Song of Haiti - Hardcover

Paris, Barry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1891620134 ISBN 13: 9781891620133

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2006

Synopsis

Larimer Mellon was the youngest son of Paul Mellon, renowned Pittsburgh financier, and seemed destined for a life of high finance and high society. Instead, he went to med-school and, upon graduating, moved with his wife Gwen to Haiti, the poorest country in the hemisphere. In one of the most isolated and impoverished areas of the country they built a hospital, and for the rest of his life Larry Mellon served as a physician there. To this day, Gwen Mellon remains at the hospital and in Haiti. Song of Haiti is a beautifully written look at the passion that drove this couple, and that inspired them to leave behind a world of almost unfathomable wealth and luxury and devote their lives to the poorest of the poor in a country far from home.

About this title

About the Author:

Like the Mellon family, Barry Paris is from Pittsburgh. His biographies of Louise Brooks, Audrey Hepburn and Greta Garbo (all published by Knopf) are considered the definitive works on their subjects.

From Publishers Weekly:

No one ever expected the youngest son of financier William Mellon to establish and manage a hospital in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. But that is exactly what William Larimer (Larry) Mellon Jr. did during the last 35 years of his life (he attended medical school in his 40s). In this double biography, ParisAwho himself makes a surprising turn from Hollywood biography (Audrey Hepburn, Garbo, etc.)A beautifully, if somewhat uncritically tells the story of Larry, his second wife, Gwen, and their hospital in Haiti. Taking a page from the Mellons' lifelong passion for music, Paris organizes the entire book, from its "Overture" to its "Finale," around a musical theme. Drawing on extensive interviews with GwenAwho, now in her 80s, has been running the hospital since her husband's death in 1989Aas well as on Larry's private journals and his correspondence with Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Paris crafts a moving and largely sympathetic portrait. He also traces the history of the vast array of community development projects the Mellons initiated, arguing that the couple dedicated their uncommon lives and fortune to Schweitzer's motto "Help life where you find it." Along the way he provides plenty of relevant photos and helpful background: a history of Haiti, the story of the Mellon dynasty and an assessment of voodooAhe calls it "a largely positive force with no particular agenda and without the proselytizing (or televangelical abuses) of Christianity." Inspirational and dramatic, this book fills in a long-forgotten gap in the history of both American philanthropy and compassionate humanity. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1891620134
• ISBN 13: 9781891620133
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 344