This was an interesting documentary. I had never heard of this woman. My grandmother lived the life of "My Antonia". She was raised in a dugout near a lake in Iowa. She married and raised 9 children. One was my Father. I was raised next door to my grandmother in the 1950-60's. She then lived in a regular house and tho she had no running water her house was spotless. She had a garden, canned vegs and made bread. She was a quiet pleasant woman. Never complained.Just did her work as if it was just the way it is and you do what you had to do. I wish I had asked her more questions about growing up in that dugout. But I imagie she would have had a different outlook on it than I did. When I think I have it rough I think about my granny and my gr grandmother who rased my granny and her 7 siblings in that dugout. And wondeer what I'm complaining about..

I am struck by this careful, respectful look at the art and life of Willa Cather. Thank you.

Finally after 40+ years of sitting on my shelf, I am opening a Library of America volume Willa Cather Later Novels. Watching this beautiful documentary is very emotional 😢 truly a great American, an amazing mind, a truly free woman

I wrote my undergraduate senior thesis on Willa Cather. I read most of her books. I really love her work. She had a unique voice for women. My Antonia was the focus but I just loved all of her female characters.

What a brilliant and gifted lady . Ahead of her time. By the way , to whoever who made this documentary , you did an excellent job . Support PBS .

This was a brilliantly conceived and executed documentary. The selection of the people who commented or criticized was faultless, as was the editing of their thoughts with the passages from Cather’s books. I would go so far as to say that this is one of the finest and most revealing biographical docs I have ever seen. Even the musical interludes were sympathetic to the content. Never before have I felt so inclined to find without delay and read the works of any author. bravo to the entire team who constructed this flawless portrait.

What strikes me about this very introspective and highly gifted writer is her humbleness and true grit to follow her path for writing. I am touched by her love for women who grant her wish of destroying their letters so their love and true selves are strictly private. A fascinating woman indeed. I thoroughly enjoyed the bio pic of Willa. Marvellous! Thank you.

It's because of Willa Cather that I took up writing. I love (and still own) the ancient copy of My Antonia from which I studied Cather's writing, word for word. She was able to make you feel the heat of the train car rumbling across the prairie, and feel the cloud of dust as your hand hit the hot, fading red velvet covered car seats. The Shimerdas - the life of the immigrants, the Swedes - she made it all come to life. I was always sad to read the ending of when Antonia was a mother with missing teeth due to her harsh life, so would always go back and read when she was a bright and sunny girl again, with chestnut cheeks. I must have read that book once a year for at least 3 decades - just to keep my own writing fresh. She, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," and Robert Nathan's "Portrait of Jenny," are the go-to books to study for any aspiring writer. As Anton Chekhov - another must-read writer, wrote, "Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."

I wrote my Masters thesis (1987) on Willa Cather's southwest novels, Death Comes for the Archbishop, mainly and the two parts about the Southwest in The Professor's House and Song of the Lark. My thesis was that she treated landscape as a character in all of her novels, using all of these as examples. I read all of her novels and a great deal of the research on her. I had a fabulous Professor who taught a seminar class on her work, who was also a famous author, William Dickey, which sparked a love of her work; I had lived in both Nebraska and New Mexico (my favorite state) , as a military brat, as well as in Europe.

Thank you for the beautiful documentary, a piece of art in itself. I enjoyed every moment of it

I watched this from Ireland and applaud you for a most beautifully crafted documentary

This is one of the best programs of its kind that I have had the pleasure of viewing. Thank you, to all involved with creating this and getting it to us.

An amazing writer who led an equally amazing life. Thank you for a truly wonderful documentary!

“My Antonia” is available for free in PDF form. Just google the title and put pdf. Happy reading. 🥀

You can smell, feel, taste, the world she paints artfully, each sentence crafted keenly, with beautifully chosen words. Her personal life was superfluous to her work and she knew it, God love her, and saw to it, it remain so. Smart lady.

I must say I really enjoyed this biography of Willa Cather. I had never heard of her but now I'm going to go and pick up one of her books. Thank you for introducing her to us

A wonderful documentary. She was hugely brave multiple times to leave a pleasant "sure thing" and jump into the unknown again and again. And she succeeded in something many artists aspire to, she managed to erase her personal life and leave us only with her written work.

this showed up in my youtube recommendations! i am so happy! this was an incredible documentary! I look forward to watching more, especially women writer's.

Loved this documentary, what an amazing woman and writer!! Thank you.

I read “My Antonia” in college, and I love that book ever since.

Reading her books took me back to a time and place that lived again through her writing...so moving.

...a beautiful documentary. I read My Antonia years ago when I was in my 20's. I'm 74 now and would like to revisit it.

This was a superb documentary in all its aspect from the writing, the narration, the photography, even the accompanying music

I've been a fan of Cathers' work for almost 30 years. This film has made me fall in love all over again. Thanks for this gift for lovers of enduring literature.

Beautiful documentary. Truly moving picture of her life.

A truly great writer. Those two central novels "The Professor's House" and "Death Comes For the Archbishop" are as good as anything in American fiction. They deal masterfully with universal themes, so that they speak even to me, a reader sitting in south west London. There can be no greater accolade, and hopefully, with many of her titles now appearing in Penguin Modern Classics, she will regain the wide readership she deserves.

Of course, I've known about her "forever," but just realized I have never actually read her books. This fine documentary has spurred me to do just that.

Brilliant, elucidating, moving, documentary. I felt her so deeply and found it changed me. Thank you.

A thoroughly enjoyable documentary. I really enjoyed learning about Willa Cather. A true artist!

I love her work and, as much, her fierce privacy and share her feelings. Many Americans, today, feel they are entitled to know public figures intimately and I don't blame their fury upon intrusion. She was truly gifted and under appreciated in today's pseudo intellectual literary landscape.

How am I 59 years old and never heard of this author and her books? And I was a reader all my life. Going to have to catch up...

So beautifully written and illustrated. Thank you for posting this!

My spirit connected to the first book I read by Miss Cather. Our journeys all start with that first step,we explore,we experience,we gain knowledge and understanding. Whether we ever gain success...we were here and then we move to our next life enriched. Willa conveyed that very well. Thank you.

PBS, of course! Awoke at 3am, ciuldnt slerp, found this delight and now a new fan! What a fantastic bio. Looking forward to reading her works. Loved the excerpts.

I happened upon "O Pioneers" in a library years ago. I remember it being one of those stories in which I lost myself. I was inspired with the hope the main character was able to find in love and in the prairie, but I absolutely bawled at the senseless deaths of the people she loved. The depth of thought and feeling Cather brought out in me is hard to describe. I'd need Cather's talent to do that!

Thank you for this! Willa Cather is my favorite American novelist!

"Hell, even I thought I was dead once...'til I found out that I was just in Nebraska." ( Little Bill Dagget, _Unforgiven_ ).

The best story of an American writer I have ever read. Bravo

My high school literature teacher introduced her work to me in the 70’s. I grew up on the prairie of ND. Never knew much about her life until now. Fascinating. Thank you for this gem.

Very thorough biography; I am truly impressed

I loved this. Rest in peace Ms.Cather, you are not forgotten.

What a beautiful presentation -the music, the presenters, and of course the subject. I knew nothing of the lady. Thank you.

When I visit Mabel Dodge Lujan House in Taos, I always stay in Willa Cather's room to soak up the vibes.

Extraordinary - thank you. “My Antonia” has been one of my favorite books for decades, read and reread it many times, but never knew anything at all about the author, now I know more….

This was a documentary that I never knew I needed. I am so glad I clicked to check it out though. Wonderful!

Really a fine example of public television and public radio. I think this is a great documentary .

Thank you so much for uploading this documentary on Willa Cather. Her stories 'The Song of the Lark' and 'My Antonia' have lingered with me for decades.

What a splendid documentary. Thank you for introducing me to this fascinating person.

Thoroughly enjoyed this, thanks for posting. Had never heard of her before and eager to start reading her work. Thanks from Ireland x

I read Death comes to the Archbishop 45 years ago and it remains strongly fixed in my memory. A truly great novel.

Thank you for this wonderful documentary. Such personalities outlive their natural lifespan, and I am reminded of the artist Georgia O’Keefe, who also thrived in New Mexico, who also found inspiration in the untamed environment. I shall certainly endeavour to find her books.

I haven't known any daughters who wanted to live a life like their mothers. This includes my friends, my grandmother, mother, my aunts, myself and my granddaughters That isn't some rare profound discovery of who a woman wants to be. She wants to be herself, off course.

Only 10 minutes in and being reminded of Will and Abby Deal that also moved to Nebraska after the Civil War. They are written about by Bess Streeter Aldrich in her book called, "A Lantern in Her Hand (1928)". I always wondered if Will and Abby Deal were her grandparents but have never really researched. Bess was born in Iowa in 1881 and died in Lincoln, Ne. in 1954. Her pen name was Margaret Dean Stephens but I never knew that until grabbing facts for this post. In any case I read that book at least 5 or 6 times as a pre-teen and teen. And a few others written by Bess. Just learning about Willa Cather and thinking that I'll be looking for some of her books. GREAT documentary thus far. Back to Willa Cather!

I'm far from a Cather scholar, but I've read a good bit of her stuff. The two, it seems to me, that most people talk about are Death Comes For The Archbishop and, of course, My Antonia. Both great books, but I would highly recommend The Song Of The Lark. That's the one that really got me. Anyone who is pursuing a life in the arts, or any life that is not the normal laid-out path - you would love that book. Her shorts, also, are great. "Neighbor Rossicky" had as much of an influence on my own writing as anything has. Style-wise, pacing-wise, I pretty much just imitated it for years. "The Enchanted Bluff," "The Sculptor's Funeral," "Coming, Aphrodite!" Etc, etc. Her shorts are really something.

Thank you for this, I have appreciated hearing about this amazing writer who lived through challenging times.

IMO....Willa Cathers' concrete imagery is amazing. And I love her view of things she thought was fascinating. I feel like she is a part of my own spirit.

Wow! I read My Antonia many yrs ago and have never forgotten it. This is wonderful. I am motivated to read others! Thank you!

What a treasure. Thank you for creating the videos!

My Antonia was the first Willa Cather book that I read in 6th grade. I'm from Nebraska and now live in Virginia. I completely understand how she became passionate about those open spaces. I long for them even now as I get older. I became passionate about the ocean. I will stay here in Virginia because I love it, but I will long for Nebraska till the day I die. I love her books. They take me back to those open expanses.

Love this. Thank you for the upload. New Mexico is a very Spiritual place

What an extraordinarily done documentary! What a remarkable life story and work of an amazing writer and woman. I loved listening to the female voice reading Willa Cather's writings... such a hypnotic voice... Thank you so much for this gem!

Great documentary--thanks for sharing this. I love that Cather closed the blinds on her private life, even though I wish like crazy that her letters had survived. My introduction to Cather was 'The Bohemian Girl', which is still one of my favourites.

I'll never understand why Willa Cather has fallen out of fashion. I've read almost everything she ever wrote, including the young adult novel of the French Canadians. IMHO she and Mark Twain are the two greatest American novelists. Her masterpieces are the stories and novels of the westward settling of the the Great Plains. They chronicle an American past that never really was, but that we all believe is true. These works are quintessentially American folklore but must be read with a critical eye. The truth is there, but not readily apparent in the same way the Little House sagas of the same period seem so idyllic but are full of hardship and misery romanticized out of existence.

Beautifully scripted, narrated, and orchestrated documentary on an exceptionally gifted writer.

My mother had me read My Antonia when I was in grade school. Thank you, Mom. Great call. I am 64 and I still remember being enthralled.

I wish people would stop so hoping for people to be homosexual to the point they would be disappointed if they aren't when they don't know enough about their sex lives. No wonder she wanted her things burnt, she knew her privacy would be destroyed. Some of us don't need to be all up in everyone's private life, to know what another woman or man chooses to do in their private bed. It's becoming where we are at risk of being defined by our sexuality. We are so much more than this. We are spiritual beings.

Thank you for this! One of my favourite Writers, Willa Ella Cather! 🙏🍀💕

Like many people, I had not heard of this woman; another great PBS job, dramatic but without hysteria, a well held line.

I once did a spoken word where I was being filmed and I asked them to stop filming. I wanted people to remember me as I was and my words, my work. I totally understand what she meant. I got chills as the orator began reading a few lines of her words. Ty.

How wonderful these documentaries are! Thank you.

In the right hands, Cather's masterful "The Song of the Lark" could lend itself to becoming a brilliant epic film. To be successful, the crew and cast involved in its filmic adaptation would need to possess uncommon intelligence and sensitivity. An accomplished director of photography could transform the novel's many highly cinematic passages into spellbinding imagery that would compensate for the narrative challenges involved in depicting 30 years of Thea Kronborg's life as she grows from a small girl living on the edge of the Colorado desert into an internationally renowned opera singer performing Wagner in turn-of-the-century Manhattan.

What a wonderful documentary about the author, Willa Cather. I have all her novels.

Amazing documentary thank you! I'm so inspired and will be buying her novels

Very much enjoyed this documentary. Thank you.

I absolutely love her writing. Willa Cather surpasses others.

Wow!! I have just witnessed a great writer I knew nothing about. Thank you!

Wonderful brilliant Thank you so much for your dedication to this subject documentary!

I grew up in south-central Nebraska. My father had a trailer on a lake where the nearest 'town' is Red Cloud. My brother-in-law's brother is married to a Cather - directly related to Willa. I love the plains of Nebraska - though I don't live there now. My mother grew up in the Sandhills and was an avid reader - handed down to all of us.

Beautifully done documentary. Ive always been an avid reader yet somehow lve missed reading any of Willa’s work! I’ll now purpose to find some of her books and enjoy them. There was such beauty in the parts of her writing which were shared in this documentary! So much of what was said of Willa’s reticence to her changing world rings true to me and my own writings of over 50 yrs will probably forever remain in storage as l haven’t the courage Willa possessed! Bravo for Willa!

I was on the mesa in the 1960's with my "Swinger" Camera . I can tell you I got a great picture of my fingertip and a half-a-snap of the cliff-dwelling. Good times were had by all!

Beautifully done documentary. Absolutely worth watching.

These are very fine bio videos. Yesterday I watched Maughm, which is just as good as this one. I love a good biography and wrirers/novelists hold special interest. Id love to have known Cather. Thanks for making these excellent programs available.

Can't believe it - but I watched this on April 24, 2022 - 75 years to the day of the anniversary of her death, 75 years to the day of my parents' wedding anniversary, 111 years ago to the day of my father's birthday, a Greek immigrant who came in 1932 and lived in Brooklyn amongst the Jewish, Italian, Polish and Greek immigrant community who made up the new America. Small world.

I too had never heard of her but she brought me to this awesome channel. I'd forgotten the high quality of PBS docs and the storytelling of this amazing writer has given my wings a lift. Thank you for your amazing uploads

This documentary was beautifully realized. I'm sure Willa Cather would appreciate it.

I first read Willa Cather about 50 years ago. She continues to speak to me, though in different avenues...

Magnificent documentary. Just exquisite. The story of a beautiful lady and of her life and her gift. Presented in such a perfect way.

*Thank you for this wonderful documentary! I learned to love Willa Cather's writing in my 20's, and "My Ántonia" was the first book of "serious literature" that I tried to teach when I started working as a college lecturer in Japan. This first course was not an overwhelming success, but I hope to be able to repeat it at least once more--now that I've learned "a thing or two" about conducting literature courses for students whose language and culture is so remote from that of the USA--especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries.*

Oh I read a few of her books and yes the energy you feel is so intense, and she flows like no other author I have read! I fell in love, and read Death for the Arch bishop and Oh Pioneer and My Antonia, I think of my Grandma coming to America through Ellis Island, going to North Dakota, in the 1800's. Just amazing How much you feel a part of it, want it crave it, Thank you for the wonderful documentary. She grew up here in Winchester not to far from where I live. I can't imagine how it was back then, Virginia's rolling hills, and valleys..

Under-appreciated now, but back in the day a big deal. Every high school read Cather 50 years ago, but I wonder if that is still the case. I suspect not. Most would now consider her a lesser light than say Steinbeck, Hemmingway, or Fitzgerald, but I don’t agree. Some of her writing is so achingly beautiful, so simple yet elegant, that you cannot imaging another way of describing her scenes. Yes, the combat scenes in “One of Ours” are contrived and don’t quite ring true, but the portions of that book stateside are perfect. If you also look at “A Professor’s House” or “A Lost Lady”, or some of her short fiction, I defy you to find more moving material, or anything so full of wisdom. The books on the other side of "Professor" are more historical novels than contemporary, but they are still infused with the same deceptive depth and beauty. Is “Shadows on the Rock” the equal of “The Grapes of Wrath”? Take your pick (most don't choose her) but read both. I’m glad both existed. I love Cather and have most of her work, and when I want to read something beautiful I reach for her, but I see where the culture is going. It’s sad, as is life.

Willa Cather's MY ANTONIA is one of the best books I ever read.

Excellent, in-depth documentary of a writer that, as mentioned, fell by the wayside after the wars. Upon seeing the Southwest for the first time, like Cather, I felt the enormity of space that is isolating yet comfortably accepting of the misfit or creative. That edition of "Death Comes for the Archbishop" shown in the doc is the same one I have here in New Mexico. Cather, so strong, independent, and creative, should be more widely known than she is now as it is obvious she was a trailblazer in journalism and creative writing.

I am perhaps one of the few Brits who knows the works of Willa Cather. Inevitably perhaps the first I read was Death Comes for the Archbishop. I think America produced some marvelous writers in the early part of the 20th century. Willa Cather I certainly rank in the top drawer, along with Theodore Dreiser (how relevant is The Trilogy of Desire today), Carson McCullers and so on.

I have watched this twice now. Thank-you for a high quality biography of such an interesting person!

For whatever reasons,..people cannot just enjoy something for the wonderful story. There’s always the JUDGEMENT. Who cares what she did or did not do in her personal life? She was about living her life to give others stories to enjoy….. Wonderful documentary! I think I will read My Antonia tonight…..Thank You Willa Cather……❤

Having moved from a suburb of Dayton, Ohio (6 Target stores with in 20 minutes) to Hastings, Ne (one Target 60 minutes away) my wife absolutely identifies with the feelings of Cather moving to Nebraska.

Thank you for this documentary, I often wondered about her life, I have read most of her works and every time am drawn into the time, place and story.

i went to college in York, Nebraska (in 1994-1995); very close to where she lived. i also visited the home there in Red Cloud that she lived in. i loved Nebraska when i lived there. Willa developed into a beautiful young woman in Nebraska. i only feel of Nebraska as magickal and peaceful and fascinating. i then lived in Texas, and then in DC. in 2018, i moved to (Garfield) Pittsburgh PA. Willa lived (in Squirrel Hill) at 1180 Murray Hill Ave. Willa wasn't bisexual ... i believe ... bisexuality was more difficult to her. her letters do not disclose any intimate details about personal life, but they do "make clear that [her] primary emotional attachments were to women." i adore Willa; such a gorgeous rock and a blessing to anyone who knew her.

My tribute to my father in law, on the centennial of his birth. He grew up on the Oklahoma prairie, and died 11 years before I met his daughter. I was taught Cather's place in American lit during my sophomore year in high school. 40 years ago, I gave my mother a copy of "Death Comes to the Archbishop," a book she came to respect. "100 years ago today, a boy was born on a small desolate farm in Jackson County, Oklahoma. He was named Gordon. His father had acquired the land in 1904 under the Homestead Act. The land was unsuited to cropping, and mesquite was the only thing that grew easily on it. I've been told that the only "cash crop" on that farm was the few hundred Thanksgiving turkeys the family raised every year. He grew at least some of the corn the turkeys ate. The family also grew its own vegetables, and raised some chickens. I suspect that the family drank milk from a cow who ate whatever grass she could find. "Gordon was the fifth of six siblings, and the fourth of five boys. I am told that he was raised in fair part by his only sister, Inez, who did not spare the rod. I am confident that he wore mostly hand-me-downs. In order to attend high school, he had to bicycle at least 20 miles a day, on unpaved roads. At least the terrain was perfectly flat - a small favour for which Gordon was surely grateful. He did not live in a residence with electric power and plumbing until his freshman year in college. "Like so many men of his generation, Gordon served in WW2, in his case the Signal Corps. Early this century, some of his wartime letters to his folks were found. Those letters revealed that his unit helped liberate the part of France where my mother hailed from and where I was born. He married and had two daughters, one of whom I married. He died more than a decade before I met any of his descent. I never met his widow either; she too died years before I came on the scene. She was the daughter of a Nebraska homesteader, and the second woman to graduate from Oklahoma State in electrical engineering. Thanks to the GI Bill, Gordon too graduated from Oklahoma State in electrical engineering. "Gordon’s father died in 1944; his mother followed suit in 1960. In the summer of 2000, Ruth and I visited the homestead, which is 10 miles east of Eldorado OK. Gordon’s younger brother Doyle was our guide. All that remained of the homestead was an utter ruin, stripped of all paint by the stiff wind and harsh sun, and surrounded by mesquite that ran pretty near to the horizon. Electric wiring was installed in 1947 (traces of that wiring could be seen in 2000), but the house was abandoned a year later and has never been occupied since. Doyle also showed us Eldorado, with its stark rural poverty and decay. Google street confirms that nothing has improved since 2000. Thus many store fronts on Eldorado’s Main Street have been vacant for decades. Eldorado’s population is now about 400, one third of what it was during Gordon’s boyhood. "Dear reader, if you have come this far with me, you can appreciate why some of Larry McMurtry’s (1936-2021) writings mean a lot to me. McMurtry grew up near Archer City, Texas, which is about a 2-3 hour drive from Eldorado. Archer City is larger and somewhat less poor than Eldorado, mainly because one can commute to jobs in nearby Wichita Falls. His father was a two-bit cattle rancher who owned too little land, and whose life was an endless struggle with stubborn livestock and a Mother Nature indifferent to human comfort. For some pioneer families, the American dream never materialised until after WW2, when it finally became the case that anybody with a decent mind could obtain a college degree."

As Always PBS, has the Best programming & this Documentery was very well done🤗👍👏, Now I need to vsit my local Library & ck out what books they may have on Willa Cather, thank you👏😊