
Dear Medora
Child of Oysterville's Forgotten Years
Sydney Stevens(Author)
Washington State University Press
Will be published approx. on 1. June 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
180 pages
978-0-87422-292-0 (ISBN)
Description
When Medora Espy moved to Oysterville, Washington, as a toddler in 1902, the quirky, remote village was long past its heyday. The population had dwindled and times were hard. Chores such as milking, stacking wood, gathering eggs, chasing stray cows, and weeding the garden taught children responsibility and self-esteem. Frolicking in the shallow, warm waters of Willapa Bay, tramping hay in the loft, and riding horses bareback served as childhood amusements. Occasionally, major events such as a shipwreck, fire, or the escapades of some of the town's more colorful inhabitants brought a modicum of excitement.Dependable, devoted, and tender-hearted, Medora was the oldest child of Washington State senator and dairy farmer Harold Albert Espy. At various times throughout her life, she endured long months of separation from her parents, especially her mother. Whether the absence was due to the hospital birth of a sibling, her father's political duties in Olympia, or her own school attendance at the Portland Academy, the bond between them remained strong. Whenever they were apart, they always wrote, and Medora kept each and every letter. Practical and sensible, yet also full of laughter and heartache, the contents of these almost daily communiques lend insight into the customs and beliefs of one American farm family during the early twentieth century.
Sadly, Medora was just 17 and brimming with life when tragedy struck, and the letters came to an end. In Dear Medora, her lively correspondence and diary entries, interspersed with family photographs and additional background on the times and the Espy household, bring her generation and the Oysterville of those forgotten years into sharp focus.
Sadly, Medora was just 17 and brimming with life when tragedy struck, and the letters came to an end. In Dear Medora, her lively correspondence and diary entries, interspersed with family photographs and additional background on the times and the Espy household, bring her generation and the Oysterville of those forgotten years into sharp focus.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Pullman, WA
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 265 mm
Width: 226 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
671 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-87422-292-0 (9780874222920)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Like many children, Sydney Medora Little (now Stevens) was captivated by the many old toys, books, and other mementos tucked away in her grandparents' home. At age eleven, while spending a year there, she came across a diary written by Medora Espy in 1914. The two shared an unusual name, one that had been carried down through five generations of daughters, so it was not surprising that this aunt she had never known intrigued her. She read and re-read the journal, and almost certainly plied her grandmother with questions.Now Stevens herself resides in the historic home. "The furniture, the china and silver, the books and bric-a-brac which have become treasured keepsakes of the family and of a bygone era are now a part of my daily life. As I have used her dishes, dusted her marble-topped dressers and refilled the kerosene lamps against the inevitable winter power outages, I have come to know a whole new dimension of my grandmother's life, albeit nearly one hundred years later."
Willard R. Espy (1910-1999) grew up in the seaside community of Oysterville, Washington. He was a philologist, writer, poet, local historian, and New York City editor whose work was published in Reader's Digest, The New Yorker, and Punch. His 1977 book, Oysterville: Roads to Grandpa's Village became a national bestseller.
Willard R. Espy (1910-1999) grew up in the seaside community of Oysterville, Washington. He was a philologist, writer, poet, local historian, and New York City editor whose work was published in Reader's Digest, The New Yorker, and Punch. His 1977 book, Oysterville: Roads to Grandpa's Village became a national bestseller.
Content
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Willard R. Espy
Preface: The Forgotten Years
Oysterville, 1902
Oysterville, 1908-1909
Oysterville, 1911
Olympia, 1912-1913
Portland, 1913-1914
Oysterville, Summer 1914
Portland, 1914-1915
California, Summer 1915
Portland, Autumn 1915-January 1916
Afterword
Index
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Willard R. Espy
Preface: The Forgotten Years
Oysterville, 1902
Oysterville, 1908-1909
Oysterville, 1911
Olympia, 1912-1913
Portland, 1913-1914
Oysterville, Summer 1914
Portland, 1914-1915
California, Summer 1915
Portland, Autumn 1915-January 1916
Afterword
Index