How I loved this splendid biography! Melinda Ponder brings Katharine Lee Bates to life as never before. And what a fascinating, remarkable woman she was – so much more important in the history and literature of our country than I had realized.”
–Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize historian
Katharine Lee Bates’s “America the Beautiful” resonates for many people as the most patriotic and beloved American anthem. Her words remind us of why we love our country: the beauty of our land, the historic sacrifices of our people, and our ideals of hope and brotherhood. That has never been more important than today.
Drawing on extensive research in Bates family diaries, letters, and memoirs, biographer Melinda M. Ponder brings Katharine vividly to life in her new biography that launches today, KATHARINE LEE BATES: From Sea to Shining Sea (Windy City Publishers Hardcover; August 12, 2017; $39.95).
Early reviews are extremely positive:
Finally, a full portrait of the wise and witty woman who wrote the words that best express our love for America. Melinda Ponder’s rich narrative is a timely reminder that intellect, integrity and a rigorous respect for truth are the real pillars of patriotism.” –Lynn Sherr, former ABC News correspondent and author of America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind America’s Favorite Song
“We all know ‘America the Beautiful,’ but only now do we learn the fascinating story of the woman who wrote it–along with so much more. This book is a stirring tribute to a brilliant and deeply patriotic American whose message we need to hear today.” —Stephen Kinzer, historian and author of The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire
“…[A] carefully researched and thoroughly entrancing life tale of a brilliant and accomplished woman whose many achievements have too long been eclipsed by the enduring success of America the Beautiful. … Ponder wisely sets this triumph in the context of a full and richly lived life.” –Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast
“Melinda Ponder’s … beautifully written biography presents Katharine Lee Bates as, in her time, a ‘New Woman.’ Readers will find that this life story of a beloved poet, patriot, and social reformer has much to say about our own time.” –The Falmouth Enterprise
“Katharine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea unfolds at long last the impressive life story and strikingly variegated career of the author of America’s unofficial national anthem. A limit-bumping thinker ahead of her time, sometimes even at odds with it, Katharine Lee Bates also had a remarkable gift for reaching the broader American public.” — Lawrence Buell, Harvard University, author of New England Literary Culture and The Dream of the Great American Novel
