On March 18, 2023, at the Pool Pavilion of The Virginia Robinson Gardens, another quarterly meeting of the Tea, Scones, and Gardens Book Club took place. A record turnout of 26 spells the future for this popular event, so please sign up early so we won’t have to put you on the waiting list!
The book Charles Chaplin: My Autobiography brought out comments from attendees about Chaplin as a wordsmith, a multi-talented artist, a true supporter of his entertainer mother, and an acquaintance of so many important recognizable names of his era such as Albert Einstein, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Marion Davies, Winston Churchill, and so many others! We celebrated this enigmatic character who came to us from the slums of London, rose to such heights in Hollywood as a popular entertainer, and who was then driven out of the United States by McCarthyism to live in semi-retirement as a resident of Switzerland. Virginia Robinson would no longer have Charlie as a frequent tennis doubles partner or neighbor. Many attendees new to the Gardens asked many questions about the Robinsons and their role in presaging the development of Beverly Hills!
Our next book club meeting will be on June 17, 10:30 am -12 pm to discuss Henry E. Huntington’s Library of Libraries by Donald C. Dickinson! It is a fascinating description of how Huntington succeeded in building a renowned rare book and manuscript collection, helping us appreciate the role of libraries and literature in enriching our lives. The Huntingtons were friends of the Robinsons and near a corner of the Main House is a wonderful specimen of a night-blooming Organ Pipe Cactus, a gift to the estate from the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The Robinsons themselves developed their own library of books, collected during their worldwide travels!
As promised, a list of previously read books will be made available at the next book club meeting.
Post by Patricia Cowett
Friends of Robinson Gardens Member
Co-chair of the Tea, Scones & Gardens Book Club
Photos by Patricia Cowett, Ron and Elaine Stein
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