Jacquie's Email
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.”
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| Rupert, Beatrix and Betram Potter, 1904 |
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 |
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
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