Maya Lin

Maya Lin

Juvenile biography
"The contest rules said the memorial
must blend with a park setting
and include the name of every soldier
who died fighting or was missing.
Almost 58,000 names."
I imagine most of us know at least something about the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial. Many of us have seen pictures of objects left by
veterans' friends and family members and read how much it means to
them to be able to touch a lost loved one's name. But I'm guessing
many of us don't know the story behind this monument. I surely didn't
until I read Jeanne Walker Harvey's Maya Lin.
There was a contest to determine who would design the memorial.
There were 1,421 entries, including some by very famous people in the
art world. The designs filled a whole airplane hangar! A lot of
people were angry when Lin won. Some had trouble wrapping their minds
around the fact that a college senior had beaten the competition.
Some didn't like her design. There was a lot of contrversy...
...but she prevailed.
And now readers can learn about the childhood and youth that
prepared her to take the world (or at least America) by storm. It's a
very worthwhile story, especially for potential engineers and
architects.
On a personal note, I had a wonderful frozen yogurt excursion with my
chum Mazie. That was one of the highlights of my week. The other was
the Mental Health Monologues last night. Active minds put that on. A
bunch of us shared our experiences with psychological challenges. I
talked about my decades long battle with anorexia. I shared some
experiences I'd never before talked about. I think our audience was
really touched.
A great big shout out goes out to Mazie and to everyone who
participated in Mental Health Monologues.
jules hathaway


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