Crosby, Anne 1929-

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Crosby, Anne 1929-

PERSONAL:

Born 1929, in England; married Theo Crosby; children: Dido (daughter), Matthew (deceased). Education: Studied at an art school.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Washington, DC, and London, England.

CAREER:

Painter.

WRITINGS:

Matthew (memoir), Paul Dry Books (Philadelphia, PA), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Anne Crosby is a British-born painter who lived in Italy and France in her early twenties. Although Crosby's formal education was interrupted by war, her dyslexia, and her father's own experimental take upon education, she studied at an art school and showed great promise. Upon marrying her husband, Theo Crosby, she had two children: a daughter, Dido, and a son, Matthew. Her son was born with Down Syndrome and died at the age of twenty four.

It is the life of her son and the people that surrounded him that prompted Crosby to write her memoir, simply titled Matthew. The book covers Matthew's entire life, especially Matthew's interactions with others. These range from his cinema outings to jobs and even his first love. Crosby suffered during this time as her marriage fell apart and her own mother revealed that she had given away a child of her own who was born with Down Syndrome. Deborah Donovan, writing in Booklist, called the memoir "remarkably honest and perceptive." In a Philadelphia Inquirer article, Allan Lundy found the memoir to be "dramatic, amusing, thoughtful and inspiring," adding that "despite the troubles of its doomed protagonist, it's fun to read." A contributor to Publishers Weekly noted that Crosby "creates a beautiful portrait of Matthew throughout his years, sparing no painful detail."