Kate,
The conference has been held in St. Louis (his birthplace)
every late September (usually the weekend closest to his birthday) most every
year since 1980. I've only been this year and last, though I plan to go as often
as possible in the future, but I do know they have met in New England before,
and visited the Dry Salvages. As I said in an earlier post, next year the
meeting will be in England (mainly London), with visits to the other 3 of the FQ
sites. Here's a link to the society webpage, if you're interested:
Doesn't look like they have info up yet about next year, but it will give
you an idea of what the society is like.
Yes, there is usually a fine lunch held at the St. Louis Woman's Club
(where many of the meetings are held), and a dinner given at the home of the
Fathmans, gracious supporters of the society. Most all of the speakers
attend both of these; they are wonderful opportunities to meet others interested
in Eliot.
The society is always looking for more interest --
I'm sure the number of people who attend every year (about 30-40) doesn't
represent everyone interested in Eliot. In fact, so far, I've only met one
person who is both in the society and on this list -- Rick Seddon (hello,
Rick!). But I have met many other wonderful people, including Jewel Spears
Brooker, Ronald Schuchard, Marjorie Perloff, Carole Seymour Jones, Lee Oser and
others. Would love to have the privilege of meeting many more of you in the
future, and can't think of a better environment to meet in!
Best wishes,
If you have any other questions, I'm not sure if I was the
only one from the list there or not. I would be delighted to give more
information, if you would care for any.
I wish I had been there. The speakers and their
subjects of discourse appear most interesting. Where was this conference
held? And was there also any dinners or cocktail parties with the
speakers?
