Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Quote du jour/Faith Baldwin


Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees.
Faith Baldwin (1893-1978)

19 comments:

  1. I am so not ready for fall...but we're already planning a leaf peeping trip upstate.

    How can we be talking October when July isn't over yet? :)

    - J.

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  2. I do so enjoy the tree lines .. while driving home ... greens of every shade and now browns ...

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  3. Jeff, and I've been ready for months! I feel like I've just come alive. I'm so not a summer girl.

    Rachel, me too!

    JC, I tried to get a picture of our red maples but the camera simply cannot capture the beauty. They indeed look like they are on fire.

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  4. Absolutelhy gorgeous sentence.
    I will look for that to come here in the South. Need to look her up.
    Thanks for all the poets and authors you've introduced me to.

    Bonnie

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  5. Bonnie, she tops my list of writers I must read. I've read about her, but not read her. Thank you for your words.

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  6. I'd like to read some of her work as well - hopefully my library has some. Any friend of Gladys Taber's is a friend of mine!

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  7. What fitting words to describe a beautiful time of year in your country.
    I smiled as I read it, remembering our wonderful visit to the area at the end of September several years ago now. The spectacular colours and beautiful scenery are still etched clearly in my memory.
    Yesterday we had an amazing dust storm which blew in from the inland and right up the east coast of Australia. Today everything is covered in red dust. What a contrast.

    Patricia

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  8. I LOVE Faith Baldwin! I must have around 30 of her books (most in paperback). I'm going to have to get some of them out and read them again. (By the way, I know you're a big Gladys Taber fan -- Faith was mentioned several times in Gladys's books; apparently they were very good friends.)

    Lovely quote about autumn. Our trees are turning very early here in the midwest, but I'm afraid the colors aren't going to be very bright. I'm anxious to see our sugar maples in our front yard turn. They usually put on a great show!

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  9. I may try to buy some older books, Alison. Come back - perhaps Jill will give us some recommendations!

    Patricia, the end of September/start of October is what we call 'peak' in my part of the world. More southern parts of the state and of New England in general have later color. Too often by Columbus Day, when all the tourists arrive, the color is pretty muted - not nearly as spectacular. I never think of Australia without thinking of A Town Like Alice, both the movie and the book. :<) Does the dust get into the house?

    Jill, I have read her name so often in Gladys' books. Do you have a particular favorite? Did she write both fiction and nonfiction? What would you suggest I begin with?? Every year the color is a little different, and I'm sure there are technical, scientific reasons but it is all just plain magic to me.

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  10. We certainly visited at "peak" Nan, so much so our tour guide constantly expressed how "truly blessed" we were. Something we remember with warmth.
    Yes, A Town Like Alice is a great Australian classic.
    We do have a fine film of dust on surfaces in the house even though I kept the doors and windows closed.
    We live only metres from the coast and the dust storm event is very rare here, thank goodness.

    Patricia

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  11. Nan, I think "Station Wagon Set" is a good one to begin with. I also like "A Job for Jenny" (set in the war years) and "Washington, USA" (also set in the war years). Another favorite is "White Magic." In my opinion, her best books were written in the 1930s and 1940s and would be categorized under the heading of "light romance."

    Wikipedia has a good article on her with a list of all her books:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_Baldwin

    Good luck -- and happy reading! (By the way, I have never read "The Great Gatsby." I don't know how I could have neglected that one.

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  12. Patricia, how very nice. I'm sure the tour guide was tickled that you were here at just the right time. Because south of us the leaves turn later, I fear that tourists come up hoping to see incredible color and so often it is over. That dust sounds just amazing. Does it stop traffic? Get in people's eyes if they are out in it?

    Thank you so much, Jill. I'll go looking for those titles. I love the picture of her with her dog at wikipedia. I think often people steer away from the so-called 'classic' books fearing them to be dreadful bores, but Gatsby is not. It is very readable. The last time I read it, I wrote in my book journal that it was 'as fresh as the day it was published.'

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  13. Thank you for sharing the photo of her. I have never seen one of her before.

    I am so ready for fall. Today's temp was finally cool.

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  14. Yes Nan, the dust caused chaos with airlines all over the country and cars had to drive with lights on. It can have an adverse effect on people with chest problems, some wore masks. Yes it can irritate eyes and is generally very unpleasant.Health authorities suggest people stay indoors with all the doors and windows closed.
    Some of the dust has even blown across to New Zealand and tinged the snow in the south island red.
    We cant believe we have another dust storm on its way today! It is already over Sydney.
    I must try and get my hands on some of the books you have been discussing.I haven't read any from those authors.

    Patricia

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  15. Jodi, I thought I had put up a poem/prayer she wrote that I read in a Gladys Taber book, but I've searched and searched the blog and can't find it, so I may post it. I had never seen a pic of her either. It's supposed to be in the twenties tonight!

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  16. Patricia, I've got to try and find some pictures of this. So very interesting and scary. What books in particular did you mean??

    Jill, if you happen to come back, I've ordered Station Wagon Set through the Inter Library Loan program. It is coming from a library in Maine.

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  17. Nan, have a look on our national broadcaster site to see about the dust storms.
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/25/2697022.htm.
    The books are the ones you have been commenting on with Jill by Faith Baldwin and also F. Scott Fitzgerald. I haven't read any by
    Gladys Taber either.

    Patricia

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  18. Thank you, Patricia. It is so startling to see the pictures. I haven't read any Faith Baldwin but will soon. Gladys Taber wrote what is often now called, 'gentle fiction' and she wrote many nonfiction books about her life in an old farmhouse in Connecticut. I just love her. And, well, you read how I feel about Gatsby. :<)

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