A Singular Woman (46 page)

First and foremost, there is Ann Dunham's family. I could not have begun to understand her childhood and the lives of her parents without the cooperation and openness of Charles Payne, Arlene Payne, Jon Payne, and Ralph Dunham. I do not underestimate the magnitude of what I asked of Maya Soetoro-Ng, whose memories and insights were a gift, bestowed with a graceful balance of candor, loyalty, and discretion. I am indebted, too, to her brother for having made the time to talk with me in the White House and for the frankness and feeling with which he did it.

In Hawaii, Alice Dewey, an inspiration to generations of anthropologists, shared with me her infectious passion for Java, her wide-ranging wisdom, and countless letters and papers. Garrett and Bron Solyom gave me access to Ann's field notebooks and other papers, meticulously archived by Bron. They fed me, gave me a place to work, and explained mysteries of Java that they surely doubted I would ever comprehend. Marguerite Robinson, in Brookline, Massachusetts, gave me a brilliant tutorial in the development of microfinance in Indonesia, as well as invaluable introductions to her former colleagues at Bank Rakyat Indonesia.

In Jakarta, I am especially thankful to Agus Rachmadi of Bank Rakyat Indonesia for serving as my guide to the bank, and to Kamardy Arief, the former chief executive officer. Made Suarjana took time away from his job to travel from East Kalimantan to Yogyakarta and spend several days with me there and in Kajar and other villages where Ann worked. Julia Suryakusuma shared with me her wonderfully illuminating correspondence with Ann. John McGlynn, the American writer and translator of Indonesian literature, took me on an unforgettable walk through one of the last neighborhoods that resemble Jakarta as Ann found it in 1967. Taluki Sasmitarsi accompanied me to villages and markets, and took me all over Yogyakarta on the backseat of her motorbike.

Kris Hartadi, pressed into service at the last minute after another translator was quarantined in Singapore during the H1N1 pandemic, did two consecutive days of simultaneous interpreting in Yogyakarta. Tita Suhartono and Yan Matius in Jakarta helped with research and gave me invaluable practical advice. In the United States, Alan M. Stevens, one of the two coauthors of
A Comprehensive Indonesian-English Dictionary,
generously translated documents, proofread my manuscript, and enlightened me about such things as Indonesian orthography and honorifics.

At the Ford Foundation in New York, Tony Maloney and Marcy Goldstein made it possible for me to read dozens of grant files in the foundation's archives. In Kansas, Kim Baker combed the public record for clues to the lives of Ann Dunham's forebears. Michael J. Rosenfeld, author of
The Age of Independence: Interracial Unions, Same-Sex Unions, and the Changing American Family
(Harvard University Press, 2007), supplied me with statistics on interracial marriage. In New York, Steven Rattazzi kept my computer running and made my manuscript look flawless. Catherine Talese secured permission to use certain photographs. Jill Bokor and Sandy Smith made available a serene and sunlit aerie in which to write.

At
The New York Times,
Bill Keller, Jill Abramson, and Dick Stevenson gave me the opportunity to write at length about Barack Obama, starting in the spring of 2007, not long after he declared his candidacy, and continuing for a year. Rebecca Corbett, who edited those articles, did not flinch when I proposed a detour to consider the candidate's mom. On the basis of that article, Sarah McGrath at Riverhead Books proposed a book on Ann, and Riverhead gave me the time and the means to research her life in depth. Sarah proved to be as incisive and supportive an editor as one could possibly hope. I am grateful to Geoff Kloske at Riverhead, and to Sarah Stein. Scott Moyers of the Wylie Agency inspired utter confidence that nothing could go awry. Arthur Gelb, the former managing editor of
The New York Times,
encouraged the project from its very beginning.

Mia and Owen Ritter, who have taught me much of what little I understand about being a mother, tolerated my absences, took an interest in my work, and provided joy and comic relief. As for Joe Lelyveld, to whom I am indebted in too many ways to count, I will say here simply that he gave me unfailingly wise advice, perfectly grilled sardines, great happiness, and best of all, himself.

Works cited in brief in the Notes are cited in full in the Bibliography.

For the history of Kansas, I am indebted to Craig Miner, a professor of history at Wichita State University, and to his book,
Kansas: The History of the Sunflower State, 1854–2000.
For the history of Butler County, I received invaluable help from Lisa Cooley, the curator of education at the Butler County History Center and Kansas Oil Museum in El Dorado, and from Jay M. Price, an associate professor of history at Wichita State University and the author of
El Dorado: Legacy of an Oil Boom.
I benefited by reading
Augusta, Kansas 1868–1990
, by Burl Allison Jr., in the Augusta public library, and an unpublished paper, “The Klan in Butler County,” by Roxie Olmstead, on file in the Butler County History Center library. Kim Baker, a researcher based in Topeka, combed newspaper archives and public records for the history of the Dunham and Payne families. Most of what I have written about the early lives of Stanley Dunham and Madelyn Payne came from long interviews with his brother, Ralph Dunham, and her siblings, Charles, Arlene, and Jon Payne. A cousin of the Paynes, Margaret McCurry Wolf, also helped me with family history. Clarence Kerns, Mack Gilkeson, and Virginia Ewalt, contemporaries of Stanley Dunham and Madelyn Payne, helped me understand the place and time in which they grew up. Ian Dunham, the grandson of Ralph Dunham, gave me valuable guidance.

This chapter is based largely on interviews and correspondence with Marilyn McMeekin Bauer, Susan Botkin Blake, Maxine Hanson Box, Bill Byers, John Hunt, Elaine Bowe Johnson, Stephen McCord, Jane Waddell Morris, Marilyn O'Neill, Raleigh Roark, Iona Stenhouse, Jim Sullivan, Kathy Powell Sullivan, Chip Wall, Jim Wichterman, and Linda Hall Wylie. I also interviewed Thomas Farner and Judy Farner Ware, whose late sister, Jackie Farner, was a friend of Stanley Ann's. On the subject of Madelyn and Stanley Dunham during this period, I am again indebted to their siblings Charles Payne, Arlene Payne, Jon Payne, and Ralph Dunham. The Reverend Dr. Peter J. Luton, senior minister at East Shore Unitarian Church, helped me with the history of the church, as did Judy Ware. The account of the case against John Stenhouse is based on information from his daughter, Iona, and on contemporaneous reporting in
The Seattle Times
.

For statistics on Hawaii in 1960, I relied on the
State of Hawaii Data Book,
published in 1967 by the Department of Planning and Economic Development. On the University of Hawai‘i and the East-West Center, I read several years' worth of issues of the student newspaper,
Ka Leo O Hawai‘i,
and back issues of
Impulse,
a magazine published later by East-West Center grant recipients. At the East-West Center, I received help from Karen Knudsen, director of the Office of External Affairs; Derek Ferrar, a media relations specialist; and Phyllis Tabusa, a research information specialist. Jeannette “Benji” Bennington, now retired from the center, provided invaluable insight and stories. Mia Noguchi, director of public relations for the university, and Stuart Lau, the registrar, helped me with statistics and facts. I benefited from interviews with former students, including Bill Collier, Gerald Krausse, Sylvia Krausse, Jeanette Takamura, Mark Wimbush and Pake Zane. On the subject of the Dunham family, I drew on interviews with Charles, Arlene, and Jon Payne; Ralph Dunham, and Maya Soetoro-Ng. I also used information from interviews with Marilyn Bauer, Maxine Box, Bill Byers, Takeshi Harada, Renske Heringa, Richard Hook, John Hunt, Kay Ikranagara, Kadi Warner, and Linda Hall Wylie. On the subject of Lolo Soetoro, I spoke with Benji Bennington, Bill Collier, Gerald and Sylvia Krausse, Kismardhani S-Roni, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Trisulo, Sonny Trisulo, and Pete Vayda. For the account of the events of September 30, 1965, and afterward in Indonesia, I am indebted to Adam Schwarz's
A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia's Search for Stability
and Adrian Vickers's
A History of Modern Indonesia.