For Immediate Release
Office of Mrs. Bush
September 17, 2002
Opening Remarks by Mrs. Bush at Women of the West Symposium
Women of the West Symposium at the White House
Tuesday, September 17, 2002
The White House - East Room
Thank you. Distinguished guests, participants and family members
of Willa Cather and Laura Ingalls Wilder, welcome to the White House
for the Women of the West Symposium.
Welcome also to another woman of the west and a noted author Lynne
Cheney.
In today's White House Salute to America's Authors we are joined by
a group of panelists, scholars, and enthusiasts..to celebrate and study
a fascinating genre of literature and period in American history.
Willa Cather, Edna Ferber, and Laura Ingalls Wilder captured the
essence of life in the west with brilliant, witty writing.
Cather described, with forlorn clarity, the beauty of Nebraska and
the vanished American prairie. She wrote, "Elsewhere the sky is the
roof of the world; but here the earth is the floor of the sky."
Edna Ferber developed a writer's keen sense of observation from a
tender age, and she was able to develop great sympathy for both real
and fictional characters. She said, "No charm possessed by the people I
know and like can compare with the fascination of those People I'd Like
to Know, and Know I'd Like."
In my home state of Texas, she is known for her sizzling novel,
Giant, which was published in 1952. The characters may have been the
product of her first visit to the state, when she was reportedly
shocked by the food, the heat, and the swaggering arrogance of men in
10-gallon hats.
Laura Ingalls Wilder delighted generations of readers with accounts
of her family's rugged and nomadic life in the West. Her stories were
among the first books I experienced as a child, and they were among my
very favorite adventures.
My mother and I spent countless hours reading the Little House
series together, living the life of Laura in our imaginations. Later,
when I taught school, I used to read the Little House books to my
students. Aside from the author herself, no one brought us closer to
that character than one of our guests today.Melissa Gilbert.
In many ways, the stories that came from these three women of the
West are elemental love stories. Their tales capture the complexities
of any true love: resignation and hope; sorrow and joy; challenge and
triumph.
These women helped forge the Western identity. Through their words,
we come to appreciate who we are as a people.and what we can achieve as
individuals.
I'm delighted to introduce our moderator today, Chicago Tribune
Magazine Editor and Literary Editor, Elizabeth Taylor.
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