In one of my forays to the Couth Buzzard, my venue for trading my old books for credit and possibly buying new-books-to-me, I found this book. The Blue Hen’s Chick, an autobiography by A. B. Guthrie, Jr., the author of The Big Sky and The Way West, among other works of merit. This book hit a chord with me in 3 very specific ways: one, A. B. Guthrie Jr. was awarded a Nieman Fellowship to attend Harvard University in Cambridge Mass. in 1944-45. I was 8 years old, living in the next town. With his family he spent 2 nights in the Hotel Commander there in Cambridge – the Hotel Commander where I used to visit my Grandfather and his sister, known to the family as Auntie.
While at Harvard he associated with many eminent professors and particularly one Frederick Merck – that man’s son was in my class in high school and is very active still today in convening the reunions of our high school class.
Third, in the early 1950’s Mr. Guthrie attended the Bread Loaf School of English near Middlebury College in Vermont. 1954-58 was my vintage at Middlebury. I just love finding other people with similar memories and associations.