Fran Presents Marcel Proust

Jacquie's Email

Hello Literary Ladies!!! Fran will be regaling us all about her time spent with Marcel Proust at the Literature Club of Hastings-on-Hudson's next meeting this Wednesday, December 1st at 12:45 pm at the home of our newest member, Sharon. Masks will be required, and there will be no refreshments served.
I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday that generated good memories to be considered past when remembered in the future. (As long as it includes ingesting something sweet, I'm ok with it!) À bientôt! Jacquie

Christine's Minutes
On December 1, 2021, thirteen members - and in a first for Literature Club, one of those members, Jacquie, joined us via Zoom - and one associate, gathered in Sharon DeLevie's airy living room on Amherst Drive.

President Fran Greenburg called the meeting to order at 1 pm.

Connie read the minutes of our last meeting, and they were so complete and lively, that even those of us unfortunate enough to have missed the meeting learned more about Beatrix Potter than we ever thought possible.

Lori reported that our treasury contains $265.11. Lori questioned what exactly comprised our fiscal year. Fran assured her that it goes right along with the academic year. Some may find it comical that the Literature Club even has a fiscal year.

It was brought to our attention that, because of COVID, we may have missed giving our annual gift to the library in 2020. We did give them $121 in 2021. The decision was made to simply be over-generous next time around.

Fran thanked our gracious hostess, Sharon, who did provide us with water, as well as madeleines individually wrapped.

Then it was time to travel to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Paris and spend time with Proust. Fran’s program artfully wove together the life and the fiction of Marcel Proust, as well as the tumultuous history of his times, and the many characters who found their way into À la recherche du temps perdu.

For Fran, there are the three giants of twentieth century literature, Kafka, Joyce, and Proust. Thus, for her, a francophone and Francophile, the choice of Proust was a natural one. While there have been several English language translations of À la recherche du temps perdu since the original one by Scott-Moncrieff, Fran agreed with Adam Gopnik that Scott-Moncrieff’s remains the classic.

There are possibly more biographies of Proust than there are translations, so making a choice among them was key. Fran chose to use George Painter’s 1965 biography. Painter started his biography in the late 1940’s, when many of Proust’s friends, and especially his longtime maid Celeste (the source for Francoise in À la recherche) were still alive. But he chose not to interview them in order to stick entirely with primary sources.

Celeste was in fact interviewed by other writers, later, and she also wrote a book herself, in which she adamantly denied Proust’s homosexuality.

Marcel Proust was born in 1871 to Adrien Proust and Jeanne née Weil. Adrien was a specialist in infectious diseases and credited with ending cholera in France by establishing a ‘cordon sanitaire.’ Jeanne was wealthy, Jewish, and 15 years younger than Adrien. Two years later came Robert, who would become a prominent gynecologist. Though Jeanne never converted to Catholicism, she raised both boys as Catholics. As a child, Marcel was sickly and suffered from asthma.

In both Proust’s life, and in his masterpiece, the questions of Jews and Jewishness, and the issue of homosexuality, are supremely important, even as they are often referred to only obliquely.

The three places where he spent his childhood were translated into the three major venues of À la recherche du temps perdu; his father’s hometown of Illiers becomes Combray, the seaside resort of Cabourg becomes Balbec, and Paris remains Paris. In his adolescence, Marcel had crushes on several girls; three playmates from the Champs-Élysées were blended together to create Gilbert in À la recherche du temps perdu. He first encountered Paris society at the salon of Madame Strauss, the mother of his Marcel’s lifelong friend, Jacques Bizet. Marcel also came to know the aristocrat, and openly homosexual Count Robert de Montesquiou, who was most certainly one of the models for Baron Charlus.

In 1896, exculpatory evidence in the Dreyfus affair came to light, and Zola published his J’accuse. The Dreyfus affair divided and dominated Proust’s social world.

Marcel’s father died in 1903, and his mother died two years later, in 1905, after which Marcel went into isolation for a month. In 1907 he returned to Cabourg, where his grief flooded back. His friend Jacques found him a driver, Alfred Agostinelli, who became the great love of Proust’s life, and also the model for Albertine, the great love of the narrator in À la recherche du temps perdu.

Marcel was fascinated and compelled by the aristocrats of La Belle Epoque. It was not a simple thing for a half-Jewish, closeted homosexual to gain admittance to the salons, but Marcel did, and discovered he was not the only one with Jewish ancestors. There were of course the Rothschilds, and he met Charles Haas, the lone Jew admitted to the Jockey Club, who became the model for Swann. Then the onset of WWI brought an end to the salons of French society.

Meanwhile, Proust had completed a third of À la recherche du temps perdu and began to seek a publisher. But he ended up paying for the printing of Volume One in 1913, as well as arranging for notices in all the papers. He continued to write all through the war. His health was terrible, but he dined regularly at the Ritz. More volumes of the novel appeared after the war.

Attended by his brother Robert, and his housekeeper Celeste, Proust died in 1922, still editing the proofs of À la recherche du temps perdu. The last three volumes only appeared after his death.

In addition to our readings from Painter’s biography, and Proust himself, members read selections from Adam Gopnik and André Aciman,

The question of how autobiographical was À la recherche du temps perdu remains an intriguing one, and future biographers will surely continue to examine the life and the masterpiece.

Respectfully submitted,
Christine Lehner
Recording Secretary

Laura Presents Beatrix Potter

Jacquie's Email

Hello Intrepid Literary Ladies! As discussed at our last meeting, we will try to meet again outdoors for our next meeting this Wednesday, November 17th at 12:45 pm in Joanna's beautiful garden. Considering Laura will be presenting on Beatrix Potter, that seems the natural thing to do (pun intended.) The forecast looks good for Wednesday (55 and sunny) but please check your email on Wednesday morning to confirm where we will be meeting. If it looks like it will be too cold, we will be meeting at Linda's home, masked. Sharon will send out a Zoom link if that is the case, so all of our associate members and anyone else uncomfortable to be meeting inside will be able to join in. And a special thank you to Joanna and Linda for both your hospitality and flexibility.
So, if outside, please dress in warm layers, and maybe even consider bringing a blanket for your legs.
Enjoy the beginning of the week, and I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, in person or on Zoom! - x Jacquie

Connie's Minutes 

Twelve members were happily in “in-person” attendance of the November 17th, 2021, meeting

of the Literature Club of Hastings-on-Hudson. And despite being firmly established for one

hundred and twelve years, yet again The Hastings-on-Hudson Literature Club was able to rack

up a number of “firsts.”

Rupert, Beatrix and Betram Potter, 1904

It was our first meeting together, indoors, in someone’s home since March of 2020, so in over a

and a half— an unprecedented break from our established literary luncheons. It was also the

first meeting in which we were all wearing protective masks against the coronavirus and its

variants, with new protocols leaving us unable to drift back and forth into Linda’s kitchen for

bowls of her warming homemade soup and chocolate chip cookies. This meeting also

marked our first “hybrid meeting” with member Jacquie Weitzman and associate member Mary

Greenly joining us on Zoom, (making our full number of attendees actually 14.) Their remote

participation was aided by member Sharon DeLevie, who set up the Zoom event, and gently

pivoted the computer throughout, so our digital attendees could see the presenter and readers.

Many firsts.

But onward for Lady Literature, and I must say Linda’s warm, sunny, living room, with its walls

of books and family photographs, felt like the perfect setting in which to acclimate ourselves to

our newest season. President Frances Greenberg rang the bell, called the meeting to order,

and the treasurer's report of something or other was faithfully supplied by Treasurer Lori Walsh.

Our book donations to the Hastings-on-Hudson Public Library, and the impracticality of

attaching bookplates to paperbacks was discussed, as was the suggestion of the book

Eleanor and Hick by Susan Quinn, to be donated in memory of member Phyllis Frankel.

Then, our presenter, Laura Rice, wonderfully in character in a grey worsted wool suit with large

felt flower appliqués on the skirt and jacket, introduced us to Beatrix Potter. But first, so we

could all, in her words, get a “flavor” of our author, Laura gave us an assignment: Members

choose from a basket of tiny books: among our selections— The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The

Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher, The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck and The Tale of Tom Kitten.

Members read and discussed their books enthusiastically, to the point where Laura was

concerned that we were cutting into her time, but she was reassured by President Fran

Greenberg that this was how presentations go....

Beatrix Potter was born in 1866, in London, to a wealthy family whose fortune came from

textile mills in Manchester. Her grandfather was particularly known for popular calico designs.

Beatrix’s father, Rupert, studied law, and had an avid interest in photography, and her mother

had studied as a watercolorist, so family members had predispositions to the visual arts. The

family lived in London, where Beatrix was taught by governesses and tutors, the last one of

whom, Annie Moore, was only three years her senior, and became a lifelong friend. Her younger

brother, Bertram, was born when she was 6, and the family did not appear to socialize freely

with other families with children, instead, Beatrix had animal friends: a bunny, mice, a frog and

guinea pigs to name a few, which she observed, loved, and spent time drawing.

Elemental to Beatrix’s development were the family’s summers— 3 months spent annually at

first in Scotland, then later in England’s Lake District. There Beatrix and Bertram wandered freely in the countryside, and socialized with frequent house guests, among them Beatrix was a favorite of William Gaskell, the widower of writer Elizabeth Gaskell, and she went on hikes with her father and another friend, the artist Sir John Millais, who would use her father’s photographs to paint from in his studio.

But the most influential adult “friend” of the period, was Charlie MacIntosh, the Scottish

postman and naturalist. At a time when amateur scientists could make important scientific

contributions, MacIntosh, who walked his rural postal route, had serious credibility. Under his

tutelage Beatrix discovered an extremely rare mushroom, and eight years later, wrote a

pioneering paper on the concept of symbiosis in lichens, which she submitted to the esteemed

Linnean Society. At the time as a woman, she could not even present the paper, and ultimately

the society chose not to publish. Their loss.

Her scientific interests were not the only thing developing for Beatrix during this period. Beatrix

had an interest in making money, and designed animal greeting cards which she painted and

had printed and achieved some success in selling. Her former governess and friend Annie

Moore had four children by this time, and Beatrix would send them, and other nieces and

nephews, illustrated “picture letters” featuring animals, to entertain them. At some point when

she was visiting Annie, Annie suggested she develop them into stories, and the tale of Peter

Rabbit was born.

Children’s literature was flowering during this period. Beatrix was inspired by Lewis Carrol,

Kenneth Grahame, and perhaps most importantly, Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus tales.

Beatrix was fascinated by Harris’s use of language, and notably used some of his words in her

books, for example “puddleduck.”

The path to publication was not a direct one: The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Mr. MacGregor’s

Garden was rejected by six publishers. Undaunted, Beatrix decided to self-publish.

Eventually the book was signed by the Warne Publishing Company, who were looking for

books to compete with Little Black Sambo. The book was set to be published in October of

1902, with a first printing of 8,000 copies. The books were sold out prior to their actual

publication.

The Warne Publishing Company was run by three brothers. Beatrix and Norman Warne struck up

a friendship, writing frequently, then visiting, and eventually fell in love and became engaged.

Beatrix was 37, Norman was 34. Despite this, Beatrix’s family objected to the match, her

mother in particular felt that her daughter should not wed a member of the “merchant” class, i.e.,

not landed gentry. Beatrix stood strong; the couple made plans to wed, and talked of

purchasing a country home in the Lake District. But sadly, it was not meant to be. In July of

that year Norman became ill, was ordered to bed by his physician, and he died of leukemia in

Hill Top, Northumbria

August.

Bereft, Beatrix purchased by herself “Hill Top,” the Lake District farm the couple had fantasized

living in together.

Beatrix continued to publish, and also manufactured merchandise: stuffed Peter Rabbits and

other characters, wallpaper, a board game, and of course children’s china. But the purchase

of her property was pivotal in leading Beatrix into her next phase. She repaired the farmhouse

and built a home for her tenant farmer. She looked at plans and tried to harmonize her

buildings with the surroundings and prevailing architecture. When land contiguous to her

property came on the market she was quick to purchase it, but decided wisely to use a local

lawyer. Thus, at age 42, Beatrix met William Healis, who was 38. Again, her parents objected to the marriage, but again Beatrix persisted. She and Healis were married in London in October of 1913.

This next phase of her life found Beatrix’s attention increasingly drawn to farming, and the

herding and breeding of sheep, specifically Herdwick sheep, a native breed uniquely suited to

the rough terrain and vegetation of the Lake District area, and she was elected president of the

Herdwick Sheep Breeder’s association— its first woman president. Beatrix became involved

with the National Trust, with a desire to protect and preserve the land for the people who lived

and worked in the area.

As Laura summarized for us, Beatrix Potter’s early love of nature, and close observations of

creatures and the natural world gave her much rich material for her books. In her later life she

turned her energies to becoming a good custodian of the lands around her. Beatrix succeeded

in so many things— as a naturalist and scientist, as an author, illustrator and businesswoman,

and finally, as a steward of the land she so loved.

She and William had a long and happy marriage. When Beatrix Potter died in 1943, she left

most of her land to the National Trust. When William died a few years later, their remaining

acreage went there as well.

The twelve in-person Literature Club attendees said good-bye to our remote attendees, and

talked in groups for a while, but as we gradually filed out of Linda’s home, she offered up a bowl of her homemade chocolate chip cookies, which, once we made our way out into the preternaturally warm, but still beautiful November afternoon, we took off our protective masks and enjoyed

Respectfully submitted,

Constance Stewart

for Recording Secretary Christine Lehner

A Short Story Reading

Jacquie's Email Invitation

Hello Literary Ladies! Although it doesn't look like it will be 70 degrees this Wednesday, Joanna has been monitoring the position of the sun in her front yard and she thinks it should be nice and sunny/warm between 12:45 - 3pm, so we will try one last outdoor meeting to enjoy the last bits of this gorgeous autumn weather we've been having. 

Joanna has chosen a wonderful short story by Jane Gardam for us all to read together. So that will be this Wednesday, November 3rd at 12:45pm at Joanna's  Until Wednesday! -- Jacquie

Christine's Minutes

Twelve members of the Literature Club gathered again at Joanna’s lovely home. This time, in deference to the earth’s orbit round the sun, our chairs formed a circle in the front yard. 

Fran called the meeting to order, and the minutes were read and accepted. There was no treasurer’s report. 

Discussion following about Jacquie’s wonderful emails reminding us of each upcoming meeting. We all agreed they should be saved, along with their always apt illustrations. (Note: They are all here, on the blog). Our next meeting, on the 17th, will most likely be inside at Linda’s, and Linda has been requested by our president to serve NO drinks or food. This will require great restraint on Linda’s part, given her predilection for making heartwarming soups as well as delicious cookies. 

Then, because Louisa was unable to present the scheduled program, Joanna found for us a delightful story to read aloud: The Tribute, by Jane Gardam. Your secretary will not attempt a synopsis of the story. But it is safe to say that the story was universally enjoyed, to the extent that immediately following our meeting there was a run on the 15 copies of Jane Gardam’s Short Story Collection in the Westchester Library System.

It was a perfect way to spend an afternoon, though just as we started the leaf blowers started, and when that was combined with an overhead plane, we had to stop reading and twiddle our thumbs. 

Respectfully submitted,
Christine Lehner, Recording Secretary

Barbara, Fran and Linda, at Stone Cottage, November 3, 2021

Gita Presents Rumer Godden

Jacquie's Email Notice

One of my favorite books as a child was Rumer Godden's The Doll's House. In my copy, the 1962 edition with heart-clutchingly lovely illustrations by Tasha Tudor -- a hand-me-down from my sisters -- my mother had highlighted, with a penciled bracket, the following text:

"It is an anxious, sometimes a dangerous thing to be a doll. Dolls cannot choose; they can only be chosen; they cannot "do"; they can only be done by; children who do not understand this often do wrong things, and then the dolls are hurt and abused and lost; and when this happens dolls cannot speak, nor do anything except be hurt and abused and lost. If you have dolls, you should remember that."

At the time, I took this very literally; so much so that I would sit quietly with my dolls seated comfortably around me and only imagine the games I was playing with them for fear of bending a foot or an arm incorrectly, causing pain to my dearest friends. I was deeply affected by the sentiment in this paragraph, but not in the way I imagined my mother, or the author, had intended, for reading it now, I don't believe it is merely a reminder to little kids to keep their rooms tidy. So getting to this week's presentation by Gita on Rumer Godden, I think it will be very interesting to understand this quote more clearly by knowing more about the author and her larger body of work. For me, I have always recalled Rumer Godden fondly as the author of my favorite books when I was little, so I am looking forward to learning more about the woman who could infuse real humanity into the dolls in her stories, while also being the author of Black Narsissus!

The forecast looks perfect for meeting this Wednesday, October 20th in Barbara's garden  at 12:45 pm, when Gita will continue our exploration of Biography. Until then! -- Jacquie

Christine's Minutes

It was perfect autumn weather, sunny, warm enough but not overly, and the air felt brisk, as 12 members of the Literature Club gathered in Barbara Morrow’s lovely backyard, where it feels like the tippy top of Hastings. 

The leaf blower brigades had not received the notice that we were meeting today, and their absence was much appreciated. 

President Fran Greenberg rang the bell at 1:05pm.

The minutes of the previous meeting were read and accepted. Without the treasurer, we assume the balance remains the same. There was further discussion of the choice of a book in honor of Phyllis Frankel; a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt was suggested, but the ultimate decision remains with the library. Fran thanked Barbara for her lovely backyard, the lovely weather, and the delicious refreshments. It was noted that even though it has been decided that in these COVID times hostesses will not be providing lunch, and members will be responsible for their own lunches, all our backyard hostesses have managed to offer beverages and small delicious edibles. The compulsion to provide sustenance seems to be solidly encased in the DNA of Literature Club members.

Gita Padegs’ program was on Rumer Godden. Here is another woman writer we have all heard of, yet barely know, and who turns out to be fascinating, not unlike Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. 

Margaret Rumer Godden was born in 1907, the second of 4 sisters. That fact affected her throughout her life, as she always considered herself the un-pretty one, as compared to her sisters; and all her life she hated her appearance. Her family moved to India, where they had experienced the privileged life of the Anglo-Indians; their family of six had fifteen servants to look after them. Yet the Godden children understand that they lived in an artificially privileged world, and were aware of the suffering that existed all around them. Those early years in India were formative and a great source of material, but at the age of five she was sent to a convent school in England for a ‘proper education’. 

Rumer’s initial career choice was to be a dance teacher, and for this she moved to Calcutta, a city she never much liked. But for twenty years she ran a dance school there. At the age of 27 she married Lawrence Sinclair Foster, because she was pregnant. It was not a happy marriage. One issue that contributed to their incompatibility was Foster’s unwillingness to learn, and lack of interest in, Indian ways and culture. 

While still running her dance school, Rumer wrote and published Black Narcissus. It was a best-seller, and also made into a film starring Deborah Kerr. Rumer wrote a novel almost every year from 1936 onward, generally with the theme of the loss of innocence. She also moved constantly. In 1942 she and her two daughters moved to Kashmir and lived on a houseboat. In 1945 she moved back to Britain. After finally divorcing Foster in 1948, she married James Dixon in 1949. In the 1950’s she became interested in Roman Catholicism, and in 1968 she officially converted. She often wrote sympathetically of nuns and priests.

 

Central to her life were her daughters, Jane and Paula, and her writing. She also worried about money, and supported her parents. And of course, she was passionate about her Pekinese dogs. Rumer published more than sixty books:  novels, memoirs, and children’s’ books. She died at the age of 90. 

Members read from the memoir, A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep, about her time in India. Then from the memoir A House with Four Rooms. Especially enjoyed was Rumer’s hilarious interview with Mrs. Herrington, demonstrating the lengths to which a mother will go in order to get some writing time. 

The meeting ended with a brief discussion of how we shall meet, going forward. There will come a time when outdoor meetings are no longer feasible, so perhaps we can try a hybrid of indoors and Zoom. Clearly, our technological savvy has grown by leaps and bounds since the onset of the pandemic.

Respectfully submitted,

Christine Lehner

Recording secretary

Lori Presents Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Jacquie's Email Notice

“What a wee little part of a person's life are his acts and his words! His real-life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself. All day long, the mill of his brain is grinding, and his thoughts, not those of other things, are his history. These are his life, and they are not written. Every day would make a whole book of 80,000 words -- 365 books a year. Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man -- the biography of the man himself cannot be written.” ― Mark Twain

Hello Literary Ladies!

I believe this year's theme is more open to interpretation than others have been in the past. "The biography of the man himself cannot be written," writes the great Mr. Twain, and I think it will be fascinating to re-visit this quote after our year of exploring Biography is complete. What can we know of a person from their deeds as well as their writings and their art? How can they be understood and, perhaps even, in this era of intense personal scrutiny, be judged?

We shall continue our exploration of this intriguing topic this Wednesday, October 6th at 12:45 pm with Lori's presentation on Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. As the weather at the moment looks fair, we will be meeting in Joanna's glorious garden. If there is any doubt, please look for Fran's email on the subject by 11 am on Wednesday.

Until then, enjoy the grinding of the mill of your brains, for I know there are wonderful stories being written there! -- Jacquie

Christine's Minutes

On October 6, 2021, ten members of the Literature Club gathered on Joanna Reisman’s lovely stone patio, behind her Revolutionary War-era house. Surrounding us were elegant river birches, also known as black birches or Betula nigra, flaunting their peeling bark. Given that we are post-Covid, or perhaps still mid-Covid, it did not go unnoticed that two of our members (one fifth of the attendees) sported new haircuts. 

President Fran Greenberg rang the bell at 1 pm, and thanked Joanna for her backyard, the good weather, and the liquid refreshments. She also thanked Connie for her delicious plum tart. The minutes of our previous meeting were read and accepted. The treasurer reported that we have $345.52 on hand. It was decided that we would ask Debbie Quinn, the Hastings librarian, to determine the best book to honor our late member, Phyllis Frankel, either a biography about Eleanor Roosevelt or one on American history. 

And then, as if scripted, at the instant our speaker for today, Lori Walsh, was announced, the leaf blowers began their buzzing accompaniment from across the trees. 

Lori’s subject was Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, known to most of us only as the author of a heart-rending childhood classic, The Yearling. We were about to learn how much more there is to MKR. 

It was a review by Dwight Garner in the Times of a new biography of Rawlings, by Ann McCutcheon that intrigued Lori and decided her choice of subject. The reviewer wrote: “It’s a pleasure to meet this cursing, hard-drinking, brilliant, self-destructive, car-wrecking, fun-loving, chain-smoking, alligator-hunting, moonshine-making, food-obsessed woman again on the page”. It was likewise a pleasure for us. 

Marjorie Kinnan was born in Washington DC to Arthur Kinnan and Ida May Traphagen, a frustrated social climber. Her mother’s determination that Marjorie would have success in her stead, and her self-sacrifice all contributed to Marjorie’s future achievements. The mother-daughter relationship was close, and often fractious. Marjorie met her first husband, Charles Rawlings, while working at the literary magazine at the University of Wisconsin. Her mother thought he was not good enough, and she was proved correct. 

But Charles was the one who took the couple to an orange grove in Cross Creek, Florida. While he was off yachting and gallivanting, Marjorie dug in her heels and decided she wanted to write about the region and its characters, the ‘Crackers’ and the Blacks. She took up alligator hunting. She learned understand the local dialect, in which they spoke almost “Chaucerian phrases.” She started writing stories and vignettes about her Florida neighbors. In 1930 she sent 8 sketches to Scribner’s, and they bought one, “Cracker Chitlins”, for $130.  In 1931, the story “Jacob’s Ladder” caught the eye of the famous and fabled editor, Maxwell Perkins. Thus began a 17-year relationship and hundreds of letters. Perkins encouraged her to write about the region she knew so well. Her first novel, South Moon Under, came out in 1933, and was a Book of the Month Club selection. 

Members read selections from Blood of My Blood, a memoir published after her death. It was a scathing indictment of what she called ‘ruthless mother love’. 

We also read from the biography, The Life She Wishes to Live, by Ann McCutcheon.

 

The Yearling was published in 1938 and rocketed to best sellerdom. It won, and deserved, the Pulitzer. It is the moving story of a young boy, Jody Baxter, who adopts an orphaned faun; it is filled with vivid characters, bear hunts, snake bites, and anything else you could possibly want. 

Marjorie’s non-fiction book, Cross Creek, also became a Book-of-the-Month selection, in 1942. In it she described many of the local characters, and not all of them were appreciative of the attention. In 1943 Zelma Cason filed a lawsuit claiming that Rawlings had defamed her – apparently, she objected being described as an “angry and efficient canary”, but at the same time she wanted to participate in the royalties from the book. The case dragged on for 5 years, and in the end, Rawlings was ordered to pay Zelma $1, and court costs. 

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlins died at the age of 57, of a cerebral hemorrhage. She had lived large and vividly; she had two husbands and no children; she was friends with Ernest Hemingway, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Zora Neal Hurston; and she was financially independent. She advocated for preserving the Everglades and for the end of segregation. It was an enormous pleasure to make her acquaintance. 

Respectfully submitted,

Christine Lehner, Recording secretary

Christine Presents Baron Corvo and A.J.A. Symonds

Jacquie's Email Notice

Let me tell you what I wish I'd known
When I was young and dreamed of glory
You have no control
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?

— George Washington in the musical Hamilton
(Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda)

In perusing the program choices listed in our beautiful, hot off the presses program book, the varied approaches to and interpretations of this year's theme “Biography” will certainly make for compelling listening, so let the meetings of The Literature Club of Hastings-on-Hudson 2021–2022 begin!

Our inaugural meeting will be this Wednesday, September 22nd at 12:45 pm to hear Christine introduce us to The Quest for Corvo.

There has been a slight change to the venue. If we are lucky enough to meet together in person outdoors we will be meeting in Fran's lovely backyard. Currently, the weather report predicts rain, so please check your email by 11 am for confirmation from Fran if we will be meeting in person or on Zoom. And please feel free to call Fran if you have any doubts about where or how we will be meeting.

There has also been a slight change to our food policy. If we are meeting outdoors, please feel free to bring a drink or snack for yourself. If we are meeting on Zoom, please attempt to snack off-camera as a courtesy to all.

Please do a rain dance; implore the gods; wish on a star, an eyelash, or grab a wishbone – whatever your modus operandi to alter the course of the universe – with the hope that we will be able to meet in person on Wednesday. No matter what, we will be together. Until Wednesday! Jacquie

Christine's Minutes and Her Presentation

Alas, the last sentence of the last minutes of last season has been rendered incorrect by the resurgence of the Delta variant the continuation of the pandemic. We are still not enjoying the delicious lunches prepared by members.

But we are meeting ‘in real life’, outdoors, whenever possible. And so it was that for the first meeting of our 2021-2022 season, our 112th season, we gathered in President Fran Greenberg’s back yard. Twelve members were present to enjoy the intermittent sunshine, the camaraderie, and the dissonant obbligato of the power tools next door. 

The meeting was called to order at 1:10pm. Fran thanked Connie for our elegant booklet featuring a “Cubist Woman” by Jean Metzinger on the cover. Members also enjoyed the switch to the Garamond font, with its distinctive small eye on the “e”, and the extended leg of the capital “R”. 

The minutes of the previous meeting, way back in June, were read and accepted. Our treasurer reported we have $345.52 in our account. It was noted that we need to choose a book for the library in memory of Phyllis Frankel. 

For our first program in this season of biography, Christine Lehner presented The Quest for Corvo, An Experiment in Biography, by A.J.A. Symonds. For her presentation, Christine wore a fez and a Coptic cross with an amethyst; the significance of these items became clear when pictures of Baron Corvo were circulated. Written in 1934, The Quest for Corvo is still considered groundbreaking, because the reader learns the story of Frederic Rolfe, Baron Corvo, right along with the biographer, who must act as a detective, seeking and finding information about his mystifying subject. The quest began when a friend innocently gave Symonds Hadrian the Seventh, Corvo’s brilliant novel about becoming pope, half autobiographical, and half wish-fulfilment. Symonds was bowled over by the writing and wanted learn about the writer. It took years of tracking down Corvo’s old friends and enemies for Symonds to compile a reasonable picture of this contradictory man.  Frederic Rolfe (1860-1913) left school early and had a checkered career as a teacher and then a writer. In 1886 he converted to Catholicism, a religion he loved for its pageantry and rituals, and whose members he loathed. Rolfe famously said, “As for the Faith, I find it comfortable. As for the Faithful, I find them intolerable.” He quickly determined that he had a calling to be a priest. Twice he was thrown out of seminary, once in England and once again in Rome. In Italy he became friendly with the Duchess Soforza Cesarini, and began calling himself Baron Corvo. He claimed that she had bestowed upon him an ‘unused title’. Starting in1900, he lived in London and tried to make a living as a writer.  In his novel Nicholas Crabbe – which could not be published until 1958 for fear of libel suits – Rolfe/Corvo wrote autobiographically of those London years, his dire poverty, the young man he takes in and nurtures. The book includes exact transcriptions of his elegant and vituperative correspondences with publishers and agents. In Hadrian the Seventh, Rolfe’s alter-ego, George Arthur Rose, is a Catholic convert who has twice been refused to become a priest. Then along come two Eminences to visit, and apologize for the egregious mistake, and immediately set about to ordain him. Soon after, back in Rome, the College of Cardinals finds itself at an impasse, unable to agree on a choice for the new pope. George Arthur Rose is presented as a dark horse candidate, and shockingly, is elected the next pope. With his first papal act of choosing a name, Rose/Rolfe makes it clear that he will follow his own inclinations, rather than ecclesiastical traditions. Hadrian is not a name the cardinals consider appropriate. Pope Hadrian then proceeds to sell all the art stored in the Vatican, and give the proceeds to the poor; he also brings several young men from London to Rome, and gives them titles and keeps them close. 

While Frederic Baron Corvo Rolfe remains little known, his masterpiece Hadrian the Seventh has been reprinted, along with The Quest for Corvo. So, there is hope.

Members read selections from The Quest for Corvo and Hadrian the Seventh. 

As we are beginning a year of exploring biographies, I quote Symonds, from his lecture Tradition and Biography: “Biography is the telling of a story-of a life-story, and it differs from fiction only in this, that whereas the novelist must confine his plot within the boundary of probability, the biographer must observe the boundary of fact.”

The meeting was adjourned at 3 pm, just before our president noted a red-bellied woodpecker in a tree behind us.

Respectfully submitted,

Christine Lehner, Recording Secretary

—(Christine did double duty today, as both presenter and recording secretary)

Phyllis Frankel (April 8, 1934 to July 14, 2021)

It is with deep sadness that I share the news of longtime member Phyllis Frankel’s death. Phyllis was 87. Our mothers were sisters. She was fourteen years older, the first born of my generation of cousins, and like a light on the road of my life, she led my way first to Hastings and then to the Literature Club.

Whatever Phyllis did, she did well. She was our Recording Secretary for years; her minutes were beautifully detailed. Her presentations were thoughtfully done. We all so enjoyed being in her home when she hosted.

Phyllis grew up in Peekskill and Mount Vernon. She went to Buffalo State Teacher’s College, received two master’s degrees from Hunter College, the first in teaching, and the other, to prepare for her second career, in speech pathology. She married Benjamin Frankel in 1959; their daughters, Faith, Rachel and Eleanor, were all born in the sixties. She and Ben were pleasantly surprised when their 3 girls presented them with 6 grandsons. A granddaughter was born between grandsons four and five, but too late to continue the run of three generations of being the oldest daughter of the oldest daughter. Phyllis was the last. We thought of her as the family matriarch.

Phyllis was one of the founders of Temple Beth Shalom and served as president. She was active in the PTSA and the League of Women Voters.

She had a well-lived life.

- Fran Greenberg

Our Pandemic Year

The posts which follow are mostly minutes of our year on Zoom. March 11, 2020 was our last in-person meeting before we went virtual. We knew 2020-21 was going to be a tough year; we chose (wisely) Humor, Comedy and Satire as our topic. Our readings and our presentations lifted our spirits. What we missed most on Zoom was hearing each other's laughter.  

Now - we're all vaccinated. We were able to meet, finally, unmasked, for the last presentation of the year - Carla's, on Calvin Trillin, June 2. We sat in Carol's garden, the day was warm and sunny. Her peonies were in full bloom. 

For the first time this pandemic year, we could all hear each other's laughter.

Carla Presents Calvin Trillin

Superwoman Carla handled both a move and her presentation in May. 

Jacquie's Reminder Email

"When you're writing, you are robbed of your delivery." - Calvin Trillin

Hello Literary Ladies!

Although I was saddened to realize that this Wednesday, May 19th's meeting of The Literature Club of Hastings-on-Hudson will be the final one for this year's tremendously enjoyable theme of Comedy, Humor, and Satire, I know we are going to have a lot of fun with Carla's presentation on Calvin Trillin because I've already had the best time just choosing a quote for my reminder email. There was this: "As far as I'm concerned, 'whom' is a word that was invented to make everyone sound like a butler." Or, "The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found." Or even, "If Lincoln freed the slaves and preserved the Union, how come 'Lincolnesque' just means tall?" 

But the quote above in blue won the day because not only did it make me chuckle, but it also made me think; think of our dear Lit Club and the myriad ways our form of exploring different themes and the work of different writers brings added richness to what we experience together. Sharing the words of our writers by reading them aloud gives them new meaning - we hear them differently with each new reader, as well as through the minds and enthusiasm of each presenter. It might not be the 'delivery' intended by the author (ha!) but we are grateful to all our writers for bravely giving up that privilege so that we can find our own way through their thoughts and ideas, leaving our time together a little fuller than when we first came. (Pun intended, with dreams of soon returning to shared luncheons!) 

Although I missed the chance to hear everyone laughing together (or not!) this past year, Zoom still kept us all close and I think we should give ourselves a standing ovation for the new computer skills we all mastered and the creative way we persevered. I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday. Enjoy this beautiful weather!  xJacquie

Christine's Minutes

For our first in person meeting in over a year, thirteen fully vaccinated and hence maskless members of the Literature Club gathered in Carol Barkin’s backyard. We were seated upon a variety of folding chairs. For our benefit the garden was extravagantly displaying its ornaments: bright pink and pale pink peonies were at their peak, chives were topped with lilac pompoms, and mingled all about were Rose Campion (Silene coronaria). Even the landscapers had yielded to the imperative of out literary gathering, and had rescheduled their noisy mechanical ministrations.

President Fran Greenberg rang the bell at 1:40, and it was a treat to hear the ding-a-ling unmediated by cyberspace. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and accepted. The treasury remains at $267.52. Fran told us she is in the process of affixing our club bookplates to the books donated to the library. Connie requested that members please tell her their chosen subjects for next year’s program.

What better way to end a year of humor with one of the most humorous humorists out there? Carla’s presentation was on Calvin Trillin, and her chosen readings had many of us weeping with laughter.

Along with copies of our readings, Carla had for each of us a gift-wrapped Chuckles™, elegantly described by one member as a “madeleine of a 1970s childhood in Poughkeepsie.”

Calvin Trillin was born in Kansas City in 1935. He went to Yale, where he wrote for the Yale Daily News. After serving in the army, he moved to New York City to begin his writing career. He started writing for The New Yorker in 1963, and in 1967 he began writing his column “Uncivil Liberties” for The Nation. Most importantly, in 1965 he married Alice Stewart – yes, the famous Alice of all his stories. They had two daughters, and several grandchildren. She died in 2001.

Trillin has been a prolific writer, with 177 works, in over 463 publications. In 2013 he was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

The club read, with great merriment, dare I say giddiness, selections from Floater, Tepper Isn’t Going Out, and The Tummy Trilogy. Your secretary particularly appreciated an extract from “To Market, To Market” in which their friend Jeffrey, who “had finished second in the other-than-white egg division,” chats about eggs with the poultry vendors. It must be admitted that like Jeffrey, your secretary has been known to turn up her nose at the color of yolks not produced by her own chickens.

One hilarious selection demonstrated Trillin’s technique, while traveling out of town, for deciding whether or not to accept a colleague’s dinner invitation, that is, if the food would be good.

Some members almost laughed themselves into a veritable snort, as we listened to the story of Chubby,  the collie dog, who turned out to be named George. Trillin was the one called Chubby.

Throughout his writing, his wife Alice is often brought in, as a straight (wo)man to Trillin’s extravagant gastronomic adventures. His tenderness for her is palpable.

Trillin’s comic genius is made manifest when he takes the mundane and makes it extraordinary, and hilarious. What is more mundane than finding a decent parking spot in the city? His last novel, Tepper Isn’t Going Out, is about Tepper who enjoys parking for its own sake.

A fine time was had by all. The club looks forward to this September when we can meet in person, and in the spirit of Calvin Trillin, enjoy the delicious lunches prepared by members.

Respectfully submitted,
Christine Lehner, Recording Secretary

  

Gita Presents Peter Mayle

Jacquie's Reminder Email 

April 26 Hello Literary Ladies! A note to remind you that we will be meeting this Wednesday, April 28th at 1pm, when Gita will delight us with the musings of Peter Mayle. Although we won't be together to also enjoy what few in the South of France would call "a little nosh" I hope you all will treat yourselves to something special before or during our virtual meeting/travels. Until Wednesday, Jacquie

Christine's Minutes

Thirteen members and one associate met for our meeting via Zoom on April 28, 2021. As usual, we engaged in our pre-meeting exchanges of news, books, and cultural happenings. Most significantly, on this occasion several sightings of the rogue yellow tulip were noted. This yellow (though sometimes blushing to red) tulip has appeared in the gardens of several members, in places where no tulips were planted, and where no tulips were expected to survive the ungulate depredations. Yet, there it was.

At 1:35 President Fran Greenberg rang her bell, and the meeting commenced. Minutes of the previous meeting were read and accepted. Our treasury remains unchanged at $396.52.

Then, with all due fanfare, Connie announced that our program next year will be: "Biography. "A distant second and third were "Drama," and then "Russian Literature. "The 2021-2022 season will begin on September 22.

We have made our annual donation to the Hastings Library, of $129.00, which was used to purchase several books including Hamnet, Klara and the Sun, and others enjoyed by our members.

Then it was time to visit the beautiful south of France with Gita, and Peter Mayle. The books consulted for our trip were A Year in Provence, a collection of vignettes about the author’s adventures renovating his house, and Toujours Provence, short stories about life in Provence. 

Peter Mayle was born in Brighton, England in 1939, but grew up in Barbados, where the family moved for his father’s work with the Colonial Office. Mayle was married three times, the last one being a success. He began his career writing sex education books for young people. In the 1980’s he moved to Luberon, in southern France. His books about France have been enormously successful. In 2002 the French government made him a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor) for coopération et francophonie, which sounds to me like he was given the award for speaking French so well.

Members first read an excerpt from A Year in Provence, in which was described a lunch on New Year’s Day. Some listeners may have developed francophone hunger pains at the excruciating detail: the meal started off with three homemade pizzas of anchovies, mushrooms and cheese; then came pâtés of rabbit, boar, thrush and saucission; then duck with wild mushrooms; then a casserole of rabbit civet; followed by a green salad, goat’s cheese, and an almond and cream gateau. The digestifs were made, mais oui, following an eleventh century recipe.

In Toujours Provence, members met the plumber who played the clarinet, and the builders who came to demolish the kitchen, otherwise known as the assault troops. We also learned the merits of rabbits, and heard of the architect’s prospective job designing a new brothel in Cavaillon. For any of us planning a visit to Aix any time soon, we learned the de rigeur of café deportment: first arrive in a red Kawasaki; second, keep your sunglasses on when entering; third, engage in ritual kissing; fourth, keep wearing sunglasses.

Our most pleasant sojourn in France ended with some Provençal wisdom regarding the use of lemon to keep away ants. Mille mercis a Gita.

Respectfully submitted, Christine Lehner, Recording Secretary

Linda Presents Roz Chast

Jacquie's Email Reminder

April 11, 2021: Dear Literary Ladies,Well, thank GOODNESS there is no such thing as this miracle book! If there were, where would that leave us?!?! Just a quick reminder that on Wednesday, April 14th at 1 pm, Linda will be sharing more of Roz Chast's infinite wisdom with us.  Until then, I hope you don't experience every emotion known to mankind! Jacquie

Christine's Minutes

On April 14, 2021, fourteen members attended the meeting of the Literature Club, via Zoom, a program in which we are all becoming quite competent. President Fran Greenberg called upon members in their screen order, and we heard the good news of members becoming fully vaccinated, of grandchildren finally returning to in-person school, and of Linda’s “post-vaccine gallivanting ways”.

Our president rang the bell at 1:34 (an exactitude completely reliant upon the computer which hosts our meeting). The minutes of our previous meeting were read and accepted. Our treasury is ample with $396.52. Much of that will be donated to the library, as usual.

And then, even while separately inhabiting our rectangles on screen, we travelled together, guided by Linda Tucker, into the very weird and comical world of Roz Chast. It must be noted that Linda was more than competent in her use of Screen-Sharing: she has become a master of the medium. The theme of the program was Roz Chast and Existential Angst. Existential, as in existence. Angst, as in a gloomy often neurotic feeling of generalized anxiety. How profoundly appropriate for our pandemic times! Since these minutes will not avail of screen sharing, nor – alas - will they be illustrated by your secretary, mere words must be relied on to spark your memory of certain cartoons. So, we began with Lots of Ducks, then Little Things, Chast’s first cartoon to be accepted by The New Yorker, and Linda’s favorite, Reading the Obits while calculating the ages in relation to oneself.

Following the categories listed on Roz Chast's website: Fairy Tales, Fear and Loathing, Kids and Family, and Unclassifiable, Linda shared with us a wonderfully curated selection of cartoons. Just to name a few, we saw "Gregor S’s Further Adventure,;" "Kant at Camp," "The Delusional World of Free-Range Chickens," "Ralph Nader’s Children," "Our Friend Algebra," "Rebels Without a Magic Marker," "Radiator Cooking."

Roz Chast was born in 1954 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, the only child of two educators. She received a BFA from RISD in 1977. She sold her first cartoon to The New Yorker in 1978, and had her first cover in 1986. She has written and illustrated numerous books, including a memoir Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? which won several awards and struck a chord with so many of us with elderly and aging parents. In addition to The New Yorker, she has published cartoons in journals as varied as the Village Voice and the Harvard Business Review.

In a 2014 interview with Steve Martin at The New Yorker festival, Chast discussed her cartooning routine. She generally draws between 5 and 7 cartoons a week, and once something is bought by The New Yorker, she will redraw it and tidy things up. She loves to draw interiors, especially wallpaper and lamps, inanimate objects. She said that her mother “believed in the conspiracy of the inanimate”.

We all enjoyed spending the afternoon in the wonderfully offbeat and idiosyncratic world of Roz Chast’s imagination.

Respectfully submitted, Christine Lehner, Recording Secretary

Our Annual Meeting

Jacquie's Reminder Email

March 8, 2021: Hello Literary Ladies! Just a reminder that we will be meeting on Wednesday, March 10th at 1pm for our annual Annual Meeting. Our agenda will include discussing topics for next year, and the nominating committee will announce the officers for next year. Hopefully some of those meetings will be held in person! Until Wednesday, Jacquie 

P.S. For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath for the third season of Shtisel, I have just learned that it will finally air on Netflix on March 25th! For those of you who haven't seen it, I highly recommend the series.

Barbara's Minutes

Signs of almost spring were shared during chat time by 12 members of the Literature Club. Several of us have crocuses or snowdrops blooming in our gardens, and Mary Greenly reported a bluebird sighting in Connecticut. The other hopeful sign was that all members of a certain age have received at least the first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine, so we could talk of meeting for picnics when the weather turns warmer.

We remembered that it was at our annual meeting a year ago that we last gathered indoors in person. Fran Greenberg, then the nominee for President of Literature Club, could not be with us, because her granddaughter’s nursery school in Brooklyn had closed, and she was providing childcare. In the year since that time Fran has mastered conducting meetings on Zoom, many of us have learned how to share screens, and the Club has continued as a source of camaraderie and comfort as well as literary stimulation. We all learned to wear masks and keep social distance, and none of us contracted the virus. There was even a benefit to Zoom meetings, for members who had moved away were able to attend.

Fran led today’s business meeting, at which the minutes were accepted as read. We elected the nominating committee’s rhymed slate of candidates: Jacquie Weitzman continuing as corresponding secretary, Lori Walsh as treasurer, and Christine Lehner as our new recording secretary. Fran asked members to mail $15 annual dues to Lori. As part of the ongoing business to donate books to the Hastings Public Library, we approved Carol Barkin’s suggestion of Pamela Paul’s Rectangle Time in memory of May Kanfer.

Program Chair Connie Stewart led the discussion of topics for next program year, during which we for the first time eliminated as many topics as we added. New topics are "Black Women Authors: American and International" and "Solely Shakespeare." Among the deleted topics were “Adolescent Favorites Revisited,” although the writer of these minutes cherishes a fond memory of Gene Stratton- Porter’s Girl of the Limberlost. Connie will send us the list of topics. For our first vote, we choose 5 or perhaps 6 topics we like, but without ranking them. In the final vote of whittled down topics, we will mark first, second, and third choices.

In closing my final set of minutes, I promise that I will get copies of all to the Hastings Historical Society and that I will send Fran this past year’s minutes to be posted on the Literature Club blog. It has been a privilege to serve this august yet playful Club.

Respectfully submitted, Barbara Morrow, Recording Secretary

Jacquie Presents Neil Simon

Jacquie's Email 

Feb 21 Hello Literary Ladies! As I've been preparing for my presentation on Neil Simon this coming Wednesday at 1pm, I have been preoccupied with Broadway, and particularly the theater seasons of the late 60s and early 70s. How many of you can read those words without your mind wandering to the memory of pulling out the Arts and Leisure section of the New York Times and delighting in the latest Al Hirshfeld, searching for the NINAs and marveling at his brilliance at capturing the very essence of a character or an actor's performance? As I am still battling to find the words to express to you the time I have been spending with Neil Simon and his many, many plays and screenplays, how I wish I could just sum it all up in just a few, pointed lines! Alas, I cannot, but I can leave you here with a few images to whet your appetite for what I hope will be an amusing afternoon. Please let me know if you will be joining us on Wednesday and would like to read. I will be sharing my screen with the text of the plays we will be reading, but I will cast in advance to keep things moving. Until Wednesday! Jacquie

Barbara's Minutes 

Real estate news dominated the chat time of the February 24 meeting of the Literature Club. Carla Potash is selling her apartment on North Broadway in Hastings and moving to Greystone, and Laura Rice is selling her house on Elm Place and moving to Ossining. Both have been engaged in disposing of many boxes of things.

At the business meeting, led by President Fran Greenberg, the minutes were accepted as read and the treasury reported at still $181.52. Jacquie Weitzman and Carol Barkin are continuing discussions with Hastings Librarian Debbie Quinn about donating books from the club to the library. VP/Program Chair Connie Stewart reminded members to think about topics for the Club’s next program year, and send her ideas, in preparation for our Annual Meeting on March 10.

Jacquie Weitzman enhanced her presentation on Neil Simon with montages and photographs, including an image of the prolific playwright, in her words “the chubby cheeked master of the one-liner, with his signature tortoise shell glasses and shy smile,” who got his start writing sketch comedy for Phil Silvers and Sid Caesar.

As Carol Barkin discovered when she revisited the work of James Thurber for her February 3 presentation, Jacquie found that due to changes in our social attitudes, some of the plays she was reading or movies she was watching were not quite as funny as she remembered them to be. But she chose to appreciate the experiences in these works and the complex, flawed, human characters that Simon created. As she noted, Simon “expressed universal truths while at the same time capturing a very specific time and place. He was a child of the Depression, born and raised in New York, who contributed to the golden age of television, and created what has been called ‘the comedy of urban neurosis,’ while also exploring family relationships, the anxiety caused by feminism and the sexual revolution to a host of middle-aged men and women, and ultimately the importance of finding one’s voice and expressing love and commitment.” With pleasure we read scenes from Barefoot in the Park, Chapter Two, and The Sunshine Boys.

Respectfully submitted, Barbara Morrow, Recording Secretary

Carol Presents James Thurber

Jacquie's Email 

Feb 3 Hooray! It's only been a few days, and yet we get to meet again this Wednesday, February 3rd at 1pm for Carol's presentation on James Thurber! Good luck with the snow! Jacquie

Barbara's Minutes 

Poketa, poketa, poketa went the keys of the computer. The minutes seemed to be coming smoothly, when suddenly QUEEP, QUEEP—coreopsis was setting in, and only the proud and disdainful writer could stop it. “To hell with the handkerchief, give me a fountain pen!” she cried, inscrutable to the last.

Or something not remotely like that. What the writer of these minutes should be noting is that it was stole weather, as Joanna Riesman’s grandmother would have said, for the February 3, 2021, meeting of the Literature Club, and during our chat time members recounted their recent adventures in the snow. Connie Stewart’s tale of her car so stuck in a snowdrift in her driveway that even the rescuers from AAA could not pull it out was the most dramatic. After President Fran Greenberg rang the business meeting to order, the minutes were accepted as read and the treasury reported at its customary $181.52. A nominating committee consisting of Carla Potash, Connie Stewart, and Joanna Riesman was formed to present a slate of candidates for the offices of two secretaries and a treasurer, to be voted on at the March 10 Annual Meeting. Connie has arranged for the children’s science book Bat Count to be donated to the Hastings Library in memory of Susan Korsten. Carol Barkin will follow up on a book for the library in memory of May Kanfer, and Jacquie Weitzman will continue her discussions with librarian Debbie Quinn on our donation of $125. At the end of our session, we voted to accept Fran’s smaller version of a Literature Club book plate to go in donated books.

Presenter Carol Barkin interwove the life and work of her author, James Thurber, noting how often in his stories he rang changes on the theme of the dominating wife and the henpecked husband. As sources, she pointed us to Thurber’s mother, the practical joker Mame; Thurber’s socially ambitious first wife; and his second wife, who ran every aspect of his life while also editing the magazines Flying Aces and Sky Birds. Her two expert topics were aircraft and machine guns. Carol also stressed the unhappy effects of a childhood accident in which Thurber lost his left eye, and the positive and nurturing creative influence of The New Yorker and its founding editor Harold Ross and writer E.B. White, on both Thurber’s life and work.

Among the stories we read and laughed our way through were “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and “The Macbeth Murder Mystery.”

Respectfully submitted, Barbara Morrow, Recording Secretary

Joanna Presents Alan Bennett

Jacquie's Emails 

Dec 29 ,2020 Hello Ladies! A funny thing happened on the way to scheduling Joanna's presentation for this Lit Club season - it was set for January 20th, which is, as we all have tattooed on our hearts, Inauguration Day. So, to spread out the special events during this long pandemic season, we will be changing Joanna's presentation on Alan Bennett to January 27th. We hope this will work with everyone's schedules. Wishing you all a New Year full of laughter (and maybe a little schadenfreude??!!!) Jacquie

Jan 24, 2021 Greeting Literary Ladies! What a collection of Wednesdays we have had this January - starting with January 6th, as Barbara was delighting us with Shakespeare while the mob was attacking the capital and our democratic institutions, to last Wednesday, with the ecstatic release of grown-ups and competents taking back our capital and democratic institutions, with poetry and music and big words used correctly and with thought and feeling, and the best fireworks display I have ever seen! I for one am so glad Joanna was willing to move her presentation to this Wednesday, as I was unable to tear myself away from my television set, wearing pearls and my stars and stripes scarf, rejoicing in all that is now seemingly possible once again.

To stick with the literary, my sister Robin posted this image on her Facebook page entitled, "This small Fancy Nancy seeing what she can be." For those who are unfamiliar with the book series, this little girl is wearing a costume from Disney's Fancy Nancy collection, sold at Target.

And now we have Joanna's presentation to look forward to this Wednesday, January 27th at 1pm, when she will be delighting us with Uncommon Writer: Alan Bennett. Joanna has requested that I include the following video Maggie Smith in Alan Bennett's Bed Among the Lentils to whet your appetite for her presentation. Enjoy! Until Wednesday! Jacquie

Barbara's Minutes

Last night I should have been writing the minutes for our January 27 Literature Club meeting, but instead I could not stop watching on YouTube a performance of Beyond the Fringe at a theater in London’s West End in the 1960s. Beyond the Fringe was the creation of four young and brilliant performers from Oxford, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller, and Alan Bennett, the subject of Joanna Riesman’s presentation. I first became aware of Alan Bennett in 1965, when I was in London and saw the show. Last night I reveled in Dudley Moore accompanying himself on the piano as he sang Die Flabbergast, Peter Cook, as a Scotland yard inspector, who assures his interviewer that a train robbery does not mean a train has been stolen, Jonathan Miller as a breezy Vicar who asks to be called Dick as he tries to bring young people back to the church, and Alan Bennett, in his plumiest BBC voice, talking about T.E. Lawrence, the Man and the Myth.

But to get on with the writing of the minutes. We had a lively chat period, in which we learned that Fran Lebowitz is Jacquie Weitzman’s first cousin and spiced up family parties by bringing jazz greats. Christine Lehner's life now revolves around an adorable puppy, while Louisa Stephens delights in StoryWorth, an online program which helps users collect family stories and put them in book form. Linda Tucker is about to read American literature with her grandson at Yale. Sharon DeLevie is leaving soon for a trip to Florida with a stack of books, among them The Mothers and Deacon King Kong.  At our business meeting the minutes were accepted as read and the treasury remained at $181.52. Jacquie will continue her talk with Hastings Librarian Debbie Quinn about the Literature Club donation of $125 for books—or ebooks—of literary merit. Fran showed her floral Literature Club bookplate design, but a decision was deferred, since some members would like a design that identifies Hastings.

Joanna offered a wide-ranging view of Alan Bennett’s life and work, drawing from his memoirs, plays, and books, and referencing films, TV monologues, BBC radio plays, and more. We read passages from his memoir Untold Stories, which, as Joanna noted, revealed his talent for observing the small acts that describe a character. Bennett’s ability to describe the unhappiness or regret of women was informed by his experience of his mother’s depression. We read the funny and heartbreaking play A Woman of Letters, then turned to a lighter work, The Uncommon Reader, to conclude our exploration, under Joanna’s guidance, of this inimitable writer.

Respectfully submitted, Barbara Morrow, Recording Secretary

Barbara Presents Shakespeare's Fools

Jacquie's Email 

Hello Literary Ladies!!! As we head into the promise of 2021, this is a reminder that we will be meeting this Wednesday, January 6th at 1pm on Zoom for Barbara's Presentation on Shakespeare's Fools. Barbara will be sharing her texts on the screen during her presentation and assigning parts at that time, but if you would prefer to receive a copy of her (lengthy) texts ahead of time to print out, please let her know and she will send them to you. I hope you were all able to ring in the New Year with a little laughter! Jacquie

P.S. And since we all have Georgia on our minds, here's a little musical interlude to get us through Tuesday. 

P.P.S. And as Barbara reminded me, if you want to brush up on your Shakespeare with the help of another Brit with a way with words, Cole Porter, here you go!

Barbara's Minutes 

All the members of the Literature Club, including our newest member, Sharon DeLevie, were in their Zoom boxes for the first meeting of the new year. Joanna Riesman told us her sister took umbrage at receiving a book called Diary of a Provincial Lady as a gift, but was soon delighting in Delafield’s tale. How the holidays were different formed one theme of many of our stories during our chat time. Since we were not entertaining, there were few meals to prepare, which meant there was more time to relax, even take naps. Fortunately, most of us were able to see our families. There was also time to read. Among the books recommended were novels such as Lydia Millet’s A Children’s Bible and Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library, George Saunders’s story Fox 8,,the nonfiction works Bill Buford’s Dirt and Kerri Arsenault’s Mill Town, and Obama’s memoir, A Promised Land.

At the business meeting led by President Fran Greenberg, the minutes were accepted as read and the treasury remained at $181.52. Jacquie Weitzman and Connie Stewart said they will continue their talks with Hastings Librarian Debbie Quinn about Literature Club donations. Fran will design an book plate to be used in all books given to the library from the Literature Club.

For her talk on Shakespeare’s fools, Barbara Morrow chose the paradoxical punster Touchstone, master of court manners and morals, from Shakespeare’s romantic comedy As You Like It. She also chose Sir John Falstaff, with his fierce, subversive intelligence and carnivalesque exuberance, from the history play, King Henry IV Part 1.

Although we are not quite ready to tread the boards of the Globe Theater, Literature Club members did a very creditable job of reading three scenes from each of the plays.

Just as it was approaching 3 o’clock, a member announced that something terrible was happening at the US Capitol. We all clicked out of the meeting to learn of insurrection in Washington, DC.

Respectfully submitted, Barbara Morrow, Recording Secretary