Naulakha, Dummerston
Kipling Discussion
“Rudyard Kipling’s American years were the happiest, most inspired and productive time of his life,” Professor Fish said, before a dispute with his brother-in-law turned ugly. In this period he composed the two Jungle Books (1894, 1895), the first three Just So Stories (1897), and began thinking about his masterpiece Kim (1901). He also wrote the poems collected in The Seven Seas (1896), the short stories collected in The Day’s Work (1898), and much of his classic sea story Captains Courageous (1897).
During a trip to England in 1894, Kipling wrote longingly of ‘a bottle of lager in the basement of Brooks House … There’s one Britisher at least homesick for a section of your depraved old land’.
“Kipling remains one of the world’s most famous authors. Fans come from all over the world to stay at Naulakha, to sit at Kipling’s desk,” Carlin said, adding that the house is being used increasingly for writers retreats. “The visitor’s log book itself is a work of art, people leave poems and drawings inspired by the spirit of the house.”
When & Where
July 12, 2018, 6 p.m.
Scott Farm Orchard
707 Kipling Rd. Dummerston
Scott Farm Orchard is a 571 acre gem with majestic views bordering the Kipling house. The orchard has evolved to an ecologically managed heirloom apple oasis. The farm was settled in 1791 by Rufus Scott. Ownership then passed to the Holbrook family who planted the orchard in 1915. In 1995, Fred Holbrook gifted the Scott Farm to the Landmark Trust USA, a non-profit whose mission is historic preservation. Landmark Trust also acquired and restored Naulakha, now a National Historic Landmark available for rental by visiting: https://landmarktrustusa.org/properties/rudyard-kiplings-naulakha/
Roundtable Speakers
Charles Fish, Kelly Carlin & Thomas Ragle
Charles Fish, a professor and writer who has studied Kipling’s time in Vermont, will lead the discussion with Kelly Carlin, Operations Manager of Naulakha and Scott Farm Orchard for the Landmark Trust USA and Thomas Ragle, former President of Marlboro College from 1958 to 1981 who was instrumental in establishing Marlboro’s distinguished Kipling Collection.
