Louisa May Alcott is My Passion
Begun in 2010, this blog offers analysis and reflection by Susan Bailey on the life, works and legacy of Louisa May Alcott and her family. Susan is an active member and supporter of the Louisa May Alcott Society, the Fruitlands Museum and Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House.
The Friends of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery are holding their 14th annual Breakfast Event at the Colonial Inn on April 4th, 8:30am to 10am. The featured speaker is Tim Gorman, Location Manager for the Oscar-winning Little Women movie. As you know, it was filmed entirely in MA -- Mr. Gorman will describe the various settings and …
Continue reading "A behind-the-scenes view of the Little Women movie"
Concord, home to Louisa May Alcott. I have been a student of Louisa on and off, for most of my life. Back in August of 2010 I decided to commit myself to study and share my reflections with you. I have so enjoyed all the book discussions and your wonderful comments about our favorite author. …
Continue reading "Concord in Autumn: walking the path Louisa walked"
Spring in Concord has sprung, not only with budding trees and flowers, but with a plethora of activities celebrating the centennial of one of the oldest home museums in the country, Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House. Little Women discussion panel On Thursday, March 22 I had the joy of attending the first of three presentations …
When you think about all the different people who lived at The Wayside over the years, it's no wonder the house has gone through so many changes. Here are some of the more significant ones: Home of a minuteman The earliest known date for The Wayside is c.1700 and was a typical two story, wood …
Continue reading "Quirky Wayside offers a wealth of history: the architecture"
It's vacation time again with more opportunities to visit Concord. The more times I visit, the more I want to see. A trip down the Sudbury River to Great Meadows I enjoy kayaking very much and so took a trip down the Sudbury River, launching from the bridge off of Lowell Road, just off of …
Continue reading "Tapping into my inner Thoreau; play-acting as Sylvia Yule"
I just created a page with personal recommendations of places to visit and things to do while visiting Concord, Massachusetts. The one thing I could not recommend is hotels because I live too close to Concord to have stayed overnight. Here's some recommendations for those of you who want to indulge in living history (to …
Continue reading "Coming to Concord this summer? Here’s some recommendations"
Much has been said about how unconventional Henry David Thoreau was. Although brilliant he was solitary, decidedly different, very blunt, not especially attractive physically, and he was prone to "queer" habits such as climbing trees, imitating bird calls and the like. Yet women did find Thoreau attractive. Louisa May Alcott had a schoolgirl crush on …
Continue reading "Was Thoreau a romantic? Final thoughts on “Walking”"
There's a terrific article on the Concord Patch written by a licensed Concord tour guide, Harry Beyer. He takes you on a tour of the Alcott family plot at Sleepy Hollow cemetery. Here's a teaser from the article: Louisa May was an active abolitionist, helping to shelter runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad. She was also an early …
Continue reading "Take a tour of the final resting place of the Alcotts"
I wanted to share a wonderful post I found on Dawn's "She's Too Fond of Books" blog where she describes an outing with her girl scout troop to Hapgood Wright Town Forest in Concord, where Louisa May Alcott roamed with Henry David Thoreau. As you may recall, Thoreau had a magical way of teaching nature …
Just heard some awesome news from Jan Turnquist at Orchard House - the long missing papers of Madelon Bedell are now safely ensconced at Orchard House. As mentioned in yesterday's post, Bedell wrote a scholarly work entitled The Alcotts Biography of a Family; it was supposed to have been in 2 volumes but sadly, Bedell …
Continue reading "Tidbits of news, and beginning a trip to Fruitlands"
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 