Author Aleta George is a masterful writer and a tireless researcher. She has written a page-turner about a woman most have never heard of but absolutely should know. Her history is incredible. I first met Ina, briefly, when I visited the Oakland Public Library, years ago.
"This biography is about a pioneer poet, Oakland's first public librarian, and the most popular literary ambassador in the early American West. In post-Gold Rush San Francisco, she was known as the pearl of her tribe, a tribe that included Bret Harte, Mark Twain, and John Muir. Jack London and Isadora Duncan considered her their literary godmother, and John Greenleaf Whittier knew more of her poems by heart than she did his. Regardless of the acclaim from others, Coolbrith faced a series of challenges throughout her life that tested her devotion to her art. In the end, she put her full faith in poetry and her story reveals the saving grace of creativity in a woman's life.
George's deftly told and deeply researched book follows the struggles and triumphs of Coolbrith from her birth in 1841 as a niece of Mormon founder Joseph Smith to her death in 1928 as California's most beloved poet. California crowned her its first poet laureate in 1915 during San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exposition."
This book not only shares an amazing life, but it tells the history of California in such a readable way. It is truly a who's who of early California's literary greats. I absolutely LOVED this book. If you want to know more about Ina, she was featured, this past March during Women's History Month. While the book does way more to introduce you to this exceptional woman, this video is a pretty interesting overview.
"Were I to write what I know,
the book would be too sensational to print,
but were I to write what I think proper,
it would be too dull to read."
-Ina Coolbrith, regarding writing her autobiography
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