"This lady is a big breath of fresh air in our cynical age." -- John Nichols.
SING MY WHOLE LIFE LONG: JENNY VINCENT'S LIFE IN FOLK MUSIC AND ACTIVISM
(University of New Mexico Press)
Foreword by Ronald H. Cohen, Preface by John Nichols
Introduced to international folk music at an early age, Jenny Vincent believed strongly in social advocacy, which she expressed through song. Born in Minnesota and raised near Chicago, Jenny moved to northern New Mexico with her first husband in 1936 at the invitation of D.H. Lawrence's widow. Enchanted with the place and its people, she has remained there ever since. Jenny performed with such luminaries as Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Malvina Reynolds, and Earl Robinson, all social activists who used music as a voice for world peace, civil rights, and human rights. She later supported such causes as the Salt of the Earth strike, American Indian rights, and the rising Chicano movement. Through it all Jenny raised a family and continued her music. Now in her nineties, Jenny remains a performer and a champion of the people. In 2007 she was honored by both the University of New Mexico and the New Mexico State Division of Historic Preservation for her six decades of efforts to promote and preserve the music and culture of New Mexico.
"This excellent biography portrays the life of a courageous woman . . . who moved from a privileged background . . . to a far more challenging environment in the desert Southwest. Using interviews with Jenny Vincent (and other fresh material), Craig Smith brings vividly to life her long journey . . . I highly recommend this rich, carefully researched biography." -- Michael Squires, Amazon.com
"In addition to being a solid personal biography, Sing My Whole Life Long is a capsule view of a time in this country when inequality actually caused large numbers of people to become angry and form movements and act to right wrongs." -- Sing Out magazine.
"Like its subject . . . there is something melodious and captivating in Smith's book." -- Santa Fe New Mexican.
"The life of Jenny Vincent would make a rousing motion picture, complete with intrigue, adventure, romance, tragedy, and politcal statement." -- The Taos News.
Sing My Whole Life Long may be ordered from your local bookstore or directly from the University of New Mexico Press: www.unmpress.org.
YOUR EYES
Novelist, poet, essayist, translator Cesare Pavese (1908-1950) was a towering figure of twentieth century Italian letters. This volume, the second book from Palisade Press (www.palisadepress.com) gathers his final poetic output -- the two short series "Earth and Death" and "Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes" -- with accompanying English translations by Patrizia de Rachewiltz and Craig Smith, with ink drawings by Lynda Smith.
Order from your local bookstore or directly from Palisade Press: www.palisadepress.com.
UNSQUARE DANCE: RIFFS AND REFLECTIONS ON DAVE BRUBECK
This cycle of 50 poems celebrates the life and music of Dave Brubeck, one of the giants of jazz history, and a brilliant and innovative musician who has created one of the great bodies of work in all of music. He has been, as well, an international ambassador for peace and understanding among peoples. Ink drawings by Lynda Smith. Winter 2010.