Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines

Summary of Book

The bold story of Maya Lin, the visionary artist-architect who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

You may be familiar with the iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial. But do you know about the artist-architect who created this landmark?

As a child, Maya Lin loved to study the spaces around her. She explored the forest in her backyard, observing woodland creatures, and used her house as a model to build tiny towns out of paper and scraps. The daughter of a clay artist and a poet, Maya grew up with art and learned to think with her hands as well as her mind. From her first experiments with light and lines to the height of her success nationwide, this is the story of an inspiring American artist: the visionary artist-architect who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Author Biography

Jeanne Walker Harvey studied literature and psychology at Stanford University and has had many jobs, ranging from being a roller coaster ride operator to an attorney and, most recently a middle school teacher of Language Arts and writing workshops. She is the author of several books for young readers, including My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden's Childhood Journey. She lives in California.

Illustrator Biography

Dow Phumiruk* is a clinically retired pediatrician who has found her passion in creating children's books. Though creative throughout childhood, she put this artistic part of her aside as she pursued a career in medicine. Years later, when she chose to take time off to be a stay-at-home mother (2003), she rediscovered her love of all things creative, finding much joy especially in children's book illustration. She experimented with different mediums and styles on her own for a while. Finally realizing she couldn't do it all alone, she took the plunge into SCBWI in 2011 - and hasn't looked back! She is currently a co-Regional Advisor for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of SCBWI.

Now she primarily works digitally (mostly because she really, really, really needs to erase sometimes) and is represented by East West Literary Agency. Her favorite subjects are children (especially girls) and animals. She has written and/or illustrated several books. Clients include HarperCollins, Henry Holt/Macmillan, Hachette Book Group, Abrams, Viking, Candlewick, Sleeping Bear Press, Penguin/Random House, and Levine Querido (how cool to work with founder Arthur Levine, who brought Harry Potter to America!). See my section of books for details.

She lives in Colorado with her husband of three decades, three artistic daughters, a dog, and a few small pets. Dow also enjoys fast and furious sewing projects and limited (she's not that athletic) hiking.