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Podcast: New Books in Biography & Memoir
Episode: Cornelia Spelman, "Missing" (Jackleg Press, 2022)
Description: In her new memoir, Missing (Jackleg Press, 2022), children's book author Cornelia Maude Spelman explores her family history and her mother's life. Spelman was encouraged by her friend, the late, legendary New Yorker editor William Maxwell to write her life. When Spelman hints at what she thinks of as the failure of her parents' lives, he counters that "in a good novel one doesn't look for a success story, but for a story that moves one with its human drama and richness of experience." Maxwell encourages her to tell her mother's story at their final meeting. Missing is Spelman's response to Maxwell...