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To Smile in Autumn

A Memoir

2009
•
Author:

Gordon Parks
Foreword by Alexs D. Pate

To Smile in Autumn

“Gordon Parks was like the Jackie Robinson of film.” —Donald Faulkner, Director, New York State Writers Institute

To Smile in Autumn is a candid revelation of a man in the prime of his life and career. This autobiography, with a new foreword by Alexs Pate, is a testament to a person much attuned to the greater world and driven to leave his mark on it.

Mr. Parks’s achievements would be exceptional no matter what his background, but when compared with the bleakness and hardship of his childhood they seem nothing less than outsized.

—

New York Times, 1979

Gordon Parks was born with, he says, “a stubborn need to be somebody.” Though Parks is remembered most notably as a photographer and filmmaker, on his enthralling climb to fame between 1944 and 1978 he was successful in many pursuits, including journalism, poetry, and music. It was not always an easy journey, but by thirty-six he had overcome many obstacles to become a photographer and writer for Life magazine. To Smile in Autumn is a candid revelation of a man in the prime of his life and career. This autobiography, with a new foreword by Alexs Pate, is a testament to a person much attuned to the greater world and driven to leave his mark on it.

To Smile in Autumn

Gordon Parks was a photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist, and film director. He was the author of several books, including The Learning Tree, and director of the 1971 film Shaft.

Alexs Pate is author of several novels, including Amistad, West of Rehoboth, and Finding Makeba.

To Smile in Autumn

Mr. Parks’s achievements would be exceptional no matter what his background, but when compared with the bleakness and hardship of his childhood they seem nothing less than outsized.

—

New York Times, 1979

Gordon Parks was like the Jackie Robinson of film.

—

Donald Faulkner, Director, New York State Writers Institute