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Inglenook Book Club August News

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The Inglenook Book Club met in June at Lakeside Senior Living Community with Zia Locke and Sally Sutton as hostesses. They had prepared a Hawaiian Luau theme with tables decorated with pineapples, miniature palm trees, and other Hawaiian symbols.

Members celebrating August birthdays are Juanita Finley and Donna Ward. Both received birthday cards from the club, with special recognition to Juanita who turns 92 this year.

President Moore announced she delivered the boxes of Kleenex tissues for the school teachers. Members brought spiral notebooks for today, and next month’s item is earbuds.

Our program was presented by Suzanne Russell whose subject was Beatrix Potter, most famously known as the author of the Peter Rabbit series of children’s books. However, she was an accomplished scientist and artist as well.

Beatrix Potter was born into an upper-class household in Kensington, London in 1866. Her parents were artistic, interested in nature, and enjoyed the countryside. The family spent holidays in Scotland and the Lake District where Beatrix developed a love of landscape, flora and fauna, all of which she closely observed and painted.

Beatrix and her brother, Walter Bertram, had numerous small pets which they observed closely and drew endlessly. These included mice, rabbits, a hedgehog, and some bats, along with collections of butterflies and other insects which they drew and studied.

One of the tutors of Beatrix was Anne Moore who was just three years older than Beatrix. They remained lifelong friends, and Anne’s eight children received many of Potter’s delightful picture letters. It was Anne who suggested that these letters might make good children’s books.

As a way to earn money in the 1890s, Beatrix and her brother began to print Christmas cards and cards for special occasions with their own designs. Mice and rabbits were the most frequent subjects of their fantasy paintings. As a result, over the ensuing years many of Potter’s drawings were purchased by several different publishers. She was pleased by this success and determined to publish her own illustrated stories.

Beatrix Potter’s artistic and literary interests were deeply influenced by fairy tails and fantasy. She grew up with Aesop’s Fables, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen. Most of her illustrations were fantasies involving her own pets.

While on holiday or vacation, Potter often sent letters to young friends, particularly to Anne Moore’s oldest son, Noel, who was often ill. One of these was a story about four little rabbits whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter. It became one of the most famous children’s letters ever written and the basis of Potter’s future career as a writer-artist-storyteller.

In 1902, The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published and was an immediate success. It was followed the next year by The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, and The Tailor of Gloucester, which had also been written a picture letters to the Moore children. In all, Potter wrote 23 children’s books.

Beatrix Potter was interested in every branch of natural science except astronomy. Her interests centered, however, on the study of fungi. Because she was a female, Potter’s work and drawings in this area were not accepted by the male-dominated world of scientific research. One paper on the subject of fungi submitted to the Linnean Society in 1897 has been recently rediscovered along with rich artistic illustrations and is only now being properly evaluated. In 1997 the Linnean Society issued a posthumous apology to Potter for the sexism displayed in the handling of her research.

In 1913, at the age of 47, she married William Heelis, a respected local solicitor. They would go on to purchase several farms and raise Herdwick sheep, becoming major sheep farmers in the country. Beatrix and William Heelis enjoyed a happy 30-year marriage.

Beatrix Potter died of complications from pneumonia and heart disease in 1943. She left almost all of her property to the National Trust and included over 4,000 acres of land, 16 farms, cottages, heads of cattle and sheep. It was the largest gift ever left to the National Trust.

Geneva Johnson and Donna Ward announced the reopening of The Dixie Theatre in Huntingdon and told some of the upcoming events.

Linda Edge and Donna Ward are hostesses for the September meeting.

Members present were: Victoria Ard, Peggy Chappell, Juanita Finley, Carolyn Goodwin, Geneva Johnson, Zia Locke, Shirley Martin, Sandi McMahen, Beverly Mueller, Carolyn Moore, Mary Newman, Pedie Petersen, Shelia Rogers, Gaye Rowan, Suzanne Russell, Sally Sutton, Donna Ward, and Elaine Williams.