Literary Tourism Flourishes in Robert Frost Country
Dan Brown is a New Hampshire resident who happens to be the author of the
blockbuster Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. His books have
spawned a tourism industry of their own as people make pilgrimages to sites
mentioned in his novels. But as an Exeter resident, he knows there are many
settings much closer to home. In fact John Irving's books, including Hotel New
Hampshire, reference various private schools that resemble Philips Exeter
Academy in Brown's hometown.
There are many New Hampshire destinations familiar to readers who may
want to visit just to soak up the atmosphere. From Frost to Dr. Seuss, there's
something for every taste among these New Hampshire “leaves.”
Here are a few suggestions:
The Robert Frost Farm in Derry was the home of Robert Frost and his family
from 1900-1909. The modest clapboard farm house is open to visitors who
want to see the place that inspired such poems as “Mending Wall.” Located
on the rural State Route 28, the farm evokes the true spirit of “the road not
taken.” The house tour includes a brief film. A half-mile walking trail runs
through the woods with 23 markers along the way pointing out familiar spots
from his poems. Robert Frost Farm State Historic Park is open weekends from
Mid-May to Mid-June, and daily, Mid-June to Labor Day, 10am - 6pm.
Admission is $3. For information, call 603-432-3091. Readers with a copy of the
North of Boston, New Hampshire or Mountain Interval collection of poems
can make their own pilgrimage to other sites, such as Coös or Grafton. The
Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover contains
extensive Frost archives.
Dr. Seuss went to Dartmouth. Also in Dartmouth's Library are cartoons
created for the Dartmouth humor magazine, Jack O'Lantern by Theodor
Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, Class of 1925. Geisel contributed regularly and
sometimes controversially to Jack O'Lantern and created “Dr. Seuss” as a
pseudonym after one incident. The campus and its lively hometown of
Hanover offer plenty of diversions, along with the occasional encounter with a
cat in a hat.
Several recent books by New Hampshire authors capture other local scenes:
Dr. Mark Okrant, director of Plymouth State University's Institute for New
Hampshire Studies, has just published a novel, The Last Resort, set at The
Balsams in Dixville Notch in the Great North Woods.
Tom Eslick's “Will Buchanan” mystery series focuses on the White Mountains.
He says readers can follow the trails in his latest book,
Mountain Peril, with a White Mountains hiking guide.
Southern New Hampshire University scholar and novelist Robert J. Begiebing’
s trilogy follows Portsmouth society through several generations of women.
The most recent volume, Rebecca Wentworth’s Distraction, is set in 18th
century Portsmouth and depicts the mansions, gardens and shops of the
colonial city in a manner that allows readers to follow the hero's footsteps
through many of the same streets and houses that remain preserved and
accessible today. Among them, the Thomas Bailey Aldrich house in the
Strawbery Banke Museum compound. Aldrich described growing up in the
house in the years 1849 to 1852, in his classic, Story of a Bad Boy. For
information call 603-433-1100.
Also on the Seacoast -- just off the coast, actually, but still in New Hampshire --
are the Isles of Shoals made famous by poet and naturalist Celia Thaxter in the
mid-19th century. Thanks to a salon she organized at the resort on Appledore
Island, each summer she attracted such Boston literary lions and artists as
Childe Hassam, William Morris Hunt, poet John Whittier, and publisher
James Fields (another Portsmouth son). In the summer, visitors can still
wander in the garden she created on Appledore Island. To preserve the fragile
eco-system, tours of Celia Thaxter's gardens are offered to the public only on
Wednesdays from June 22 through August 31. Visitors leave Seabrook, New
Hampshire by boat at 9 am and return at 4:30 pm. The program is offered by
the Cornell University Isle of Shoals Marine Laboratory and the cost of $60 per
person helps to underwrite the program. For information call 607-254-2900.
In the Monadnock Region, the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough has
inspired great authors from Thornton Wilder, who wrote “Our Town” there,
to Studs Terkel. Colonists have won more than 50 Pulitzer Prizes. Designed as
an artists' sanctuary, the Colony is open to the public for one day each summer
for the Medal Day ceremony. The Edward MacDowell Medal is a national
award presented to an American creative artist whose body of work has made
an outstanding contribution to the national culture. Festivities focus around a
presentation address given by an outstanding authority in the medalist's field,
and the medalist's acceptance. After a picnic lunch, current MacDowell artists-
in-residence will open their studios to the public from 2 pm until 4 pm. There
is no charge to attend the ceremony or the open studios. For more information
visit www.macdowellcolony.org.
There are innumerable authors who have lived in New Hampshire, from
Peterborough resident, the satirist P.J. O'Rourke, to J. D. Salinger who made
his home in Cornish. There's even a website dedicated to recognizing them:
www.nh.gov/nhsl/nhauthors. Scores more have been inspired, including
Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of “The Great Stone Face” story that prompted
so many to come see the Old Man of the Mountains for themselves.
Dan Brown is a New Hampshire resident who happens to be the author of the
blockbuster Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. His books have
spawned a tourism industry of their own as people make pilgrimages to sites
mentioned in his novels. But as an Exeter resident, he knows there are many
settings much closer to home. In fact John Irving's books, including Hotel New
Hampshire, reference various private schools that resemble Philips Exeter
Academy in Brown's hometown.
There are many New Hampshire destinations familiar to readers who may
want to visit just to soak up the atmosphere. From Frost to Dr. Seuss, there's
something for every taste among these New Hampshire “leaves.”
Here are a few suggestions:
The Robert Frost Farm in Derry was the home of Robert Frost and his family
from 1900-1909. The modest clapboard farm house is open to visitors who
want to see the place that inspired such poems as “Mending Wall.” Located
on the rural State Route 28, the farm evokes the true spirit of “the road not
taken.” The house tour includes a brief film. A half-mile walking trail runs
through the woods with 23 markers along the way pointing out familiar spots
from his poems. Robert Frost Farm State Historic Park is open weekends from
Mid-May to Mid-June, and daily, Mid-June to Labor Day, 10am - 6pm.
Admission is $3. For information, call 603-432-3091. Readers with a copy of the
North of Boston, New Hampshire or Mountain Interval collection of poems
can make their own pilgrimage to other sites, such as Coös or Grafton. The
Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover contains
extensive Frost archives.
Dr. Seuss went to Dartmouth. Also in Dartmouth's Library are cartoons
created for the Dartmouth humor magazine, Jack O'Lantern by Theodor
Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, Class of 1925. Geisel contributed regularly and
sometimes controversially to Jack O'Lantern and created “Dr. Seuss” as a
pseudonym after one incident. The campus and its lively hometown of
Hanover offer plenty of diversions, along with the occasional encounter with a
cat in a hat.
Several recent books by New Hampshire authors capture other local scenes:
Dr. Mark Okrant, director of Plymouth State University's Institute for New
Hampshire Studies, has just published a novel, The Last Resort, set at The
Balsams in Dixville Notch in the Great North Woods.
Tom Eslick's “Will Buchanan” mystery series focuses on the White Mountains.
He says readers can follow the trails in his latest book,
Mountain Peril, with a White Mountains hiking guide.
Southern New Hampshire University scholar and novelist Robert J. Begiebing’
s trilogy follows Portsmouth society through several generations of women.
The most recent volume, Rebecca Wentworth’s Distraction, is set in 18th
century Portsmouth and depicts the mansions, gardens and shops of the
colonial city in a manner that allows readers to follow the hero's footsteps
through many of the same streets and houses that remain preserved and
accessible today. Among them, the Thomas Bailey Aldrich house in the
Strawbery Banke Museum compound. Aldrich described growing up in the
house in the years 1849 to 1852, in his classic, Story of a Bad Boy. For
information call 603-433-1100.
Also on the Seacoast -- just off the coast, actually, but still in New Hampshire --
are the Isles of Shoals made famous by poet and naturalist Celia Thaxter in the
mid-19th century. Thanks to a salon she organized at the resort on Appledore
Island, each summer she attracted such Boston literary lions and artists as
Childe Hassam, William Morris Hunt, poet John Whittier, and publisher
James Fields (another Portsmouth son). In the summer, visitors can still
wander in the garden she created on Appledore Island. To preserve the fragile
eco-system, tours of Celia Thaxter's gardens are offered to the public only on
Wednesdays from June 22 through August 31. Visitors leave Seabrook, New
Hampshire by boat at 9 am and return at 4:30 pm. The program is offered by
the Cornell University Isle of Shoals Marine Laboratory and the cost of $60 per
person helps to underwrite the program. For information call 607-254-2900.
In the Monadnock Region, the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough has
inspired great authors from Thornton Wilder, who wrote “Our Town” there,
to Studs Terkel. Colonists have won more than 50 Pulitzer Prizes. Designed as
an artists' sanctuary, the Colony is open to the public for one day each summer
for the Medal Day ceremony. The Edward MacDowell Medal is a national
award presented to an American creative artist whose body of work has made
an outstanding contribution to the national culture. Festivities focus around a
presentation address given by an outstanding authority in the medalist's field,
and the medalist's acceptance. After a picnic lunch, current MacDowell artists-
in-residence will open their studios to the public from 2 pm until 4 pm. There
is no charge to attend the ceremony or the open studios. For more information
visit www.macdowellcolony.org.
There are innumerable authors who have lived in New Hampshire, from
Peterborough resident, the satirist P.J. O'Rourke, to J. D. Salinger who made
his home in Cornish. There's even a website dedicated to recognizing them:
www.nh.gov/nhsl/nhauthors. Scores more have been inspired, including
Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of “The Great Stone Face” story that prompted
so many to come see the Old Man of the Mountains for themselves.
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