ENDORSEMENTS

"Reading The Learning Tree presents us with an opportunity to pay tribute to an important artist of our time.  It offers a variety of ways in which we can discuss it, from the obvious story line to Mr. Parks' perceptions of Kansas, how it fits into his body of work or as an example of post renaissance African American writing."

Lemuel Sheppard
Kansas Arts Commissioner & Folk Music Specialist

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"The Learning Tree is the most important book that my father wrote because it was a stepping stone for him personally and professionally. It allowed him to write about the experiences he lived growing up in Kansas in the 1920's and it led to his directorial debut as a filmmaker. It is a great choice for the Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas for its very first one-book project. "

David Parks
Son of Gordon Parks

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The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks was published while I was still in school. This Kansas coming of age story moved me then and has become a classic. It is a perfect book for the Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas to launch its very first one-book/one-state project for adult readers.”

Roy Bird
Director, Kansas Center for the Book

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I can't think of a better book to pull all the readers in the state of Kansas together. The Learning Tree will encourage all readers to talk about books, their experiences, the past, the future, but most of all--TALK"

Kaite Mediatore Stover
Head of Readers & Circulation Services,
Central Library, Kansas City, MO.

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"Gordon Parks was a 'gift' to the rest of us.  His art was multi-dimensional as was his mind.   When Gordon Parks put camera to eye -- he saw life sometimes raw, sometimes beautiful, but always in a depth of clarity that few artists possess.  He had it all.  Photographer, movie director, composer and writer -- As one critic noted of Parks work -- he was driven to drive failure from his dreams. His work now stands as a monument to a cultural literacy seldom seen in a single source.  For those, who have not tasted the talents of this renaissance man, then the book The Learning Tree would be the place to start."

Larry Hatteberg
KAKE TV, Wichita, KS

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The State Library of Kansas is proud to initiate the very first Kansas One Book, One State project through the Kansas Center for the Book. Please join us as we read together as a state!

Christie Brandau
Librarian, State of Kansas