STILL LIFE with LILACS

About the Book

Barbara has the gift that few good writers can boast of…..you want more and more, you cannot stop reading. Her privileged unusual life, deep in hurt and hope is told in that special way she possesses. Witty and sarcastic, clever and subtle she leaves the path open to the reader; she suggests that there is more under the very learned, never pedantic way of telling. Light and distinctive her refined good taste always present.

About the Author

REFLECTIONS, through personal essays, poetry, and photos, pays homage to various colorful characters and places that have been woven into the fabric of my life. What began in 1924 as an ordinary life in the American Midwest has gone in unexpected directions, taking me first to New York, where my husband Gino and I established ourselves as respected filmmakers, and then to Andalusia, where we stayed for thirty years, traveling throughout the country, following the corridas, meeting people of many nations, the famed and the feckless. We arrived in Spain in 1962 with six hundred bucks to our name, not knowing where or how we would live. We thrived, built our home and filled it with children, dogs, cats, horses, birds, and countless visiting friends. In 1982, having unearthed or acquired some five thousand significant artifacts dating from Neolithic times to the fifteenth century, and 400 prime pieces of Spanish antiquities, we started Museo Hollander. Nearly twenty years ago, Gino and I donated our museum to the Spanish government and began our reentry into life in the States. Instead of returning to the hectic pace of Manhattan, we opted for the sylvan beauties of Aspen, Colorado—quiet and peace for me and snow-capped magnificent wilderness adventure for Gino. I’ve had more than my share of careers, among them, high school teacher, filmmaker, museum designer and curator, hotel decorator, and poet. These days, Gino paints; I write; our children and grandchildren visit from around the globe. And we pretend that life will go on forever.