As the Tri-state region experiences a few particularly hot days, it’s pleasant to think about ocean voyages; and to consider sitting indoors with a fan or the air conditioning on, while reading a very long book.
“Moby-Dick”obviously springs to mind. I mostly associate Herman Melville’s Great American Novel with New Bedford and the whaling towns of Massachusetts, but Melville has some significant connections to us, in the Berkshires and Connecticut.
As a curiosity: A descendant of the author lives in Cornwall, Conn. I will respectfully not mention her name here, but I thank her for having written many lovely articles for this newspaper, and for sharing the information that her nephew, the musician Moby, earned his nickname as a bald toddler, in honor of his illustrious ancestor.
But there is another local connection to Melville that I hadn’t known about until last week, when I received a press release from Arrowhead, which was the Melville family residence from 1851 to 1891 and which is in (relatively) nearby Pittsfield, Mass. (about 37 miles — or one hour by car — from my house in Lakeville, Conn.).
It was at Arrowhead that Melville wrote many of his most famous works, including the novels “Moby-Dick” and “The Confidence-Man” and the short stories “Benito Cereno” and “Bartleby the Scrivener.”
In his novel “Israel Potter,” Melville describes the views from Arrowhead: “On one side the eye follows for the space of an eagle’s flight, the serpentine mountain chains, southward from the great purple dome of Taconic — the St. Peter’s of these hills — northwards to the twin summits of Saddleback, which is the two-steepled natural cathedral of Berkshire; while low down to the west the Housatonic winds on in her watery labyrinth, through charming meadows basking in the reflected rays from the hillsides.”
Inside/outside
The views from the property are still relatively intact, thanks to the hard work of the area’s many land conservancies and sensitive property owners. And while of course you can see the Housatonic River and the Taconic mountain range from many vantage points in the area, how fun would it be to see them through the eyes of one of America’s first and most famous writers? (After the heat wave ends, of course.)
The property has recently opened again, after a COVID-19 quarantine that ended on July 9. Tours of the house and barns are offered by appointment Thursdays through Mondays at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. There can only be four people at a time on each tour. Tickets are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors, $10 for students (children 12 and under are free). To set up an appointment, go to www.berkshirehistory.org/arrowhead-opening or call 413-442-1793.
The grounds are open from dawn to dusk daily.
Heritage tour
There is also a Melville history trail that includes eight places in the area that the author visited: Park Square, Hancock Shaker Village, Crane Museum of Paper Making, Balance Rock, Lenox Court House, Tanglewood/Hawthorne Cottage, October Mountain and Mount Greylock. The trail and information about each of the stops along it is sponsored in part by Housatonic Heritage and the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, which was started by a group here in Salisbury, Conn., and which includes history and culture sites in Litchfield and Berkshire counties.
If you’ve never undertaken a cover-to-cover reading of “Moby-Dick,” a hot quarantine summer could be the perfect time to do it. You can order a copy through one of our excellent and hardworking local booksellers (who could all use your support), or find the text online at no cost at www.gutenberg.org.
Writers who are inspired by Melville’s work, or by the landscape, can apply for the Writer in Residence program at Arrowhead. This year’s writers were announced in mid July; the summer-season writer is Robin Catalano of Stephentown, N.Y.; in autumn, the writer will be Kevin O’Hara of Pittsfield. For more information on the residency program, go to www.berkshirehistory.org/herman-melville-arrowhead/writer-in-residence.
Natalia Zukerman
The cast of “The Addams Family” from Northwest Regional School District No. 7 with Principal Kelly Carroll from Ann Antolini Elementary School in New Hartford at Botelle Elementary in Norfolk.
Nearly 50 students from across the region are helping bring the delightfully macabre world of “The Addams Family” to life in Northwestern Regional School District No. 7’s upcoming production. The student cast and crew, representing the towns of Barkhamsted, Colebrook, New Hartford and Norfolk, will stage the musical March 27 and 28 at 7 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on March 29 in the school’s auditorium in Winsted.
Based on the iconic characters created by Charles Addams, the musical follows Wednesday Addams, who shocks her famously eccentric family by falling in love with a perfectly “normal” young man. When his parents come to dinner at the Addams’ mansion, two very different families collide, leading to an evening of secrets, surprises and unexpected revelations about love and belonging.
For director Ann DeCerbo, the show’s mix of humor, spectacle and heart made it an ideal choice for a high school production.
“It’s funny and a little spooky, but underneath that it’s really about family, acceptance and learning to embrace what makes us unique,” she said.
The large cast and crew also made the musical a good fit for the school’s thriving theater program.
“What’s impressed me most is the level of commitment,” DeCerbo said. “These students are balancing school, sports, work, family, lessons, driver’s ed. The list goes on and on. But they show up ready to work and to support each other.”
Senior Gustavo Zurita stars as Gomez Addams opposite Ivy Wallace as Morticia. The cast also includes Kaileigh Grant as Wednesday and Domonic Salz as her love interest Lucas Beineke, along with Maribelle Roach as Uncle Fester, Violet Swanson as Alice Beineke, Levi Swanson as Mal Beineke, Krystal Janak as Grandma Addams, Lorelai DeCerbo as Pugsley Addams and Juan Pablo Urbina Labarrere as Lurch.
Behind the scenes, students are also responsible for set construction, lighting, sound, costumes and stage management, essential elements in creating the Addams family’s famously eerie home.
“We started by really embracing the color palette for the show,” said DeCerbo. “Black and white with very purposeful pops of color. This is the biggest set we’ve had on the NWR7 stage in as long as I can remember.”
While the story is packed with humor and gothic charm, DeCerbo said its message resonates strongly with teenagers.
“High school can be a time when people feel pressure to fit in and meet external expectations,” she said. “This show does a great job of showcasing how much we all have in common while also celebrating individuality.”
That spirit, she added, is part of what makes theater such an important space for students.
“One of the things I appreciate most about theater is that it offers a really welcoming environment where students feel comfortable being exactly who they are,” she said.
Ultimately, DeCerbo hopes audiences come ready to laugh and leave with a reminder that every family has its quirks.
“First and foremost, I hope they have fun,” she said. “But beyond that, I hope audiences leave with a reminder that families and communities don’t have to look the same to work. There’s a lot of joy in celebrating what makes people unique.”
Robin Roraback
Garth Kobel, Art Wall Chair, Mary Randolph, Frank Halden, Ruth Giumarro, Project Chair, Maria Bulson, Barbara Lobdell, Sherry Newman, Elizabeth Frey-Thomas, Donna Heinz around “The Green Man.”
In honor of National Quilt Day, a tradition established in 1991, Hunt Library’s second annual quilt show, “Quilts of Many Colors,” will open Saturday, March 21, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The quilts, made by members of the Hunt Library Quilters, will be displayed through April 17. All quilts will be for sale, and a portion of each sale goes to the library.
At the center of the exhibit is a quilt the Hunt Library Quilters collaborated on called the “Quilt of Many Colors,” inspired by Dolly Parton’s song”Coat of Many Colors.” Each member of the Hunt Library Quilters made two to four 10-inch squares for the twin-size quilt, with Gail Allyn embroidering “The Green Man” for the center square. The Green Man, a symbol of rebirth, is also a symbol of the library, seen carved in stone at the library’s entrance. One hundred percent of the sale of this quilt benefits the library.
Ruth Giumarro, who led the Hunt Library Quilters in this project, explained that the quilting group started last year with the theme “Playing With Art,” which was inspired by children’s book illustrator Eric Carle. Giumarro said, “We had so much fun last year that everyone said, ‘Let’s do it again!’”
“This has been exciting,” said Giumarro. “We started off small with seven people. This year more people came, and there are more who want to come.” The range of experience varies from none to years of sewing and quilting. All are welcome; be a resident of Falls Village is not required.
“It’s all practice,” explained Giumarro, who has been sewing since she was in seventh grade. “Getting a straight line is hardest.”
On March 6, the quilters gathered at Hunt Library to bring their own creations for the show and admire the finished “Quilt of Many Colors.” After looking at each other’s quilts and pricing them, they celebrated with cake.
The Hunt Library is located at 63 Main St. in Falls Village. More information is available at huntlibrary.org
D.H. Callahan
New works on display at Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Kent
Since 2018, Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Kent has been displaying an impressive rotation of works across a range of artists and mediums. On Saturday, March 14, art enthusiasts arrived to see a new exhibition at the gallery featuring a wide variety of new pieces.
Large-scale paintings by David Collins and Melanie Parke alongside small 3-by-3 inch oil-on-panel works by Sally Maca.
An intricate woodcut print by Eve Stockton and the organized chaos of Margaret Neill’s abstract drawings dazzled the eye. But much of the show’s distinctive texture came from its sculptural works.
Catherine Latson’s wire structures, tightly wrapped in hand-dyed threads, bring to mind pastel- hued sea anemones and become more impressive upon closer inspection. Translucent, hanging cast-resin vampire bats by Tristan Fitch blend into the ceiling until viewed up close, when they become an inescapable presence.
Detail of“Specimen 42” by Catherine Latson at KBFAD.H. Callahan
An intriguing sculpture by Julie Maren features acorn caps affixed to the wall, filled with vibrant, shimmering colors.
Paintings and a sculpture crafted from reclaimed wood by Maine-based artist Matt Barter demonstrated the range of mediums represented by a single artist.
While some of the works are already spoken for, all are on view through late April.
For more information, visit kbfa.com
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Jennifer Almquist
Harriet Newman Cohen
Harriet Newman Cohen weathered many storms in her five-decade-long journey to become one of the nation’s most celebrated divorce attorneys. Voted one of the top 100 attorneys in New York for many years, Cohen served as president of the New York Women’s Bar Association and has been a champion of divorce reform. She and her co-author, journalist David Feinberg, will give a book talk about her memoir, “Passion and Power: A Life in Three Worlds,” at the Norfolk Library on Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
What began as a personal record of her life, intended for her family, grew into a memoir that journalist Carl Bernstein describes in his endorsement as “wise and riveting.” Born in 1932 in Providence, Rhode Island, to parents who immigrated in 1920 from Ukraine and Poland, Cohen traces the arc of her life and the challenges she faced entering a legal profession that was overwhelmingly male at the time, leading to her success as a maverick divorce attorney fighting for women’s rights and equity in the law. She received her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School in 1974, one year after Roe v. Wade was decided. She is a founding partner of Cohen Stine Kapoor LLP in New York City, a family and matrimonial law firm she formed in 2021, at age 88, with her daughter Martha Cohen Stine and Ankit Kapoor.
Provided
Cohen writes fearlessly, with a good dose of wry humor, about her own struggles balancing marriage and divorce, raising four daughters, entering Brooklyn Law School in 1971 at age 38, and her ensuing legal career. According to Bernstein, “Passion and Power” is as much about the reshaping of American cultural norms as it is about one remarkable woman’s role at the forefront of legal and social transformation.
Cohen’s work in the legal profession has been pivotal to social change. A 2021 HBO documentary, “Nuclear Family,” directed by Ry Russo-Young, chronicles the landmark custody struggle of Russo-Young’s parents, a queer couple who hired Cohen as their lawyer.
Cohen is an honest storyteller, unflinching in admitting her mistakes and rightly proud of her accomplishments. Her story ranges from tales of her father’s fortune made producing the Hula-Hoop to her memory of schoolmate Kiki Bader — Ruth Bader Ginsburg — as a cheerleader waving pom-poms in Brooklyn. She also writes of her deep love of family, the stultifying suburban life of her first marriage, mentorship by legal icon Louis Nizer and riding the wave of social revolution that buoyed her career.
Norfolk author Gillian Linden writes of her step-grandmother, “Harriet Newman Cohen is a funny, edifying guide — precise, curious, warm. Entirely unsentimental. Marriage and its many paths is rich territory. This book is filled with the strange, glamorous, desperate and sadistic characters you hope to meet in the very best novels.”
For details, visit norfolklibrary.org
Aly Morrissey
Ram Miles and Donna Lloyd Stoetzner.
Donna Lloyd Stoetzner and Ram Miles have been friends since kindergarten. With decades of shared memories stretching from grade school through high school, the two have spent a lifetime in each other’s orbit. Today, they both work at Indian Mountain School, just a short distance from where they grew up.
On Saturday, March 28, Miles and his band, The Harlem Line Band, will perform their seventh semi-annual concert at the White Hart Inn in support of the Jane Lloyd Fund, a grassroots organization that helps local families facing cancer-related financial hardship. The night promises live music, dancing and friends gathering for a cause deeply personal to Stoetzner.
Miles and Stoetzner grew up attending the same local schools. Their families knew one another, and music was always in the background.
“We’ve known each other since kindergarten,” Miles said. “I knew the whole Lloyd clan.”
In high school in the late 1970s, Miles was already playing rock and roll in local bands, performing at house parties across the tri-state region. “We’d show up and there’d be 100 kids at a house party,” he recalled. “Once the homeowner came out with a shotgun and everybody ran for the cars. The drums were rolling down the hill.”
Stoetzner remembers those days well, especially the dancing. Her sister, Jane Lloyd, whose memory now inspires the fund, was a regular at Miles’ shows. “Jane was always up for something — moonlight walks up the mountain, skating on a pond, music festivals. She loved it all,” Stoetzner said.
When Jane was diagnosed with breast cancer at 34, the community rallied around her. One of the first fundraisers was held at the White Hart Inn, with Miles’ band performing for a packed crowd. More than 300 people attended, raising roughly $6,000 to help cover Jane’s medical bills. After her death, the community’s support inspired Stoetzner and others to create the Jane Lloyd Fund, formally established in 2006.
Since then, the organization has quietly helped hundreds of local families, providing financial assistance for medical bills, utilities, gas and other basic needs during treatment. Stoetzner estimates the fund has distributed more than $1.3 million in grants. “It’s bittersweet,” she said. “It’s so gratifying that we have it — but you wish people didn’t need it.” Applications are submitted anonymously through social workers and reviewed by a volunteer advisory board.
That same spirit keeps the Harlem Line Band concerts going. The band formed 16 years ago when Miles assembled a group of Indian Mountain School parents for a school auction and stuck together long after their children graduated.
“Every one of the band members has been touched by cancer in some way,” Stoetzner said. “They could be making big money playing somewhere else, but they do this for us for free.”
For Miles, the night is more than music. “It’s like a reunion,” he said. “Everyone’s there because they want to be — to dance, listen to great music and support a great cause.”
During the set, the band always performs “Sweet Jane,” a tribute that brings the crowd together on the dance floor.
The event will take place Saturday, March 28, at the White Hart Inn in Salisbury. Music begins at 8 p.m., with $20 donations accepted at the door benefiting the Jane Lloyd Fund.
“It’s just a beautiful night,” Stoetzner said. “Great music, great people, and a lot of love in the room.”
Lakeville Journal
Rebecca Serle (right) and novelist Jessica Anya Blau shared laughs and literary secrets during a lively conversation about Serle’s new novel “Once and Again” at the The White Hart Inn in Salisbury on Wednesday, March 11. Serle is the bestselling author of “In Five Years,” “One Italian Summer” and several other novels beloved for their emotional twists and reflections on fate and second chances. The talk was part of the White Hart Speaker Series presented with Oblong Books and the Scoville Memorial Library.
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