Rural Intelligence (Page 733)

Parties

Literary Lights Shine in Spencertown

Evidence abounds that our region is packed with the sort of left-brainers who like to stay at home with a good book (litmus test: nightclubs per capita—uh, zero?; independent bookstores—off the charts), but on Saturday night, readers and writers alike were out in force to attend the

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Arts

'The Duchess' Producer Carolyn Marks Blackwood Talks About Her Film

In 1998, Dutchess County resident Carolyn Marks Blackwood and her partner in Magnolia May Films, Gabrielle Tana, optioned the film rights to a soon-to-be-published biography, Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire. The book went on to become a bestseller here and in the United Kingdom, and its author

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Community

Lenox Celebrates Its Gilded Age

When Edith Wharton lived in Lenox in the early 20th century, the town was known as the "inland Newport." Unlike the famous Rhode Island resort with its Cliff Walk that allows visitors to oogle a 3.5 mile long strip of mansions, Lenox's connection to the

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Arts

Guess Who's Coming To Breakfast? James Taylor and Yo Yo Ma

You don't have to wait until next summer at Tanglewood to hear James Taylor and Yo Yo Ma give an outdoor concert in the Berkshires. The two local favorites will be peforming live on the porch of the Red Lion Inn on Monday, September 15, as part of

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Food

Recipes: Cocktail Hour Treat

I'm thinking about retiring the ubiquitous cheese plate to its rightful place at the end of a meal. I love cheese, make no mistake, and it's ever-present at my house when I entertain. But lately, I want something new—and warm—to serve to guests

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Style

Live & Learn: The Well-Appointed House, Circa 2008

Ever had that nagging feeling when talking to one of those guys who charge a lot of dough to cure what ails your house that you are slogging through a marsh? (This sensation can be especially pronounced when a hyper-verbal Know-Nothing is holding up both ends of a

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Food

Open Season on Apples & Pears at Philip Orchards

"You always think this year's apples are the best ever," says Julia Philip of Claverack. "Or you always think last year's apples were better. Depends on your nature." Julia knows nature. Now 83, she has been running Philip Orchards year round since

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Parties

VIM Adds Vigor to Sedate Lenox Club

The torrential downpour on Saturday night did nothing to dampen spirits inside the graciously genteel Lenox Club (left, on a dryer evening), where vigorous supporters of VIM (Volunteers in Medicine) Berkshires ate, drank, and made merry at the gaming tables at the second annual Monte Carlo Night. The sold-out

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Parties

Before the Rain: Housatonic Child Care Celebrates at Linden Hill

On the eve of its 25th annual house tour, the supporters of the not-for-profit Housatonic Child Care Center gathered by pool of Linden Hill, a Lakeville estate with stunning views in every direction. Many of the guests did not have school-age children—or any children at all—

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Arts

Susan Orlean Discovers That It's A Small World After All

Susan Orlean, the esteemed New Yorker staff writer, never expected that a publisher would approach her about turning her 1996 "Shouts & Murmurs" piece called "Shiftless Little Loafers" into a sweet children's book retitled Lazy Little Loafers. "I was surprised," she says

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Food

Recipe: Extending the Olive Branch

At a dinner party at our house the other night, a guest (who happens to know way more about great food than me, or you, or most anyone on the planet—trust me on this) handed me a lovely cardboard gift box, carefully packed with two slender, ribbon-wrapped, dark

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Style

A Cinderella House Makes Its Debut for Charity

Matthew Patrick Smyth, an A-list New York decorator with a weekend house in Sharon, is used to working for demanding clients who expect things done yesterday. So he was not surprised when Scott and Roxanne Bok approached him in June about decorating a restored 19th century farmhouse in Salisbury,

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