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By Richard
J. Franke
Biography
& Autobiography, Social Science, Ethnic Cultures, Illinois
University
of Chicago Press
Hardcover,
521 pages
July
15, 2005
$30.00
0226260305
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Rich Franke has built a sterling reputation
as a man of finance, a friend of higher education, and a
champion of the humanities. Now he reveals another dimension:
he is also a first-rate historian. In this marvelous book,
he weaves together the story of his own grandparents coming
to America from Germany with almost no money and succeeding
beyond their imaginations. But we learn too of how family
differences on one continent can reappear on another, mystifying
their descendants. This story will appeal far beyond the
Franke family and enlighten generations to come.
— David Gergen, television commentator, editor-at-large
of U.S. News and World Report, Harvard government professor,
advisor to four presidents
Cut from Whole Cloth is a triumph
of research and imagination that weaves a richly textured
mosaic. Written for the family, it poses questions that
go to the core of our humanity. It faces the mysteries and
complexities of life, family unions and divisions, triumphs
and setbacks, honestly, fairly, compassionately. Richard
Franke tells a gripping story deeply rooted in historical
context, enriched by his own broad learning. He stands tall.
This is family history at its best.
—Jonathan Fanton, president of The John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, founding chairman of
Human Rights Watch
Richard J. Franke is past
chairman and CEO of John Nuveen & Co., where he was known
for incorporating humanities and the arts into the life of
the firm. Educated at Springfield High School (Class of 1949),
Yale (BA, 1953, Phi Beta Kappa) and the Harvard Business School
(MBA, 1957), Franke became a spokesman for the humanities
on a national scale. In addition to serving on numerous cultural
boards, he founded the Chicago Humanities Festival. He was
awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Clinton
and elected into the American Academy for the Arts and Sciences.
He has served as a Senior Fellow of the Yale Corporation,
and he currently serves on the University of Chicago Board
of Trustees. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Barbara.
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