North Callahan has written the complete and definitive biography of a unique writer and rare personality. Carl Sandburg was a many-faceted man: poet, musician, biographer, historian, writer of children's books, and novelist. Callahan knew Sandburg personally and worked with him in various historical enterprises. He has done extensive research on letters, diaries, scholarly papers, and other documents in various libraries and archives around the country, including material in the Sandburg homes and especially in the Carl Sandburg Collection at the University of IIlinois.

Callahan has...