After four years of constant reading, study, writing and pondering on one family, I think I understand now how actors prepare for their roles, and the subsequent consequences of their immersion into their characters. Taking on the Louisa persona I'm acquainted with a couple of people (Jan Turnquist and Marianne Donnelly) who, as actresses, take …
Share your love for Louisa May Alcott with everyone!
Check out this perk for supporting Orchard House with a membership: Now I can share my love of Louisa May Alcott with everyone! Here's how you can join and support Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House. Click to Tweet & Share: Share your love for Louisa May Alcott with everyone! http://wp.me/p125Rp-1Ex Are you passionate about Louisa May …
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Holiday programs at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the wonderful holiday programs at Orchard House! Here are their offerings: PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT IS FOR MEMBERS ONLY. Interact with Living History portrayers in the festively decorated house, enjoy seasonal refreshments and music, catch up with old friends -- or make new ones -- and shop our Museum Store …
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Tracing the steps of Little Women: Madeleine B. Stern’s brilliant analysis, part four: The All-American Novel makes a cherished dream come true
Little did Louisa May Alcott know that when she wrote Little Women, her classic book based upon her own family life and their “queer” adventures, she was writing the story that was on the heart of all Americans. Universal family It was time when American yearned for its own literature, its own family. The March …
A visit with fans from abroad gets us the “wonk” tour: Did you know these tidbits about Orchard House?
You never know what a house can tell you! No matter how many times I visit Orchard House, I always learn something new. Last Friday I had the privilege of meeting longtime email friends from Paris, France. Charline Bourdin, the author of the first French biography of Louisa May Alcott and the webmaster of a …
On vacation with Louisa May Alcott: Last Day of the Summer Conversational Series – Being and Doing: Louisa explores herself and her beliefs through her writing (Part Two)
Cathlin Davis on Louisa’s philosophy of life Continuing with Day 4 of the series, Professor Cathlin Davis from California State University presented on “Practice Philosophy: ‘I want something to do.’” Through passages from Hospital Sketches, Work, Little Men and some of the rarer short stories (“May Flowers” from A Garland for Girls and “What Becomes …
On vacation with Louisa May Alcott: Last Day of the Summer Conversational Series – Being and Doing: Louisa explores herself and her beliefs through her writing (Part One)
Note: I missed Day 3 of the series because of my trip into Harvard’s Houghton Library. For any of you who follow me on Facebook, you’ll know that I scored big on this trip. I photographed a total of twenty-five letters, five of which come from Lizzie (and they are lengthy). It will take a …
On vacation with Louisa May Alcott: Day Two of the Summer Conversational Series – Louisa as a practicing Transcendentalist
Day Two of the Summer Conversational Series featured a fine array of speakers. Kristi Lynn Martin and Duty's Faithful Child Starting off the morning was Kristi Lynn Martin, a doctoral candidate at Boston University. Martin’s many years of experience as a tour guide at Concord’s finest historical homes (The Old Manse, “Bush” (aka the Emerson …
On vacation with Louisa May Alcott: Day One of the Summer Conversational Series – Health, Nature and Reform
Monday’s session of the Summer Conversational Series at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House was lively, funny and thought-provoking. A fellowship of sisters (and some brothers) gathered to enjoy talks from Gabrielle Donnelly, Kathleen Harsy and Kyoko Amano. Gabrielle Donnelly on Louisa’s health Donnelly, the author of the popular The Little Women Letters, presented “Louisa May …
On vacation with Louisa May Alcott: Visiting the home of the master, Ralph Waldo Emerson
During my vacation this week I will be attending the Summer Conversational Series sponsored by Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. The theme is "Chaos, Cosmos, and the Oversoul" The Influence of Transcendental Philosophy on the Life and Writing of Louisa May Alcott. Speakers include Gabrielle Donnelly (author of The Little Women Letters), Eve LaPlante (author …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 