Welcome to the premier episode of I will share your message on the July podcast! Your participation is so important. Topics and show notes: A reading Louisa May Alcott: Illuminated by The Message by Susan Bailey, pgs. 88-89, from Work: A Story of Experience * * * * * * * * * * * …
A dream book launch–Louisa May Alcott: Illuminated by The Message makes its debut at The Barrow Bookstore in Concord
For an author obsessed with all things Alcott, does it get any better than this? Launching a book about the most famous Alcott, Louisa, in The Barrow, a bookstore housed in a building owned by descendants of Anna Alcott Pratt in the heart of Concord, Massachusetts ... it's a dream come true. A book store …
Recent discovery of Thoreau’s notes sheds light on tragic drowning of Margaret Fuller
The Houghton Library at Harvard University has acquired the complete set of notes made by Henry David Thoreau as he visited the site of Margaret Fuller's drowning along with her husband and little son aboard the steamship Elizabeth. Here is a teaser from the article, published in the Harvard Gazette: A recent Houghton Library acquisition …
Places that are redemptive, and damning: Monday presentation by Stephen Burby at the Summer Conversational Series
Note: Mr. Burby kindly gave me his presentation (handwritten notes and all) in lieu of the fact that I was unable to attend the Monday session of the Summer Conversational Series. I thank him for doing so. This is a longer post than usual as I found his presentation to be quite thought-provoking. * * * …
Summer Conversational Series for Wednesday, July 15
Wednesday's presentations proved to be lively, poignant and brain-busting! Gabrielle Donnelly, author of The Little Women Letters, spoke on Louisa's trips to Europe in her presentation titled, "Our Foreign Correspondent Louisa May Alcott's Travels Through Europe." She read extensively from Shawl Straps (Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag) and had the room in stitches. Gabrielle has a unique …
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Summer Conversational Series for Tuesday, July 14
Yesterday's session for the 2015 Summer Conversational Series featured these three distinguished presenters: Cathlin Davis, PhD Dr. Davis spoke at length on "The Healing Power of Nature: Friendly Sunshine and Fresh Air," drawing upon her extensive knowledge of Louisa's canon. There is probably no one more knowledgeable about Louisa's writing than Dr. Davis who has …
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Summer Conversational Series taking place this week
The Summer Conversational Series is taking place all this week at Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House. The theme is "Heaven in the Mind:" The Spirit of Place in Transcendental Concord. I will be going to the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions. I believe registration is still open--here is information on topics and who is presenting (scroll down a bit to …
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2014 Summer Conversational Series: Margaret Fuller and the Problem of Female Genius
The Conversational series welcomed back a perennial favorite in John Matteson whose Pulitzer-prize winning book Eden’s Outcasts is a standard in Alcott scholarship. He has also written a fine book on Margaret Fuller called The Lives of Margaret Fuller; she was the focus of his presentation entitled “ ‘The Mind in the Full Glow of …
Summer Conversational Series 2014 – “Navigating the Vortex: Creative Genius in the Time of the Alcotts” – the role of Faust
Continuing with the Monday sessions, Dr. Stephen Burby was a new face on the scene. He currently teaches English in Brentwood, NY and has authored of AP English Language and Composition: An Apex Learning Guide (2004 and 2005 editions) as well as contributing to the production of editions in Barron’s No-Fear Shakespeare series and to …
A clash of civilizations, a loss of one’s heritage, and the courage to change: A review of Flight of the Sparrow by Amy Belding Brown
Note: When Amy Belding Brown asked me to review her latest book, I jumped at the chance; Mr. Emerson’s Wife had been a game-changing book for me. I smiled when I read of her interest in finding out more about Puritan life since Transcendentalism, explored in her previous book, was a strong reaction to that …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 