Synopses & Reviews
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The most pivotal and yet least understood event of Frank Lloyd Wrightandrsquo;s celebrated life involves the brutal murders in 1914 of seven adults and children dear to the architect and the destruction by fire of Taliesin, his landmark residence, near Spring Green, Wisconsin. Unaccountably, the details of that shocking crime have been largely ignored by Wrightandrsquo;s legion of biographersandmdash;a historical and cultural gap that is finally addressed in William Drennanandrsquo;s exhaustively researched
Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; In response to the scandal generated by his open affair with the proto-feminist and free love advocate Mamah Borthwick Cheney, Wright had begun to build Taliesin as a refuge and andquot;love cottageandquot; for himself and his mistress (both married at the time to others).
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Conceived as the apotheosis of Wrightandrsquo;s prairie house style, the original Taliesin would stand in all its isolated glory for only a few months before the bloody slayings that rocked the nation and reduced the structure itself to a smoking hull.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Supplying both a gripping mystery story and an authoritative portrait of the artist as a young man, Drennan wades through the myths surrounding Wright and the massacre, casting fresh light on the formulation of Wrightandrsquo;s architectural ideology and the cataclysmic effects that the Taliesin murders exerted on the fabled architect and on his subsequent designs.and#160;Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians, and Outstanding Book, selected by the Public Library Association
Review
“These postcard photos provide the ‘missing link’ in the evolving designs of Taliesin. It has always been a difficult building to understand through photographs, but Henning clears up many of the mysteries. I had many ‘a-ha’ moments as I studied the images and accompanying text. The images of the folks standing in the ashes after the fire at Taliesin are chilling and reveal the fascination with tragedy.”—Thomas A. Heinz, American Institute of Architects
Review
“A valuable, intimate tour of an extraordinary design when it was new, before the myth of Wright took root.”—Alan Hess, author of Frank Lloyd Wright: The Buildings
Review
“Ingenious. . . . Thanks to this book the reader is able to gain insight into the architect’s thought process and appreciate, anew, a 20th-century masterpiece.”—Style 1900
Review
andquot;Death in a Prairie House is a compelling argument in support of the theory that the Taliesin tragedy profoundly affected not only the future lives of those directly involved (not the least of whom was considered to be the most influential and gifted architect of the time), but likely, the whole course and development of modern architecture.andquot;andmdash;Craig Jacobsen, Taliesin Preservation, Inc.
Review
andquot;The thoroughness of Drennan's research combined with the clarity of his logic and writing style paints a complete, colorful picture of the tragedy. He painstakingly addresses all of the questions and theories that have puzzled many for more than ninety years.andquot;andmdash;Carla Lind, author of The Wright Style: Re-Creating the Spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright and Lost Wright
Review
andquot;A fascinating, insightful examination of a Wisconsin 'crime of the century,' a bizarre and tragic event that changed Wright's life, his career, and perhaps even American residential and architectural design.andrdquo;andmdash;Bill Christofferson, journalist and author of The Man from Clear Lake
Synopsis
The Wisconsin-born Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) is recognized worldwide as an iconic architectural genius. In 1911 he designed Taliesin to use as his personal residence, architectural studio, and working farm. A century later Randolph C. Henning has assembled a splendid collection of rare vintage postcards, some never before published, that provides a revealing and visually unique journey through Wright’s work at Taliesin. Included are intimate images of Taliesin at various stages and views of the building just after the tragic 1914 fire. The postcards also depict nearby buildings designed by Wright, including the Romeo and Juliet windmill and two buildings for the Hillside Home School. Henning provides useful explanations that highlight relevant details and accompany each image. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin documents and celebrates Wright’s 100-year-old masterpiece.
Finalist, Midwest Book Awards for Cover Design and for Regional Interest Illustrated Book
Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians
Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the Public Library Reviewers
Synopsis
From the McDonald s hot coffee case to the cattle ranchers beef with Oprah Winfrey, from the old English "Assize of Bread" to current nutrition labeling laws, what we eat and how we eat are shaped as much by legal regulations as by personal taste. Barry M. Levenson, the curator of the world-famous (really ) Mount Horeb Mustard Museum and a self-proclaimed "recovering lawyer," offers in Habeas Codfish an entertaining and expert overview of the frustrating, frightening, and funny intersections of food and the law.
Discover how Mr. Peanut shaped the law of trademark infringement for the entire food industry. Consider the plight of the restaurant owner besmirched by a journalist s negative review. Find out how traditional Jewish laws of kashrut ran afoul of the First Amendment. Prison meals, butter vs. margarine, definitions of organic food, undercover ABC reporters at the Food Lion, the Massachusetts Supreme Court case that saved fish chowder, even recipes it s all in here, so tuck in
"
Synopsis
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin documents and celebrates Wright’s 100-year-old masterpiece by using rare vintage postcards to provide a revealing and visually unique journey through Wright’s work.
Synopsis
This volume documents the full-collaboration between Frank Lloyd Wright and Milwaukee interior architect George Mann Niedecken from 1904 to 1918. Both believed in the unity of residential architectural and interior design, and each influenced the other in furnishing many of Wrights best-known Prairie School houses, including the famous Robie, Coonley, and May houses.
Distributed for the Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
About the Author
William R. Drennan (1944andndash;2015) was professor emeritus of English at the University of Wisconsinandndash;Baraboo/Sauk County and adjunct instructor in the Department of English at Appalachian State University, in Boone, North Carolina.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Kathryn A. Smith
Introduction
Taliesin—1911
Unity Chapel—1886
Home Building—1887
Romeo and Juliet—1896
Hillside Home School II—1901
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Source Notes
Selected Bibliography