Local Boy Makes Good: Celebrating Herman Melville's 200th
In "Melville at 200," Pittsfield's most famous novelist is feted with multiple activities.
Berkshire Historical Society Board President Cynthia Farr-Brown, Shakespeare & Company's Tina Packer, BHS Executive Director Lesley Herzberg, and Writer-in-Residence Jana Laiz
With August 1, 2019 being the 200th anniversary of Herman Melville’s birth, there will be multiple Melville commemorations around the region, if not wider. But nowhere is it more meaningful to a community than in Pittsfield, Mass., where the author lived for 13 years and wrote Moby-Dick. His former home, Arrowhead, is now both a National Historic Landmark and the home of the Berkshire County Historical Society. On Thursday, Aug. 1, a day-long event co-presented with the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum and the Historical Society included tours of the Athenaeum’s Herman Melville Memorial Room, a dedication of a Literary Landmark plaque at the library, and tours of Arrowhead. The real partying followed at the Country Club of Pittsfield, where a benefit for the Historical Society raised funds for the 1840s barn that serves as the site's welcoming center, gift show and event space. Tina Packer, founding director of Shakespeare & Company, regaled the crowd of supporters with readings that reflect Shakespeare’s influence on Melville. For those of us who have struggled to get all the way through Moby-Dick, we were assured of a foolproof method for completing the tome: Read it aloud so you can revel in the mellifluous language.
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
