All-American IX celebrates Carmen de Lavallade, the talented American dancer and choreographer; Bill Morrow, a little-known American painter, beatnik and bon vivant; Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh, the explorer/artist of the early Colorado River missions; and the actress Mae West with the hostess Elsa Maxwell, both pioneering women with irrepressible spirits. Portfolios of all-new Bruce Weber photographs pay tribute to Washington D.C. and the Reverend Joseph Lowery, who delivered the oft-discussed benediction at this year's presidential inauguration. There are also chapters dedicated to the landscape and cultural history of Big Sur and the Everglades of Florida. Poetry by Richard Jones and an excerpt from Willa Cather's My Antonia round out this ninth edition.