Connie & Emily Tarjick, poet
She would have been pleased with the guests: aspiring high school writers who participated in the Edith Wharton Writing Contest, families and friends, published authors, and people from near and far who simply love books and reading.
She would have been pleased at the world class staff that was on hand to show her house and her not-quite-blooming gardens and to make the guests feel welcome and at home.
She would have been pleased with the weather: perfect, blue, and sunny with a slight winter nip…but not enough to keep the group from gathering out on the veranda where Edith herself spent so many hours.
She would have been pleased at the number of young women who submitted to the contest; she would have been pleased that those young women stood confidently at the microphone to read their stories and poems. She would have been pleased that they were proud and not ashamed of their writing ambitions.
She would have been pleased (and perhaps a bit incredulous) at the stacks of her own books piled up in the gift shop on the lower floor, waiting to be shelved and offered for sale when The Mount officially opens its doors for the season on May 7th.
She would have been pleased that the home she built from the ground up was filled with wonderful people who had come for the afternoon to hear what new things the next generation of writers and poets has to say.
Edith Wharton would have been pleased.
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The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton
By Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
Edith Wharton, author of Ethan Frome, The House of Mirth, and other acclaimed novels, was born into a wealthy New York City family during the Gilded Age. In fact, she was a Jones of “keeping up with the Joneses” fame. This anecdote opens Woodridge’s biography of an astonishing life. Beginning in childhood, Edith found ways to escape from society’s and her family’s expectations and follow an unconventional, creative path. Unhappily married and eventually divorced, she surrounded herself with the cultural creatives of her day, mostly male friends. To escape the obligations of New York City high society, she spent much of her life in Paris and was recognized by the French government for her work establishing four charities during World War I. Her literary and personal life, her witty and incisive correspondence, her fondness for automobiles and small dogs–all are detailed in this vibrant account of a woman well ahead of her time. Includes photographs, a bibliography, source notes, and an index.
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Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge, Author
Biography | View
- Just Fine They Way They Are (Calkins Creek, March 1, 2011)
- The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton (Clarion Books, 2010)
- Thank You Very Much, Captain Ericsson! (Holiday House, 2005; Berndtsdotter Books, 2012)
- When Esther Morris Headed West (Holiday House, 2001)
- The Legend of Strap Buckner (Holiday House, 2001)
- Wicked Jack (Holiday House, 1995)
Speaker / Presenter
Connie is an experienced speaker and presenter who enjoys sharing her passion for writing and her experience as a writer with readers and writers of all ages. She has presented to students, community, civic and professional organizations, writing groups, library audiences, and seniors – wherever book lovers gather!
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