From: Clark Underbakke <clarku>
Date: Sun, 29 Feb 2004 22:49:15 -0600

On this eve of March 1st, I wanted to be among the first to post an entry about the Coretta Scott King books. Three cheers for Ashley Bryan's most recent gift to us all, Beautiful Blackbird. What an amazing book by such an amazing man! If you are not familiar with his work and life...or know people who are not...I encourage you to get acquainted with Ashley and his work.

Ashley is a multi?ceted, Renaissance man. He can sing, draw, orate, tell tales, paint, play instruments and the list goes on and on. Above all, Ashley is a fantastic human being. One we all aspire to be. Be it the gentle line drawings of The Cat's Purr and The Tale of the Dancing Grannies...the bold, vibrant colors seen in Sing to the Sun or the fresh, intricate cut-outs of Beautiful Blackbird, his work is bound to delight you. In a note I received from him last week he closed by writing, "I'm pleased that Beautiful Blackbird is being enjoyed and that children are being inspired by the book...BRAVO!" His spirit and compassion for life and is contagious. I hope you catch it!

Regards, Clark Underbakke Birmingham, AL
Received on Sun 29 Feb 2004 10:49:15 PM CST