Books

Varian Carpenter Burkhardt’s delightful memoir, I Remember Wildwood Farm, gives us a glimpse into her childhood in the early 1900s on a farm near Yakima, Washington. Published in 1996 by

Hudson River Press, the text is 36 pages in length,

8.5 x 11 inches in size, and is accompanied by eleven photographs.

Its sequel, in effect, is Dear Lad, a compilation of Varian Carpenter’s letters to her future husband, architect

Walter Burkhardt--250 pages of text, with illustrations and photographs and accompanying documents, published in 1999. In this volume, Varian Carpenter describes her final years of high school in Yakima, her work as a bookkeeper in neighboring Toppenish, and then her enrollment at Washington State College in Pullman, from 1917-1921. These were the years of the First World War and the “Spanish” influenza epidemic. In her letters Varian Carpenter writes of the impact of these historical events on the lives of her family and friends, while revealing the emotions of a young woman encountering the conflicting demands of family responsibility and personal ambition.

Varian Carpenter Burkhardt moved to New York City in 1924, having finally made the decision to marry, and that summer made a car trip with her husband and some friends in which they traveled From New York to Quebec and Montreal via the Coast States and Maine. The description of contemporary hotel accommodations is priceless, as is Varian’s commentary on manners and customs of people encountered along the way. Visiting relatives in Constable, New York, on the return trip, she renews ties with her father’s family and enjoys revisiting farm life. The book has 36 photographs and includes also a Carpenter family genealogy.

To order, send check or money order, made out to Alison Thomas, for:

I Remember Wildwood Farm $16.00

Dear Lad $32.00

From New York to Quebec and Montreal $14.00

to: Alison Thomas

Hudson River Press

880 West 181st Street Apt. 3H

New York, NY 10033

For U.S. orders, add $3.00 shipping and handling per copy.

For European orders, add $7.00 shipping and handling per copy.

Please include the following information:

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