Joan Baez: The Last Leaf - written by Elizabeth Thomson, provides a picture of an artist who became a voice for social change.
And although she officially retired in 2021, a new documentary, I Am A Noise, which premiered recently at the Berlin Film Festival, and a book of upside-down drawings, Am I Pretty When I Fly? available in books shops, Joan Baez is once again garnering public acclaim.
In the Deep Dive interview which you can watch or hear through the link in the profile, Elizabeth explains how Joan Baez’s Quaker origins were to lead her into the fight for political and social justice, her friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. which resulted in her being on the podium at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963, her musical success at just 19 years of age, and how she helped launch Bob Dylan’s career. It’s a loving biography of a woman who supported the downtrodden and disenfranchised and was clearly one of the most influential artists in the life of author Elizabeth Thomson, who had the honour of interviewing or just conversing with Baez herself over a period of four decades.
