Tales of Taliesin

These autobiographical reminiscences, spannig almost seventy years, give flesh and bones to Cornelia Brierly's long membership in the Taliesin Fellowship and its two famous homesites: Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1932 by Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife, Olgivanna, the Fellowship was a unique educational experiment designed to enrich and challenge young architects with the ideas and principles of organic architecture. Apprentices to Mr. Wright learned by "doing"- everything from practical chores to technical and artistic training. As one of the first apprentices in the Fellowship, Brierly tells her story from the invaluable perspective of one who was there almost at the beginning. Before long, she was a working colleague of the Master Architect and, in the last thirty years of his career, made important design contributions to many of his building projects. She also undertook commissions of her own, became a wife and mother, and, since Wright's death in 1959, has been a leader at the two Taliesins to preserve the Wright legacy for future generations. Even today she serves on the board of The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which oversees the School of Architecture and the design firm that Wright left behind. Brierly's story is important on the long and ever-growing shelf of literature about the twentieth century's foremost architect, not only because of her closeness to Wright and his Fellowship "family," but also because she has observed at first hand the unfolding drama and excitement of organic architecture in our century. Moreover, her affectionate, honest, and perceptive book is a tribute to the Fellowship way of life and to its creative community.