My Life in 100 Objects

Margaret Randall

• Publisher: New Village Press
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781613321164
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

Traces the remarkable life of a feminist poet through the items and images that have have defined her experiences

My Life in 100 Objects is a personal reflection on the events and moments that shaped the life and work of one extraordinary woman. With a masterful, poetic voice, Margaret Randall uses talismanic objects and photographs as launching points for her nonlinear narrative. Through each "object," Randall uncovers another part of herself, starting in a museum in Amman, Jordan, and ending in the Latin American Studies Association in Boston. Interwoven throughout are her most precious relationships, her growth as an artist, and her brave, revolutionary spirit.

As Randall's adventures often coincide with important moments in history, many of her objects provide a transcontinental glimpse into social upheavals and transitions. She shares memories from her years in Cuba (1969 to 1980) and Nicaragua (1980 to 1984), as well as briefer periods in North Vietnam (immediately preceding the end of the war in 1975), and Peru (during the government of Velasco Alvarado). In her introduction, Randall states, "objects and places have always been alive to me." Her history too is alive, as much of a means to consider our own present as it is to
glimpse her vibrant past.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction What This Book Is and Isn’t
• 1 Twins, Oldest Known Sculpture, Amman, Jordan
• 2 My Father’s Metronome
• 3 Portrait of Hannah Pollack
• 4 Old Royal Portable Typewriter, 1940s
• 5 Ammonite Fossil, Madagascar
• 6 Spiral Staircase, Bardo Museum, Tunis, Tunisia
• 7 Huipil, Nebaj, Guatemala
• 8 Small Clay Head from Teotihuacán, Mexico
• 9 Days of the Dead Figurine, Mexico
• 10 Rock Art Birth Scene, near Moab, Utah
• 11 First Self-Published Book of Poems, Giant of Tears
• 12 Saguaro Cactus, Tucson, Arizona
• 13 Madonna of the Trail, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• 14 Appalachian Wooden Apple
• 15 Ceramic Pot from Juan Mata Ortíz, Mexico
• 16 My Father’s Claret Cup Cactus
• 17 Ancestral Puebloan Black on White Mug (replica)
• 18 Burr Trail, Utah
• 19 Portrait of Margaret by Elaine de Kooning
• 20 Canyon X, Arizona
• 21 Tombs, Petra, Jordan
• 22 Wadi Rum, Jordan
• 23 The Lost Cathedral of Satevó, Copper Canyon, Chihuahua, Mexico
• 24 Ceramic Roof Bull, Peru
• 25 Peruvian Weaving Spindle
• 26 Woven Poncho, Cuzco, Peru
• 27 Saffron Strands
• 28 Fake Mexican Passport
• 29 Deportation Hearing Papers
• 30 Nicole Hollander Cartoon
• 31 Ancient Hand Tool, Uruguay
• 32 Hand-Wrought Adz by Aurelio Falero, Uruguay
• 33 Piece of Berlin Wall
• 34 Vietnamese Water Puppet
• 35 Red Lacquer Doors, Temple of Literature, Hanoi
• 36 Ho Chi Minh Medal
• 37 Banana Flower, Vietnam
• 38 The Joy of Cooking
• 39 My Clay Bread Molds
• 40 Lumi Videla Tapestry, Chile
• 41 Pueblo del Arroyo, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico
• 42 Turquoise Bead, Chaco
• 43 Stone Fountain by Joshua Gannon, Madrid, New Mexico
• 44 Cuban Flag and Santería Tool Necklace
• 45 Martín’s Dog Tag, Angola
• 46 Casa de las Américas, Havana, Cuba
• 47 Gregory’s Puppet, Cuba
• 48 Girl with Plastic Shoes, Havana
• 49 Grand Canyon, Arizona
• 50 Hermit’s Rest, Grand Canyon, Arizona
• 51 Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter Place Setting (replica)
• 52 Pentax K1000 Camera
• 53 Dougga, Tunisia
• 54 Poet of Two Hemispheres Prize, Quito, Ecuador
• 55 Oak Tree House, Mesa Verde, Colorado
• 56 Long House Granary, Mesa Verde, Colorado
• 57 LeConte Glacier Icebergs, Alaska
• 58 Caryatids, Acropolis, Athens, Greece
• 59 Blue-Footed Booby Mother and Chick, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
• 60 Giant Tortoise, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
• 61 Marine Iguanas, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
• 62 Hiking Shoes and Hat
• 63 La Luz Trail, Sandia Mountains, New Mexico
• 64 Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
• 65 Roman Ruin, Butrint, Albania
• 66 EZLN Virgin of Guadalupe, Chiapas, Mexico
• 67 Masks, León, Nicaragua
• 68 Sandinista Certificate, Nicaragua
• 69 Tiny Turquoise Bear Fetish
• 70 “American Girl in Italy” by Ruth Orkin, 1951
• 71 Barbara’s Art
• 72 Levi’s
• 73 Turquoise Earrings
• 74 Apple Laptop
• 75 El Corno Emplumado #26
• 76 Mudhead Kachina Doll, Hopi, Arizona
• 77 Book Bag from City Lights, San Francisco, California
• 78 Medal for Literary Merit, Chihuahua, Mexico
• 79 Time’s Language: Selected Poems (1959–2018)
• 80 Only the Road / Solo el camino: Eight Decades of Cuban Poetry
• 81 I Never Left Home: Poet, Feminist, Revolutionary
• 82 Margaret’s and Barbara’s Wedding Bands
• 83 Rano Raraku, Rapa Nui
• 84 Tongariki, Rapa Nui
• 85 Rongorongo Board, Rapa Nui (replica)
• 86 Cork Signing Pen
• 87 My Treadmill
• 88 Lioness, Hwange, Zimbabwe
• 89 Honorary Doctorate in Letters, University of New Mexico
• 90 San Rock Art, KwaZulu-Natal, Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa
• 91 Maasai Collar, Kenya
• 92 Broken Arch, Ramesseum, Egypt
• 93 Library of Celsus, Ephesus, Turkey
• 94 Uxmal, Mexico
• 95 Great Gallery, Utah
• 96 Kiet Seel, Arizona
• 97 Storyteller Doll, Ada Suina, Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico
• 98 Scissors and Ribbon, Beat & Beyond, New York City
• 99 When Justice Felt at Home / Cuando la justicia se sentía en casa, Vigía Books, Cuba
• 100 Haydée Santamaría Medal, Cuba