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1-878086-81-2
$26.95 hardcover
6" x 9"
304 pages black-and-white photographs
Down Home Press
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Strange and miraculous things
happen in Bob Timberlake's life and have from the time he was born.
One such event occurred in
1965, when he was 28, married, with three children and a job in the
family gas company in his hometown, Lexington, North Carolina. Thumbing
through Life magazine, he came upon an article and a series of
paintings by Andrew Wyeth that left him with a feeling unlike any he'd
ever known.
He suddenly knew that he was
supposed to be a painter, although he'd never had a lesson in art or set
foot in an art museum or gallery. Within a few years, he not only was
painting professionally with the encouragement of Wyeth himself, he was
well on the way to becoming one of the country's most successful and
acclaimed realist painters, his work displayed in prestigious museums
and fetching high prices.
Through a series of other
wondrous events, Timberlake's painting took him into other fields,
leading him to create the most successful line of furniture in history,
as well as thousands of other household products, apparel, even homes
and building materials, making Bob Timberlake one of the top 10 designer
names in the world.
In Partial to Home,
Timberlake proves himself to be as adroit a storyteller as he is an
artist, designer, and businessman. His tales include experiences with
such famous friends as Armand Hammer, Charles Kuralt, and Iron Eyes
Cody, plus Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, not to mention the
Prince of Wales, who summoned him to Buckingham Palace for advice.
But this is not so much a
book about the rich, powerful, and famous people Timberlake has known,
as it is about the extraordinary people back home who greatly influenced
his life. Lonnie Smalley, the mechanic who helped him build a car from
scratch; Fred Craver, the furniture maker who passed on his reverence
for wood; Aunt Sallie Parnell, who made hand-loomed rugs from the age of
four until 106; Dan Melton, who believed that blackberries could cure
anything, and many others.
Not only did Timberlake never
leave home to achieve his incredible success, he made home the basis of
it. Home, family, and love are the core of this intimate and
inspirational look into an artist's heart.
about the author
Like Bob Timberlake, Jerry Bledsoe grew up in Davidson County, North
Carolina. He has been a columnist for the Charlotte Observer and
the Greensboro News & Record, and was a contributing editor
to Esquire. He and Timberlake have been friends for over 25
years.
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