A Retro Photo: It’s Just Not Mine

This photo is NOT one of my family. In fact, it’s not even my photo. I got it at Jane Kirkpatrick’s blog. It is a photo of her grandmother. Do you love it?! I cannot stop looking at it! Her grandmother worked at a photography studio in Minnesota in 1911. How cool is that? Look at her dress, her necklace, her hat, the glasses and her watch. LOVE IT.

Kirkpatrick was inspired by this picture to write her new book, A Flickering Light. It’s a coming of age story of a young girl that wants nothing more than to be a photographer. But at the turn of the century, photography (as with most careers) was male dominated. And apparently the book is based on her grandmother’s life. I love it!!

Waterbrook Press asked me to review this book and I immediately said yes because I’ve always loved Jane Kirkpatrick. But when I realized what the book was about and started reading it, I got excited! The reason I post black and white pictures every week is because I am so intrigued by the story behind the picture. A Flickering Light is like a a dream come true for me—an actual story behind a mysterious black and white picture!

Here’s a cool video about the book from Kirkpatrick’s blog…which is totally interesting in and of itself…

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NOW. The fun part! I’ve got a book to giveaway! No, it’s not a Flickering Light. I kept that one. (Sorry.) But I do have a special Jane Kirkpatrick book, Aurora: An American Experience in Quilt, Community, and Craft
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Here’s the official overview:
Wrap yourself in a fantastic journey, a remarkable commitment, and a spare and splendid story. Master storyteller Jane Kirkpatrick extols the beautiful treasures, unknown to a wider public, rediscovered in the Old Aurora Colony of Oregon ’s lush Willamette Valley.

The people and legacy of Aurora, a utopian community founded in the mid-1800s, will stir your imagination, hopes, and dreams; and remind you that every life matters—that our lives are the stories other people read first.
Featuring~ Unique and treasured quilt pattern variations, more than 100 photographs, many never-before published, from 1850 to today. Cherished stories from Aurora descendants, rich images of fine crafts from the Aurora Colony and private collections, an introduction by renowned American artist John Houser.

Aurora is about the difference every ordinary life can make—and a beautiful celebration of a time and place in which people expressed their most cherished beliefs through the work of their imagination and hands.

I wrote about Kirkpatrick’s fictional series set in the actual city of Aurora. It’s one of my favorite series ever. This new book is essentially the black-and-white picture to the fiction books.

If you’d like to win this beautiful hard-cover gift book you must leave me a comment! If you’d like an additional entry just tweet, facebook, blog, stumble, kirtsy, smoke signal or carrier pigeon about the contest. Then leave me an additional comment for every extra step you took.

I’ll announce a winner (who lives in the US or Canada and has a valid email address) on Saturday.

CONGRATS to Barbara Rawe !!

ps–I received both of these books for FREE to review. I am giving away one of them because I just like giving my readers free stuff. I will be paying for the shipping out of my own little purse. Yes, this is a snarky postscript response to the conversation about full disclosure going around the blogosphere right now.