Part 3 of a series on Bronson Alcott: his rise, fall and redemption, based on reflections from John Matteson's biography Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father If you want to refresh your memory on previous posts in this series, here are the links: Read Part One here Read Part Two here …
Finding his mission: Bronson Alcott, part 2 (reflections on Eden’s Outcasts)
How did a remote and poor farm boy evolve into a visionary educator? This is one of the great questions regarding Bronson Alcott for which I wanted answers. John Matteson in Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father provides some interesting insight. In the beginning In the first chapter Matteson traces …
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The rise, fall and redemption of Bronson Alcott, part 1 (reflections on Eden’s Outcasts)
Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father by John Matteson has to be one of the most elegant and thoughtful books I have ever read. Matteson is the first Alcott biographer who truly seems to understand the spiritual life and that insight produces a deeper and different view of Bronson Alcott. …
Abba Alcott’s contribution – behind every great woman stands a mother
You know how they say that behind every great man is a great woman? How about behind every great woman? In studying the life of Abba Alcott through the reading of Marmee, the Mother of Little Womenby Sandford Meddick Salyer, there indeed was a great woman behind Louisa May Alcott. She was a mother whose …
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“Love your duty”
Continuing on with Marmee, the Mother of Little Women*by Sandford Meddick Salyer: Louisa bound to duty I think everyone can agree that Louisa May Alcott was a duty-bound woman. Duty motivated and justified her need to write for money (molding her into the professional that she was known and respected for). Duty bound her to …
Continuing with Marmee, the Mother of Little Women: tantalizing look into Lizzie Alcott
Quite a while ago I promised to write more on Marmee, the Mother of Little Womenby Sandford Meddick Salyer and as usual, I got sidetracked (have to stop going to the library! :-)). As I mentioned before in my first post, this book was a very pleasurable read chock full of information. Salyer did his …
Book recommendation: Louisa May Alcott and Little Women by Gloria Delamar
The last time I went to Concord I feasted at the Concord Free Public Library and took out 4 books that are usually hard to come by. One of them was Jeannine Atkins' Becoming Little Women: Louisa May at Fruitlands and another was Louisa May Alcott and Little Women by Gloria Delamar. I had originally …
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Marmee, the Mother of Little Women
Thanks to the advice of a reader (much appreciated, Gina!), I've started reading Marmee, the Mother of Little Women by Sandford Meddick Salyor. Certainly you cannot look at the life of Louisa May Alcott without looking at her parents. There are plenty of works on Bronson but not that much on Abba ("Marmee"). This 1949 …
Getting to know John Matteson, author of “Eden’s Outcasts”
I'm about to treat you to a wonderful interview with John Matteson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Eden's Outcasts (one of the many books on my list begging to be read). Here's a sampling to whet your appetite: What drives the continued fascination with Louisa May Alcott? Louisa combined the best aspects of both her parents. …
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The essence of Fruitlands: a return to the Garden of Eden
Note: the following post is based upon the introduction to Fruitlands: The Alcott Family and Their Search for Utopia by Richard Francis, pages 2-11). Anything that has been italicized is my own conclusion, not Francis'. I will be including thoughts that I have as it relates to my understanding of Christianity and how it relates …
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Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 