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John Ford--Poet in the Desert is an uncommon biography. Author Joe Malham offers rarely explored facets of this dark yet towering poetic genius in a fascinating analysis of the artist's personal life. The influences on Ford's work, from art, history and politics to the man's mystical faith, are skillfully woven together with insights into Ford's famous films. Ford, who won six Oscars, is known primarily for Westerns: The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Yet in movies like The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, The Quiet Man and They Were Expendable, Ford created timeless classics as he explored the role of myth, history, tradition and war in epic dramas of the individual, the family and community. This biography reveals how Ford's work ranged over the vast and textured richness of the human experience.
Joseph Malham
Joseph Malham is an iconographer and artist-in-residence at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of two books, including the award-winning John Ford: Poet in the Desert, and was the subject of an Emmy-winning religious interest story by WGN in Chicago in 2014. In 2015, Malham also was given the Archdiocese of Chicago Bishop Quarter Award, which honors lay Catholics for their service to the Archdiocese.
Malham attended St. Meinrad Seminary and Loyola University Chicago. He has contributed to Liguorian, Faith & Form: An Interfaith Journal on Art & Architecture, and the Chicago Tribune.
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