Full Text:

LITERARY LEAGUE TOOK THIS BOOK BEYOND ITS PAGES

(with photos)

B Y J OANNE G. R OCHMAN

What started out as a delicious reading of Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol I: 1884-1933

, ended up as a gourmet luncheon at the Culinary Institute of America

recently, when members of the Newtown Ladies Literary League did just that:

They read the book, then visited Eleanor Roosevelt's home, Val-Kill Cottage in

Hyde Park, N.Y.

The Penguin publication written by Blanche Wiesen Cook offered plenty of

opportunity for discussion among the group of readers, since the book - a

brilliant, comprehensive, full-length biography - explored Eleanor Roosevelt's

troubled childhood, her marriage and her political views on issues such as

women's suffrage and racism.

The author went beyond what any previous ER biographer had written, by

portraying the former First Lady as a "woman whose relationships were as

passionate as her political beliefs - from her unorthodix marriage with FDR,

to her intimate friendships with both men and women." The books is so well

written it's nearly impossible to put down. It is provocative, informative and

engrossing.

Cook's relentless research has uncovered new dimensions of the woman who left

her indelible mark on US history, and some of those dimensions focus on the

issue of sex and power. "The issue of sex and power is assumed to be central

to the lives of great men," Cook wrote in her introduction to this fascinating

biography. "When looking at the lives of great women, we continue to divide

the world into saints and sinners..."

After the Newtown literary group read the book, they decided to venture to

Val-Kill to get an even great feel for the woman who was once considered

"First Lady of the World." After all, it's one thing to read the pages of a

good book, but it is another thing to bring the book to life by coordinating a

field trip around it.

The Ladies Literary League, made up of women from the greater Newtown area,

meet once a month to discuss literary works. Each year they plan a field trip

that directly ties in with a book they have read or with an author they have

read. This year a trip to Hyde Park was definitely in order, and the women

enjoyed the overwhelming sense of history they experienced as they made their

way through the very rooms that Eleanor Roosevelt lived in.

Val-Kill, now a National Historic Site, sits like like a glistening gem in the

rural and wooden setting of Hyde Park. Val-Kill came about when Eleanor

bemoaned the fact that she and her friends could not get together at their

favorite picnic spot by the stream, Fall Kill, once the "big" house was closed

for the season.

FDR himself helped architect Henry Toombs design the year-round structure for

his wife. It was named after the stream and completed in 1925. It became

Eleanor's temporary residence in 1936 and her permanent home in 1945.

The stone cottage, once described as a "shack on a stream in the back woods"

by FDR, is a cozy, fieldstone Dutch colonial style facility. It is situated on

sylvan grounds along with the Doll House, a one-room colonial play area; the

Playhouse, a facility for dances and social events; a stable that houses the

Roosevelt horses; the bridge and seven-acre pond; the swimming pool; outdoor

fireplace; gardens and a flagpole.

The flag pole was added to Val-Kill in 1940. Traditionally, the Roosevelt

family gathered here every Fourth of July for a formal reading of the

Declaration of Independence. In this setting, Eleanor entertained some of the

most important world leaders of the time. Nikita Khrushchev, Marshal Tito,

Haile Selassie and Jawaharial Nehru all came to Hyde Park. Adlai Stevenson was

a frequent visitor, and John F. Kennedy came here to seek Eleanor Roosevelt's

blessing for his presidential campaign.

Members of the Newtown Ladies Literary League were among the 3,837 visitors

that visited the site in the month of June. A well-informed guide, who spoke

five languages fluently, pointed out the telephone that Khrushchev used while

visiting, and shared some of the personal stories between ER and her

celebrated guests.

Visitors to Val-Kill are invited to view the film biography of Eleanor

Roosevelt and to tour the grounds, the outbuildings and walk the scenic

trails. The summer months are the most popular for visiting, although Val-Kill

is open seven days a week from May through October. The site is closed from

Thanksgiving Day through the last day of February. The remainder of the year,

the site is open on Saturday and Sunday only.

Eleanor Roosevelt died in 1962. The Culinary Institute of America, once

located in a 40-room estate near Yale University in New Haven, relocated to

its current home, St. Andrew-on-Hudson in Hyde Park, in 1972. So Eleanor

Roosevelt did not enjoy the fabulous offerings of the oldest culinary college

in the United States.

Because it is located only minutes from Val-Kill, the Ladies Literary League

arranged to lunch at the Institute's 150-acre campus, nestled in New York's

beautiful Hudson Valley along the east bank of the Hudson River. More than 100

chefs and instructors from 20 countries make up the college's prestigious

international faculty, which includes nearly one-third of the master chefs

certified by the American Culinary Federation.

Roth Hall, the 200,000-square foot campus centerpiece, houses three of the

college's four public restaurants, its 36 professionally-equipped kitchens and

bake shops, a computer lab and a language lab.

The Conrad Hilton Library holds one of the largest collections of culinary

publications in the country, and also houses a video viewing center, a

television studio and a theatre where on-campus cooking and baking

demonstrations are held. The General Foods Nutrition Center is also located

here, as well as a two-acre organic garden.

Some of the college's more prominent graduates include Walter Scheib,

executive chef of the White House; and John Doherty, executive chef of the

Waldorf-Astoria.

The Ladies Literary League dined in the Escoffier Room, where fine French

foods are served to perfection. Talk around the exquisitely set table centered

on Val-Kill and Blanche Wiesen Cook's book.

All in all, reading the best seller that was celebrated by feminists,

historians, politicians and reviewers everywhere was most deliciously

celebrated by the Literary League.