In case you don’t know Maira Kalman, I’d like you to meet her. She’s one of my favorite artists. I’m inspired by the exquisite balance between her depiction of the often harsh realities of life, and the positive spirit of her relaxed, witty style.
Beyond her unique, entertaining style, Kalman has the gift for connection. For example, her visit with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court reminds her of Sojourner Truth.
In another chapter, she feels compassion for a person on a city park bench looking despondent. And she feels excitement for the children who are learning to grow their own lunch vegetables.
More connections: In one chapter of And the Pursuit of Happiness, she visits a few small businesses owned and run by immigrants in the Bronx. Then she finds herself near Woodlawn Cemetery, “where the diminutive immigrant Irving Berlin is buried”. And then she goes on to think that because Berlin was allowed to come to America, we have the “sublime pleasure” of seeing Fred dance with Ginger to Berlin’s lyrics, “Heaven, I’m in heaven…”. Happiness!
This book is a Kalman’s celebration of our nation, all its people, our leaders past and present, and those in the military who serve to protect our democracy at home and peace on Earth. She celebrates our historic homes that are full of things to remind us of our history and how it was different, yet not so different from today.
As an illustrator, she enjoys a kind of word embroidery, sewing colored thread onto fabric. The example below is from the chapter, “In Love With A. Lincoln”.
President Abraham Lincoln’s message to our embattled country in 1862 is worth repeating today in 2021.
Think about it. His words “as our case is new” apply today as much as they did then. “New”, all over again! How can that be?
The occasion is piled high with difficulty. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. - A. Lincoln, 1862
What if we as a nation could recover our gift for connection? Happiness!