Customer Reviews

Maude (1883-1993): She Grew Up With the Country

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Maude is not only a beautifully written tribute to a remarkable woman, but a wonderful chonicle of our country's growth towards maturity. Author Mardo Williams' newspaper background is apparent: He has a unique ability to mix important and meaningul historical details with the entertaining vignettes of rural life. That Mr. Williams knew his subject well is undisputed: He was the second child and only son born to Maude and her husband Lee. Much of what he writes was experienced or witnessed firsthand. It is particularly remarkable that he didn't begin writing this loving tribute to his mother and the early days of this century until he himself was 88 years of age. Maude-1883-1993: She Grew Up with the Country is a delight.

Maude was a housewife in the days when that "job" involved endless hours of drudgery. Reading this book helped me understand the life my own grandmother had on a farm in Indiana, for my father is almost as old as the 93 year old author. Small town, small farm life is lovingly recalled by the author, and the book will be fascinating to anyone interested in "the simple life" early in this century. That "simple life" involved a great deal of work and Maude did it uncomplainingly, raising four children while helping her husband run a farm. The book takes you back to "the good old days" and makes you glad that you went.

I never thought I'd find this book again in my lifetime. The memory of having read it has been with me since the 1970's when I checked it out of the library. I lingered as long as I could before finally finishing it and returning it, but Maude has stayed with me ever since! I showed up at every library book sale, hoping to see it in the stacks of books for sale but never did. I was just telling a friend about it this evening and thought, what the heck, I'll take a chance and see if I can find it on amazon. Thank you, amazon.com, for re-uniting me with this wonderful book about this wonderful and memorable woman!

Mardo Williams, a long lived man in his own right & an Ohio newspaper reporter, has written a good biography-cum-memoir of his mother's 110 years of life before electricity to seven decades later, flying in a plane.

From his career as an observer of daily life, Mardo Williams gives us a particularly detailed & fascinating glimpse into the life & times of early America. Liberally sprinkled with philosophy, humor & tragedy, MAUDE 1883-1993 is indeed a fine tribute to one ordinary woman's extra-ordinary spirit.

This is an important book.It reminds us of what we've lost. Read it and pass it down a generation. Joanna Wolper, New York City

MAUDE is a vivid chronicle of life in the first half of this century. Mardo Williams' writing is exquisite, his reportorial style is pithy and wastes not a single word. On both counts this book should become an important reference manual.

This book is a simply written account of a mother & son's recollections of their life. I found it very boring.