Robert Frost Lecture Series Kicks Off With Talk by Frost's Granddaughter

If you find yourself in the Berkshires this summer, you should take in the annual lecture series "Sunday Afternoons with Robert Frost," which kicks off this Sunday, June 26, with a talk by Lesley Lee Francis, Frost's granddaughter. Hosted by Friends of Robert Frost and the literary landmark Stone House Museum, the series, writes Telly Halkias for The Berkshire Eagle, "features three installments this summer, [and] is the centerpiece of the museum's public programs." More:

The poet's stone cottage attracts many regional Frost devotees. What started as a reading group 19 years ago by Thompson, eventually grew into The Friends of Robert Frost, a national non-profit organization.

Its mission is the historical preservation of Frost's Shaftsbury farm, and to educate the public on his poetry.

Tens of thousands of visitors have vindicated the group's perseverance and vision.

Newman noted that Francis is one in a long list of notable speakers during the lecture series' history.

"Equally impressive have been the poet laureates of the United States Robert Pinsky and Richard Wilbur, poet laureates of Vermont Grace Paley and Galway Kinnell, and critically acclaimed poets Stephen Sandy, Timothy Steele, and Franklin D. Reeve," Newman said.

The 2016 series will consist of two additional presentations. On Aug. 7, Donald Sheehy, Ph.D., professor of English at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, will speak on: "Robert Frost as a Renaissance Man: New Revelations in his poem 'New Hampshire.'"

Sheehy is the co-editor of a volume of Robert Frost's letters, will closely examine parts of this poem written in the dining room of the Stone House Museum.

On Sept. 18, Mark Richardson, Ph.D., will discuss the 2016 release, "The Letters of Robert Frost, Volume II," of which he is co-editor. The book includes letters Frost wrote while he was living in what is now the Stone House Museum.

Richardson intends to speak on letters that could shed light on Frost's relationship with locals in the area, and further related insights. He is a professor of English at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan.

Thompson said the lectures are meant for the general public, and that attendees with just a curiosity of Frost will find them an afternoon well spent.

Read on here.