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EwaWiśniewska
Atuan,oneoftheEarthseacyclenovels;toherfathershededicateda
poetrycollection,WildAngels(Spivack1).FreedmanpraisesGAlfred
Kroeber’spioneeringroleinacademicanthropologycombinedwiththe
personalattitudesandvaluesthatbothparentsestablishedinthefamily
hometoprovidetheidealbackgroundforanauthorwhowouldgoonto
takeacomparative,holisticinterestinentirecultures,actualandinvented,
andwhowouldpursuesuchmattersinanunswervinglynon-essentialist
andnon-ethnocentricway”(Introductionxx-xxi).Havingsuchanexample
athome,Ursulawasraisedabraveandactivewoman.Theauthoradmits:
Bothmyparentswereveryhappyaboutmebecausetheyhadthreesons
andtheywantedagirl,andIarrivedasagirlandtheymademevery
welcomeandalwaystherewasnodifferenceintellectuallybetweenmeand
mybrothers.Iwasn’tsupposedtobestupidbecauseIwasagirlorgotoa
differentkindofcollegeoranythinglikethat.SoIhadanincreasingly
fortunatechildhood,assereneandhappyprobablyasachildhoodcanbe
(LeGuininEscudié159).
AbouthermotherLeGuinwrites:
Somepeopleleadseverallivesallatonce;mymotherlivedseverallives
oneatatime.Hernamesreflectthisserialcomplexity:TheodoraCovel
KracawBrownKroeberQuinn.Thelastfourarethenamesofmen:Kracaw
herfather’sname(andthesourceofherlifelongnicknameKrakie),Brown,
Kroeber,andQuinnherthreehusbands(DancingattheEdge138).
BrownsaysthatUrsulagotherGindependenceandstrongsenseof
feminism”fromhermother(UrsulaK.LeGuin6).ButsinceTheodora
Kroeberhadstartedtowriteverylateinherlife,herdaughter’sinspiration
tobecomeaprofessionalwritermusthavebeenherfather.
Itisclearthatowingtosuchprominentparents,bothintellectuals,
UrsulaK.LeGuinhadaccesstonumerousinterestingvolumes.Reid
claimsthatshewastaughthowtoreadandwritebyherbrother,Ted,when
shewasfiveyearsold(2).Therearenumerousfamilystoriesdescribing
howUrsulalikedreadingverymuchandtrieddifferentgenres–myths,
fairytales,andlegendstonamebutafew.GOnce,whenshewasabout
twelve,shepickedupabookinthefamily’slargelibrary,andwhile
readingit,shewasstruckbytherealizationthatpeoplewerestillmaking
upstoriesandmyths!Itwasadecisivemoment.Shehaddiscoveredher
nativecountryandherinnerlands”(Rass69).Itisalsosaidthatasachild
sheenjoyedstoriesbasedonNorsemythology,thattheyGwereespecially
