Mary Burgess

Both Sides of the Canvas Mary Burgess

As the young daughter of the last American vice governor general of The Philippines, Mary Burgess attended feasts with once-notorious headhunters, and also formal dances in Manila's ancient Malaca¿ang Palace. Back home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she matured in the bosom of an old University of Michigan family. During World War II, Mary joined the American Red Cross as a staff assistant. For more than two years she entertained and comforted GIs in England and on the Continent. After the war, she nurtured a young family, and a ranch, in Wyoming-an endeavor and a place almost as foreign to her as London under wartime blackout. She carved out time from motherhood and ranching to take up painting, eventually becoming a well-known artist. She was tested ultimately by her husband''s fight against Alzheimer''s disease, and then by his death. Her journey has continued through grief and recaptured joy. The habit of daily letter-writing has given Mary Burgess an enchanting literary ease. But her greatest asset in Both Sides of the Canvas is her appreciation of the humorous, the painful, and the passionate details of life.