Archives de catégorie : Biography

ATHUR UND LILLY de Lilly Maier

The girl and the Holocaust survivor

ARTHUR UND LILLY
by Lilly Maier
Heyne, November 2018

The poignant biography of a Holocaust survivor and the story of an unusual friendship: « I had a wonderful life », Arthur Kern muses, meaning his childhood in Vienna – up to that fateful moment in 1939, when at the age of just ten he is suddenly separated from his family. Hoping to save him from the Holocaust, his Jewish parents send him away to an unfamiliar world with a Kindertransport or children’s transport – a traumatic experience for the ten-year-old. He manages to escape to America via France, but he never sees his family again. 60 years later, while visiting the apartment of his childhood days in Vienna, he makes the acquaintance of eleven-year-old Lilly Maier – a fateful encounter for both of them and one that not only strongly influences Lilly’s future but also leads to Arthur being bestowed with a late legacy of his parents …

THE HOCKNEYS de John Hockney

I have always been proud of my older siblings and felt the stories of individual determination to succeed and be themselves should be told. From inspiring parents, and my father’s philosophical comment, “Never Worry What the Neighbours Think,” (an aristocratic sentiment, as David says); we each pursued life paths that vary” – John Hockney

THE HOCKNEYS:
Never Worry What the Neighbours Think
by John Hockney
Legend Press, October 2019

The Hockneys is a never-before-seen insight into the lives of this family, from growing up in the Second World War in Bradford through to their diverse lives across three continents. Hardship, successes as well as close and complex relationships are poignantly illustrated by both famous and private pictures and paintings from David Hockney. With a rare and spirited look into the lives of an ordinary family with extraordinary stories, we begin to understand the creative freedom that led to the successful careers of all the Hockney children. How was it that a poor family from Bradford- headed by a whimsical, conscientious objector father and an intense, religiously strict mother- brought into existence an artist whose work has inspired generations?

John Hockney is a storyteller by profession, a writer and a musician. He migrated to Australia in 1968 but has retained strong ties with his large family. His brother is world renowned artist David Hockney.