"The story of how one woman's long love affair with New York's Central Park led her to a job in which she was able to organize the rescue of the park from its serious decline in the 1970s, returning it to the beautiful place of recreational opportunity and spiritual sustenance it is today. Elizabeth Barlow Rogers opens with a quick survey of her early life--a middle-class upbringing in Texas; college at Wellesley, marriage, a degree in City Planning at Yale. And then her move to New York where she has children and, when she finds being a mother and a housewife is not enough, pours herself into the protection and enhancement of the city's green spaces. Interwoven into her own story is a comprehensive history of Central Park: its design and construction as a scenic masterpiece; the alterations of each succeeding era; the addition of numerous facilities for sports and play; and finally the "anything goes phase" of the 1960s and '70s, which was often fun but almost destroyed the park. The two narratives continue to entwine as she finds a job in the administration of Central Park, founds the Central Park Conservancy, and transforms both the park and herself--a transformation that has led to her many books, to travels that have taken her to parks and gardens around the world, and has solidified the prestige of New York's most conspicuous landmark."--Provided by publisher.