Gordon Parks did a little bit of everything; he was one of those talented people who found many outlets for his creativity. Some will remember him for his early efforts as a Life magazine photographer, some for his later movie work, including directing "Shaft" and even composing the music for the sequel. I remember him for the semi-autobiographical novel "The Learning Tree." It's one of those coming-of-age works that stays with you your whole life if it grabs you the first time you read it, which it did me. Here's the opening chapter, including the first sentence, which hooked me: "Newt Winger lay belly-flat at the edge of the cornfield, his brown chin close to the ground, his eyes glued to a hill of busy ants."
