through his life. And that's how I
spent the next eight years."
Clearly, Berg is not a quick worker.
But he considers himself blessed: "I've
never been bored on any of the three
books."
Not committed to his next biogra-
phy subject, he will decide on the
basis of who has left papers behind,
who hasn't had a proper biography
I is no wonder that Steven
Spielberg optioned A. Scott
Berg's wonderful biography
of Charles Lindbergh.
Lindbergh led a remarkable and
dramatic life — he was Elvis before
Elvis — and coverage of the trial of
Bruno Hauptmann for the kidnap-
ping of Lindbergh's baby rivaled
that of O.J. Simpson's.
Berg's strong
narrative writing
style brings the
famous aviator to
life in Lindbergh
(G. R Putnam's
Sons; S30).
Reading like an
autobiography,
Lindbergh at the
same time is writ-
ten with a biogra-
pher's honesty and
a novelist's flair.
When Lindbergh
flies the Atlantic,
we are with him,
as we are when he and his wife
endure the Hauptmann trial.
Lindbergh was born in 1902 in
Detroit. His mother was a teacher.
His father was a popular congress-
man until he preached isolationism
long after his constituency was
ready for America to enter World
War I. The family moved frequent-
ly between, Washington, D.C., his
mother's family home in Michigan
and the family farm in Minnesota,
leaving young Lindbergh feeling
rootless.
After attending aeronautical tri-
als when he was just 10 years old,
the course of Lindbergh's life was
set. So much time has passed, it's
hard to imagine how great an
accomplishment his transatlantic
flight was. It was a greater quantum
leap forward, by comparison, than
the moon landing four decades
later.
Lindbergh never took advantage
of the financial opportunities his
Celebrate Thanksgiving
in the warmth & comfort
that is Brandy's
done and who is likable.
Because he lives so long with his
subject, Berg said he must, to a degree
anyway, choose a person he likes.
"I've often said it would be fascinat-
ing to write a biography of Hitler, but
that I couldn't do it. I couldn't wake
up to Hitler every morning."
And, definitely, Berg's grandmother
wouldn't approve.
A full Thanksgiving Dinner
with all the trimmings
P".. ‘
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Offering our regular
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❑
success afforded him, turning down
literally millions of dollars. He chose
to concentrate on furthering the
cause of aviation, and was instru-
mental in setting up what became
the airlines TWA and Pan Am.
His interests went well beyond
flying. Along with Dr. Alexis
Carrel, he used his mechanical
skills to produce an early version of
a mechanical
heart. He became
an ardent conser-
vationist, an ama-
teur anthropolo-
gist and archeolo-
gist. He won a
Pulitzer Prize for
his writing, and
furthered the
cause of rocketry.
As for the dark
side of Lindbergh,
he was known at
times to be cold
and distant to his
family; his moth-
er-in-law said,
"There was a little bit of sadism
about him."
Others felt he was anti-Semitic.
He seemed blind to the atrocities
happening overseas. In less than
two decades, Lindbergh went from
being a hero to a pariah.
Credit Berg for telling
Lindbergh's story even-handedly,
without psycho-babble. Still, it
would have been nice if Berg
explained how someone as bright
and worldly as Lindbergh could
have come across as anti-Semitic,
or, at least, incorporated
Lindbergh's views into the context
of the times. After all, Lindbergh
wasn't the only one to ignore the
ovens that burned in Europe.
Still, Berg's Lindbergh presents
all shades of a complex man, repre-
senting a monumental achievement
of biography.
`Lindbergh'
biography
presents all
shades of a
complex man.
❑
— Reviewed by Curt Schleier
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