Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

   Rudyard Kipling was one of the popular English writers, in both prose and verse, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He’s chiefly remembered for his fictionalized accounts of exploits by British soldiers in India and popular tales for children. His literary reputation, based on the long-standing right-of-passage that grew during the Victorian Age, has tarnished since Great Britain would lose esteem as a global power after World War II.

   In honor of his connections to Vermont, a group of scholars known as the Kipling Society is holding its symposium outside the United Kingdom for the first time. They’ll be touring a home the author built in the shape of a ship, high on a hill overlooking the Connecticut River. The scribe named the house Naulakha. It still stands on Kipling Road, three miles north of Brattleboro. And, during the four years he lived there, one of the greatest chroniclers of 19th-century British imperialism snowshoed in winter, went to barn dances, and made friends with his neighbors. This was a wonderful time in his life, with the birth of his first child Josephine; the joyous retirement of his father; and visitors from such notables as Arthur Conan Doyle. Kipling even took up golf. RUDYARD KIPLING (in NAULAKHA)–>

   His seclusion in Vermont kept Rudyard both inventive and prolific. He lived in Dummerston from 1892 to 1896 when he first wrote the children’s classic Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. He also wrote iconic stories, including The Jungle Book  and Captains Courageous. His fine collection of Barrack-Room Ballads was issued in March 1892, first published individually in 1890, and containing his poetic masterpieces of imagination, Mandalay and Gunga Din. Kipling’s work translated well to cinema, especially during Hollywood’s Studio Era.

   Part of the draw for the 60 scholars visiting this week from the United Kingdom and the US will be today’s tour of Naulakha. They are also viewing some of the Kipling holdings, such as the contents of a safe deposit box discovered untouched in the early 1990s after almost a century in a bank in Brattleboro. Among the items in it were a copy of his marriage license, a will, and other personal documents. Organizers hope the meeting will serve to revive Kipling’s reputation.

   The noted symposium ends later today at Vermont’s Marlboro College.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 8th, 2013 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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