Jacquie and Gertrude and Alice and Pablo and George

Jacquie's Email

“Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” ‒ Gertrude Stein

“ ‒ neither vegetable nor fruit juice, please ‒ but raw baby artichokes, endives washed and cut in half, radishes and asparagus tips for example; with coffee to end a perfect lunch.” ‒ Alice B. Toklas

Dear Literary Ladies,

I really had the very best of intentions to present to you what I've learned about Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, arguing that one can compare the art created by each ‒ Gertrude her writing and poetry, and Alice, her art in the form of caring for Gertrude Stein herself, as well as her own writing in The
Alice B. Toklas Cook Book ‒ where I found Alice's old fashioned way of writing out recipes and stream of consciousness musing on their lives together reminiscent of her life partner's literary style. Their lives were so expansive, as both witnesses and role players in the many extraordinary events of the first half of the 20th century in both America and France, where they knew everyone there was to know and played an important role in influencing the art and literature of their time, that I found I had bitten off way more than I could chew. I had hoped this single source of exploration would have made it possible for me to meet my deadline for tomorrow, but alas, olʼ Gertrude and Alice will have to be put off for another day. For that, I am truly sorry.
    We will still be meeting tomorrow at 12:45 pm on Zoom, at which time Joanna will unveil next year's theme (!) from NOLA, and we will read together a wonderful short story I'm excited to share with you.
  

 I leave you with one final image of two 18th-century children's armchairs upholstered with petit point sewn by Alice B. Toklas over designs by Pablo Picasso which are in the collection of the Yale University Library.
    I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and I look forward to seeing you all at what I hope will be our final Zoom-only meeting.
    Until then, until then, until then, until then ‒ Jacquie 

Christine's Minutes

In another historic first, in this year of historic firsts, our new Vice President, Joanna Reisman, joined the Zoom meeting from the inside of a car in a casino parking lot, in Houma, Louisiana. Joanna and another Literature Club member, Diana Jaeger, are traveling to Lafayette, where the intrepid travelers will start their four-day bicycle trip.  From such a distinguished location, Joanna dramatically announced that our theme for next year will be…. Drama.

Connie rang the bell at 1:10 pm. The minutes were read and accepted, with one correction. Lori sent in our treasury numbers which remain at $430.11. Sharon will speak to Debbie Quinn and get suggestions as to what books are wanted by the librarians. We will keep $200 in our coffers to pay for the booklet and any incidentals; the rest will be given to the Hastings on Hudson Public Library.

We next discussed the burning issue of the day – and not only for the Literature Club: When can we extricate ourselves from the getting-too-comfortable Skinnerian box of Zoom? The current plan is now that we will meet in person at Joanna’s on May 4th, while still zooming in for anyone who would prefer it.

Then in the course of apologizing that a family situation had prevented her from presenting her topic, “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,” Jacquie managed to entertain us with more than a soupçon of her presentation. For instance, the very fact that Gertrude and Alice knew everyone – and Jacquie too will come to know, such characters as Picasso, Hemingway, Matisse, Wilder and Paul Bowles, made it difficult to narrow down the focus. We learned that Alice B’s hash brownies are not actually brownies. They are more like fruit cake.  Though how Jacquie knows this is a mystery: the brownie recipe was not even printed in the American edition of the Toklas cookbook. But that is the kind of research and preparation Jacquie has not been doing while she was not preparing for her program. 

After the too-brief non-presentation by Jacquie, members read “The Falls” by George Saunders. The story was much enjoyed, and we learned about Saunders’ Story Club, which is available, online, to anyone who in interested.

Respectfully submitted,
Christine Lehner, Recording Secretary