Against Wind and Tide (Letters and Journals 1947-1986)
By Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Edited by Reeve Lindbergh
New York, Pantheon Books, 358 pages, $27.95
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The epic flight across the Atlantic of Charles A. Lindbergh occurred eighty-five years ago. 1927 was his pivotal year. After his journey, the tall and handsome Lindbergh married Anne Morrow, the daughter of Huntington, W.Va., native Ambassador Dwight Morrow, and set out with her on various remarkable journeys to survey routes for the establishment of airways as yet unborn.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, after the cruel kidnapping death of their son, Charles Jr., turned to writing as her means of sharing her life with others, and consoling herself after such a terrible event.
Against Wind and Tide was AML's last book. In truth, the contents were not actually written to form a book, but were meticulously collected and edited by her daughter Reeve. Surely it was a work of love, and a collection of documents which revealed much about the complex person that AML was. She had a long life, and died at the age of 94, still keeping an interest in aviation as well as a desire to encourage others to seek their own special star, their own chosen goal.
To characterize writings that spanned nearly forty years with a single word is impossible. She was, at various times a great traveler, riding commercial planes to Europe often, beginning in the days of propeller planes, and moving into the age of jet aircraft. She says little in her journals about the wonders of the new methods of flight, but does revel in her ability to transverse large portions of the earth in a few hours.
She was a woman on the move. Charles and Anne moved to England after the death of their little son, and thereafter the couple moved almost constantly, living in New England and Switzerland, finally on the island of Maui, where Charles is buried. The constant moving and shuttling, along with bearing six children made life stressful for AML, but evidently she was not only able to tolerate this change of locations, but to thrive as her household grew and then diminished as time went by.
Against Wind and Tide (Letters and Journals 1947-1986)
By Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Edited by Reeve Lindbergh
New York, Pantheon Books, 358 pages, $27.95
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The epic flight across the Atlantic of Charles A. Lindbergh occurred eighty-five years ago. 1927 was his pivotal year. After his journey, the tall and handsome Lindbergh married Anne Morrow, the daughter of Huntington, W.Va., native Ambassador Dwight Morrow, and set out with her on various remarkable journeys to survey routes for the establishment of airways as yet unborn.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, after the cruel kidnapping death of their son, Charles Jr., turned to writing as her means of sharing her life with others, and consoling herself after such a terrible event.
Against Wind and Tide was AML's last book. In truth, the contents were not actually written to form a book, but were meticulously collected and edited by her daughter Reeve. Surely it was a work of love, and a collection of documents which revealed much about the complex person that AML was. She had a long life, and died at the age of 94, still keeping an interest in aviation as well as a desire to encourage others to seek their own special star, their own chosen goal.
To characterize writings that spanned nearly forty years with a single word is impossible. She was, at various times a great traveler, riding commercial planes to Europe often, beginning in the days of propeller planes, and moving into the age of jet aircraft. She says little in her journals about the wonders of the new methods of flight, but does revel in her ability to transverse large portions of the earth in a few hours.
She was a woman on the move. Charles and Anne moved to England after the death of their little son, and thereafter the couple moved almost constantly, living in New England and Switzerland, finally on the island of Maui, where Charles is buried. The constant moving and shuttling, along with bearing six children made life stressful for AML, but evidently she was not only able to tolerate this change of locations, but to thrive as her household grew and then diminished as time went by.
At the center of Against Wind and Tide, is her relationship with Charles. Her correspondence with her husband gives evidence of her love for him, but also of her resentment at his long absences from her, as he pursued his vocation as a director of Pan American Airlines, and as a consultant in the area of conservation and the preservation of the earth. Often, too often she did not know where he was, and family crises were handled by AML alone. Letters might begin: "Charles, where are you now?"
Not to give things away about the book, it is also a documentation of some of her secrets. The main secret was that she deeply loved her physician Dr. Dana Atchley, who provided her with many years of consolation. No evidence of a torrid physical affair surfaces. She does not write in this book anything that deals with the affairs of her husband, which produced several children whom he supported. With his own children, he could be harsh and demanding, and it was Anne who was able to moderate the negative feelings his children might have had due to his unforgiving ways.
Since this volume is written by a woman, some may say that it is just for women. My experience as I read the entire book, is that it has significance for males also. Here in her rather simple prose, her investigation reveals insights for women and men. For AML, life was eased by her wealth. Her books sold well, and Gift from the Sea still is in print. Her husband was also financially well off, but the car mentioned in the book is unfailingly a VW.
Marriage is a complex relationship in all its forms. Mrs. Lindbergh puts the magnifying glass of her vision upon these complexities, while still preserving a love for her ever traveling husband.
Finally, for those interested in the spiritual life of writers, AML does set forth some of her beliefs. She was not conventionally religious, but did have a vision of a god beyond and above her personal history. She evidently enjoyed the Bible passages she had learned as a child, and she provided memorable Christmases with a manger scene and carols, all for her family. She prayed in a small country chapel when Charles lay dying.
Her star might have set a bit, and surely she is not as famous as she was decades ago. She not only comments (in her famous book) on gifts from the sea, and the beauty of seashells, but on the beauty and complexity, joys and sorrows of her life and ours.
Posey is a retired Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister who lives in Charleston.
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