You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2008.
Stop by and meet Shannon at one of these events in upstate New York. She’ll be talking about (and showing pictures of) literary landmarks in the Northeast and elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2:00 P.M.
Podell Library and Art Collection at the Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts
34 County Route 56
Maplecrest, NY
MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 7:00 P.M.
Schenectady County Public Library
McChesney Room
99 Clinton Street
Schenectady, NY
Book sale and signing held by The Open Door Bookstore following the program
Following on from last week’s post about literary activities in the US, here is a sampling of summer events you can enjoy in the coming weeks at historic locales throughout the UK:
Shaw’s Corner, Hertfordshire - In the immense gardens once lovingly tended by playwright George Bernard Shaw, young bibliophiles and their parents can take park in Family Fun Day, participating in quizzes, painting, mask-making and more. Wednesday, August 6th and Wednesday, August 13th from 1- 5 pm.
Also coming up at Shaw’s Corner, is “Walk This Way,” a stroll through the nearby village using Shaw’s last book, The Rhyming Guide to Ayot St. Lawrence, as a guide. Sunday, August 17th from 10:30 am -noon.
Bateman’s House, East Sussex – Come and learn the fascinating history of the rolling hills of the High Weald landscape surrounding Rudyard Kipling’s Jacobean manor house. “The High Weald Landscape Walk” takes place on August 18th at 10 am.
Up in Yorkshire at the Brontë Parsonage, a series of events during August will give visitors the opportunity to see artists at work.
- Monday, August 4: Artist Lesley Martin will be creating a giant artwork on the Parsonage front lawn made from natural materials collected from the area. Visitors are invited to bring along their own materials found on walks on the moors.
- Tuesday, August 12: A special photography project with artist Kate Potter will record twenty-first century visitors as Charlotte, Emily and Anne using traditional photographic techniques.
- Friday, August 22: Chainsaw artist Dominic Clare will be creating a sculpture from a tree felled in the Parsonage garden earlier this year. The tree was believed to have been planted by Charlotte Brontë on the occasion of her marriage.
In Edinburgh, tickets are still available for many of the 800 events at the world’s largest book festival, taking place from August 9th – 25th. Our picks for mystery lovers include readings by Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, while those into edgier fiction might want check out cult favorites Chuck Palahniuk and Irvine Welsh.
Mary Arden’s Farm out in Stratford-Upon-Avon hosts a variety of themed Tudor weeks for children going on now through the end of August. In addition, this summer’s outdoor theatre performance at the farm will be Much Ado About Nothing on Friday August 1st & Saturday August 2nd at 7:30pm. If you miss it this weekend, you can still catch it at the Great Garden of New Place, the site of Shakespeare’s last home, on Sunday, August 24 at 7:00 pm.
From August 6th – August 30th, Fenton House in London’s Hampstead neighborhood will be hosting a costume exhibit entitled “Miss Austen Re-dressed,” which will showcase costumes from film and television productions of Jane Austen’s novels.
At Wordsorth’s Dove Cottage in Grasmere, Andrew Motion, the current UK poet laureate (a title Wordsworth once held) will be reading selections of his poetry on Tuesday, September 9th at 6.45pm.
At Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, an Autumn garden walk with cottage gardener Celia Simpson will take visitors around the gardens that Austen once would have gazed upon while composing her masterpieces. September 26th at 4:30pm.
Some author houses are open seasonally during warmer months. Others greet visitors year-round but often hold special events during the summer and fall. If you have a literary site in your area, check to see what festivities they might be hosting. Here are a few highlights:
Longfellow National Historic Site, Cambridge, MA – Young bibliophiles and their parents can take part in “Family Sundays Art in the Park” from 1 to 4 p.m. on the grounds of Longfellow’s historic Cambridge house (it was once the headquarters of General George Washington during the Siege of Boston in 1775). Activities include painting, drawing, playing 19th century games, and reading Longfellow’s poetry aloud.
The Mount, Lenox, MA – Every Wednesday at 5 p.m. in July and August at Edith Wharton’s gorgeous mansion in the Berkshires, a live reading of her works takes place on the terrace. If you can’t make it to “Wharton on Wednesdays,” visit The Mount for “Some Enchanted Evenings.” On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in July and August the Terrace Cafe is open from 5 to 8 p.m. After a glass of wine and hors d’oeuvres, you can enjoy a stroll through the Mount’s Italianate-style gardens, which were designed by Edith Wharton.
Old Manse, Concord, MA – Once home to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s grandfather and home to Nathaniel Hawthorne for a time, this farmhouse has expansive and beautiful grounds that border the Concord River and adjoin Minuteman National Historical Park. On Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. through August 24th it’s the site of a Summer Concert Series. Or embark on the excursion “Paddling Back in Time” (offered several times throughout the summer), a guided trip down the Concord River and a chance to experience the landscape that inspired Emerson, Hawthorne, and fellow Concord resident and naturalist Henry David Thoreau.
The Steinbeck House, Salinas, CA – The house where John Steinbeck grew up is a perfect place for Victorian Tea, served on the following Saturdays: August 9th, September 13th, October 11th, November 8th and December 13th with two seatings each day. In the Victorian-era abode’s elegant ambience you can sample specially blended teas, tea sandwiches, scones, quiche, fruit, and desserts. The extensive Best Cellar gift shop is located on the property, and down the street is the National Stienbeck Center.
Do you have a favorite special event you like to attend at a literary site? If so, please share it in the comments section.
Appearing on the cover of the July 14th issue of Time magazine is Mark Twain. Several articles explore Twain’s literary legacy and how a century ago he addressed still-familiar issues like race, religion, and war — and why it’s especially fitting to remember his acerbic honesty and deadly wit during an election year.
In a piece titled “The Seriously Funny Man,” Richard Lacayo writes that by the late 19th century Twain was “the first writer to enjoy the kind of fame reserved until then for Presidents, generals and barn-burning preachers.” Lacayo then goes on to explain why today’s political humorists owe a nod to Twain: “Not quite a century after his death, in 1910, we get a lot of our news from people like him — funnymen (and -women) who talk about things that are not otherwise funny at all. This is an election year in which some of the most closely followed commentators are comedians like Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert and the cast of Saturday Night Live. All of them are descended from that man in the white suit.”
The issue also includes a two-page spread highlighting Twain’s success as a travel writer. A map traces his voyages around the world and listed are his travel narratives, which include The Innocents Abroad (his first full-length book and the bestselling of his works during his lifetime), Roughing It (his adventures in the American West and Hawaii), Life on the Mississippi (his tenure as a riverboat pilot, a profession he claimed to love “far better than any I have followed since”), and Following the Equator (a record of the round-the-world lecture tour he undertook to pay off his debts).
Briefly mentioned in the article “Mark Twain: Our Original Superstar” by Roy Blount Jr. is the fact that Twain’s mansion in Hartford, Connecticut, is facing foreclosure due to financial difficulties. It’s shameful that a place where people can go to learn about the life of “our original superstar” might no longer exist. It’s certainly no laughing matter. –Shannon McKenna Schmidt
It wasn’t difficult for me to decide which book to take along on vacation last week. Mark Twain’s Roughing It seemed fitting reading for the adventure my husband, Brian, and I undertook: rafting some 240 miles down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
In his travelogue Twain recounts some colorful escapades, among them working as a reporter in Carson City, Nevada, where he began using his famous pseudonym (he was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens) and visiting the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) where he stayed at a hotel perched on the edge of a volcano on the Big Island.
Twain also recalls a 200-mile trek on foot through Nevada to prospect for silver, and he writes, “We all confess to a gratified thrill at the thought of ‘camping out.’” My own adventure included camping out for six nights — most of which were spent sleeping under the stars — and traversing some of the biggest white water in North America. The trip was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done and quite a feat for two people who had never before been rafting or camping.
Twain’s spirit of adventure was prevalent throughout the trip, from rafting down the river to making camp on a different stretch of beach each night to taking in the dramatic and varied canyon scenery. Our group of twenty-seven passengers (a terrific bunch!) voyaged with Canyoneers, and the excellent crew not only knew how to navigate the waters but how to make delicious prime rib and homemade brownies in such a rustic setting.
And somehow I think intrepid traveler Mark Twain would approve of our guide Brandon’s motto for riding the rapids: Go big or go home. –Shannon McKenna Schmidt
As American Independence Day is fast approaching, I thought it would be fitting to pay tribute to someone not usually thought of as an author in the truest sense of the word (though indeed he was), founding father Ben Franklin. Most notably, of course, he helped draft two of our country’s most important documents: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
But way before the humble candle maker’s son had those mighty authorial credits under his belt, he penned Poor Richard’s Almanack, a bestselling pamphlet for the colonists. The annual publication offered up everything from weather forecasts and tips on such subjects as how to gather grapes for wine, to infamous nuggets of wisdom like ”Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”
What few people may know is that Franklin lived in London for nearly two decades, serving in a sense as America’s first diplomat during the increasingly contentious years leading up to the Revolution. Perhaps even lesser known is that his Georgian townhouse at 36 Craven Street near Trafalgar Square still exists and opened as a museum two years ago on the tercentenary of his birth.
Franklin lived there from 1757 to 1775, during which time he not only served as a statesman but also carried out numerous scientific experiments, perfecting his inventions of curiousities such as the glass armonica and more practical items like bifocals (sadly, he never patented any of his ideas). Today, his London home is the last surviving Franklin house in the world. If you happen to be visiting here this Fourth of July weekend, I recommend stopping by to check it out. –Joni Rendon
