|
|
|
|
| Substance Abuse & Addictions |
|
|
HomeShop at BookSurgeSelf-HelpSubstance Abuse & AddictionsMary Ingraham Bunting: Her Two Lives |
|
|  |
| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 3 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Polly Bunting: Effective and Champion of Women's Education Mar 09, 2007
By Mary G. Swope
"Caper59"
This excellent biolgraphy of Polly Bunting, the founder of the Radcliffe Institute, who began the difficult process of integrating undergraduate women into Harvard College and Dartmouth, has been shockingly neglected in the literary press. A meticulously researched, sympathetic history of this extraordinary woman, who understood about working "outside the box" yet within the strictures of academia, this book deserves many readers. Polly Bunting was a scientist, honored in her time but extremely modest, who never abandoned her work, though she put it on the sidelines to bring up her children; she was a college administrator (President of Radcliffe College and Douglas College) who was always thinking of how to make a difference to the intellectual life of women, not just in their undergraduate life but, even more, in their future lives. The institution called the Radcliffe Institute would not exist today without her energy and imagination, and her original concept for the Institute may well, it is hoped, be replicated by other institutions. Polly Bunting was a modest woman but an extremely effective one. It is, perhaps, her very modesty that has made this book so unfairly neglected. Do buy it! Perhaps someone will publish it as a paperback one of these days.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A Good Read About an Intriguing Woman Jun 23, 2006
By Lisa Flavin
Exhaustively researched and deftly written, this bio of a member of the "Greatest Generation" portrays a respected feminist and scholar's life from her beginnings as a gifted microbiologist to her Radcliffe presidency in the turbulent '60s. What reverberates the most about Bunting is her ability to adapt to challenges in her personal life (she was widowed early with four young children) as well as her humanity and open-mindedness when forced to deal with campus radicalism, especially in contrast with the genteel 1950s. Her early love of nature stayed with her throughout her life; she kept bees almost up until her death in 1997. Yaffe writes clearly and with mastery of the details of Bunting's multi-faceted career, from her rapport with students to her topless gardening.
An Admirable Woman: I wish I were more like Polly Bunting Aug 30, 2006
By Katharine Perkins
"Biography Lover"
In her biography of Polly Bunting, Elaine Yaffe captures the subtle essence of a woman who was unusual for her time and for any time. From a very young age she was engaged in issues of learning. She pursued this to excellence in scientific study and then turned to other pursuits. Unlike some scholars she had a side of warmth and nurturance that she learned from her parents and close, extended family that permeated her life as a wife, mother, farmer and family provider. She had a clarity of thought that was not restricted by custom or social constraints. She was both a profoundly practical person and a free thinker. Thank you, Ms. Yaffe for telling Polly Bunting's story with such grace, clarity and gripping story telling.
|
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
