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‘America’s River’ author to speak at Cedar Grove

By Jim Planck

CATSKILL — There are a number of highly respected authors and researchers on the Hudson River that have produced noted works on the river’s past and present, and perhaps foremost among them is longtime river spokesperson and writer Frances F. Dunwell.

Dunwell has spent more than 30 years of dedication in conserving the natural and historic heritage of the river while working in a variety of not-for-profit and governmental positions, and is the author of two well received books on the water body.

Accordingly, to help celebrate the entrance of 2009 — the year of the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial — Cedar Grove, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, in Catskill, will present Dunwell as the guest speaker at the site’s first Sunday Salon for the year, on Jan. 11.

The salons are one per month, January to April, 2 p.m., on a selected Sunday afternoon, and feature speakers and scholars of distinction and import in their fields, and always with correlation to Thomas Cole, the Hudson River School of Painting, or the cultural arena of the Catskill community and the greater Hudson Valley.

Some salons are held in the site’s neighboring Temple Israel, through the courtesy of Temple administrators, but the upcoming one will take place in Cole’s homestead mansion.

“This one will be right here in the Main House, in the East Parlor,” said TCNHS executive director Elizabeth Jacks.

“They usually run about an hour, including questions at the end,” she explained, “and then we have a reception afterwards.”

Dunwell, who authored “The Hudson River Highlands” in 1991, just released her newest work, “The Hudson: America’s River,” in 2008, and it is that book that she will have with her to accompany and augment her presentation, with copies available for purchase and signing afterwards.

“This is an extraordinary book,” noted Jacks, “because the author has been working for 30 years to conserve the Hudson River.”

“She just didn’t write it in a year,” she laughed. “It’s a whole career-worth of concern and love for the subject matter.”

Like her first one, Dunwell’s book is published by the prestigious Columbia University Press. At almost 400 pages, it is in large format, and richly illustrated, including color plates of Hudson River School paintings, period engravings, and glass plate photography.

Her perspective on the river is both enthusiastic and engaging.

A good sample of Dunwell’s insight and affection for the river is afforded in a posting by her, called “The Nature of the Hudson,” on Columbia University Press’ blog Web site.

In it, Dunwell notes the might and majesty of the water body flows on, despite human usage which has shaped many aspects of it over the centuries.

“Yet the river retains her creative power,” writes Dunwell. “She changes us even as we change her, and this aspect of her nature is what has made the Hudson America’s river, for her currents run deep in our national character.”

“In every era, it is the people of the Hudson River Valley who have provided a new definition of what it means to be American,” she writes.

“The legendary rags-to-riches entrepreneur, the brash New Yorker, the rugged outdoorsman, the artist who sees beauty in wildness,” says Dunwell, “all trace their roots to our relationship with the Hudson.”

Her books are equally intriguing, and the newest one also includes a moving forward by noted Hudson River environmental attorney and statesman Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Nor is Kennedy the only noteworthy river spokesperson that praises Dunwell’s efforts.

Legendary folksinger and Hudson River Valley activist Pete Seeger noted, “This marvelous book not only has the up-to-date news of the Hudson clean-up campaign, but has details I never knew, of Hudson history through the centuries, the millennia.”

“Most important,” he adds, “it tells us what the Hudson’s future will be, depending on what we citizens do.”

Hudson Valley resident and U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-Saugerties) also praised the book.

“I have long admired the results achieved by Frances F. Dunwell, especially those focused on our mutual devotion to the Hudson River,” said Hinchey.

“Anyone interested in the ecological, cultural, political, and social evolution of America should read this book,” he adds.

Cedar Grove’s Jacks said the book is a natural to start the Sunday Salons with for the new year.

“What better way to begin the Quadricentennial than with the author of the newest book on the Hudson River?” said Jacks.

“In 2009, it’s a year to take a look at the Hudson River and reflect on it,” she said.

“The Hudson has driven so much of the change and progress in the area,” noted Jacks, “so this (presentation) is an opportunity to get informed about the river, in preparation for this year’s big celebration.”

Admission for the Jan. 11 Sunday Salon is first-come-first-served, with $9 for general public and $6 for members.

Cedar Grove, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site is located at 218 Spring Street, Catskill. For more information, call (518) 943-7465.

To reach reporter Jim Planck, call 518-943-2100, ext. 3324, or e-mail jplanck@thedailymail.net.

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