Western Biography

While Pang-Mei Natasha Chang was a Chinese Studies major at Harvard University, she stumbled across the name of her 83-year-old great aunt Chang Yu-i in a history book. Over the next several years, Pang-Mei spent long afternoons drawing forth her aunt's story. Born in Shanghai to a well-to-do family, Chang Yu-i lived a life of defiance, continually breaking class and culture barriers.

A North African woman’s autobiography (Arab, Berber, Moslem), starting in the western desert of the Arab world and ending up in the West; scattered memories in 12 chapters. This is the first collection of life memories that have marked my life. You are sure to relate to, or even find yourself or someone you know, in at least one of these scattered memories. The perfect gift for anyone interested in the life of an Arab woman.

Well, Jay. Last summer your mother asked me to write some of my memories of childhood. Here they are. Some are pure memories, some have been told to me, and some are simply my childhood daydreams. Some of the experiences made profound impressions on my memory and influenced my values as an adult. Others simply produce a smile over a pleasant memory. I hope they will do the same for you and others who listen to them. Your mother and grandmother read these after they were written and made some comments.

Many of the first artists in the West were assigned to exploration and geological parties, working as archivists and obedient to demands of cold accuracy. However, a few were driven by an imaginative mix of real events and fantastical visions to whet the appetite of Eastern consumers and preserve their own nostalgia on canvas. Among the most prominent artists depicting the "old" West was Charles Marion Russell, a prolific painter, sculptor, writer, and storyteller based in the heart of the Montana country.

Jim Bridger was a famous frontiersman in the Rockies whose legacy extended beyond the wilderness he explored. The legends of his life inspired countless Western stories, this one included.

Here is a tale that concerns the incredible power of friendship. The movie Tennessee's Partner (1955), starring John Payne and Ronald Reagan, was based on this story.