Chapters Bookstore Welcomes Cornelia Brooke Gilder

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Pittsfield, Mass. - Chapters Bookstore will host Cornelia Brooke Gilder, author of Hawthorn'es Lenox to the event room for a slide show and discussion on Thursday December 11, 2008 at 6PM.

This book is story of the cultivated community that drew Hawthorne from Salem, Massachusetts to Lenox in 1850. The cast of characters - the talented and hospitable Sedgwick family, Fanny Kemble, Caroline Sturgis Tappan and Samuel and Anna Ward - were member of a network of friends who arranged and supported the Hawthornes' move to the Berkshires. The histories of these families and their houses in Lenox are combined with captivating watercolors depicting everyday life by Hawthorne's chief benefactor, the artistic Caroline Tappan and her daughter Ellen of Tanglewood.

Slip into the fascinating social scene Nathaniel Hawthorne encountered in the drawing rooms and on the croquet lawns of Lenox’s country retreats. Nurturing the lively exchange of ideas on everything from art to abolition, Lenox’s cottages played host to a community that enlightened a nation.

A lifelong Berkshire resident, Cornelia Brooke Gilder was educated at Vassar College and Cambridge University. She was a co curator of " A Walk in the Country: Inness and the Berkshires" at the Clark Art Institute in 2005. Her book Houses of the Berkshires 1870-1930, co authored with Richard S. Jackson, Jr. was named an honor book by Historic New England.

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Multiple Departments Respond to Lanesborough Structure Fire

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Multiple fire departments responded to a structure fire off Narragansett Avenue on Wednesday afternoon. 

The Fire Department received a call from the owner of 6 Bangor St. reporting a smoke and flames at around 1:44 p.m.

Firefighters arriving on scene reported heavy smoke emanating from the the 1940s single-family ranch home in the thickly settle neighborhood.

The blaze was brought under control in less than an hour and there were no civilian or firefighter injuries. 

"The homeowner was outside doing some work, evidently, opened the door when she came back in the house, and there were flames and smoke, so she backed out and called us, and that's all we know right now," Deputy Fire Chief Glen Storie said around 2:35 p.m. 

The fire was out at that time, and first responders observed "quite a bit of damage" to the home. The cause is still under investigation. 

Lanesborough, Cheshire, and Pittsfield departments responded to the scene, and Hancock covered the station during the call. 

"The first crew in knocked the fire right down with the first engine," Storie said. 

Smoke could be seen coming from the back of the home. Part of Narragansett Avenue and Bangor Avenue were blocked off while firefighters battled the blaze. 

 

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