How's your Tuesday so far? I've gotten a little done, not enough but better than nothing.
Today I thought I'd tell you about a wonderful writer. Many of you may be familiar with her and longtime fans, but she may be new to others. Her name was Gladys Taber. Here you can find some facts about her life:http://gladystaber.wikispaces.com/ here. However, the real way to learn about this remarkable woman is through her books.
These are a few of the titles in my library.
Harvest at Stillmeadow was published in 1940. Many of her books were set in the valley in Connecticut where her 17th century farmhouse, Stillmeadow, is located.
Harvest of Yesterday relates some of the major events of her life prior to the move there.
She and her husband and another couple bought Stillmeadow in 1933. At first they just used the house during the summer, but in 1935 moved in full time.
Stillmeadow Sampler, like many of her other works, is a non-fiction series of essays about her family, friends, nature, animals and the seasons in the country.
This one is called Stillmeadow Calendar.
This one is fun, because it is written in the form of letters between the two authors, Gladys Taber in Connecticut and Barbara Webster in Pennsylvania. Webster's husband, Edward Shenton, illustrated a number of the Stillmeadow books.
These are gentle, peaceful reads, meditative thoughts on life, family and friends. They include a lot about animals, especially dogs. Gladys Taber was born in 1899 to a father who was a geologist and mining engineer; there was a lot of moving throughout her childhood, which is probably one reason why she loved her place in the country so much, as a home to stay put in. She taught English at Columbia University and wrote fifty books during her lifetime. Her non-fiction works are especially good if you're busy or stressed. There is no story to follow, you can dip into the middle of one as easily as dutifully beginning at page 1 and still enjoy the visit immensely. I've been picking up her books at thrift shops and sales for decades now, and her message never grows stale.
Do you have favorite writers like this you go back to automatically in time of stress or conflict who never fail to soothe your spirit? I hope so!
Till next time,
Michele
1 comment:
Oh, Michele, you have written about my favorite writer here. I too have been collecting her books for years and they are ones I never lend out, couldn't bear to part with one. I have all the ones you showed except I'm not sure about the Country Chronicle one. I have her large Stillmeadow Album too that shows photographs of Stillmeadow. It was all I asked for on my birthday one year many decades ago. That was back when there was no internet search and I had to depend mostly on rare bookstores finding them for me.
Gladys is always one of the people I would list when asked to tell who i would like to have dinner with if I could have anyone. Thank you for showing these books. I hope others discover her too.
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