Freep writer: Marina v.N. Whitman's new memoir "feels like viewing several extraordinary movies in one sitting" | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
 
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Freep writer: Marina v.N. Whitman's new memoir "feels like viewing several extraordinary movies in one sitting"

August 19, 2012

Marina von Neumann Whitman's memoir, The Martian's Daughter, "feels like viewing several extraordinary movies in one sitting," writes Detroit Free Press business writer Tom Walsh.

The only child of famed mathematician John von Neumann, Whitman became the first woman on the Council of Economic Advisers under President Nixon and then a leading executive at General Motors. Whitman's frequent encounters with well-known characters and moments in American history prompted Walsh to compare her memoir to films such as A Beautiful Mind, The Wizard of Oz, and Forrest Gump.

"And yes, I realize that 'Oz' and 'Gump' were works of fiction, but it's easy to see her as Dorothy or Forrest, swept up in extraordinary events and whisked through great historical moments populated with characters ranging from Albert Einstein to A-bomb physicists Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller, Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, President Nixon and his henchman H.R. Haldeman," writes Walsh.

The Martian's Daughter, which will be published by University of Michigan Press, will be available in September. "Like" Whitman's page on Facebook to learn more about The Martian's Daughter.