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MARTY STUART Uniting the Upper Delaware River Region of PA, NJ & NY

Summer 2026

58 Sunset Inn Rd, Lafayette, NJ 07848 Delivery with DoorDash

Hours: Mon.-Sun. 7am-6pm

973.300.0612

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Summer 2026

MARTY STUART Uniting the Upper Delaware River Region of PA, NJ & NY

Summer 2026

Country music renaissance man, Marty Stuart is coming to Newton, NJ, along with his Fabulous Superlatives. Photo courtesy of Marty Stuart

Publisher & Editor

Amy Bridge publisher@milfordjournal.com

Associate Editor

Graphic Design

B’Ann Bowman

Maureen “Moe” Taylor

Editorial Readers Robert Bowman Amy Smith

Advertising Team Amy Bridge amy@milfordjournal.com Kimberly Hess kimberlyhess212@gmail.com

David Dangler dangler908@yahoo.com

The Journalists

Nancy DeRienzo nancyderienzo33@gmail.com

The Poet

Richard B. Meier • Marlaina Donato Richard Owens • Anna Herscher Eric Francis

Lynn Hoins

Mission The tri-state upper Delaware River highlands and valleys are a place of rare beauty… Seeing the region and living in it almost aren’t enough. Such beauty should be captured on canvas or film so that one can truly appreciate it, glimpse it in the quiet of an art gallery or museum, or between the pages of a poetry book or literary sketch. The Journal Group’s mission is to capture these momentary snapshots of beauty graphically and through the written word. We celebrate our area and the uniqueness of the people who live and work in the tri-state region. From Pike to Wayne and Monroe to Lackawanna Counties in Pennsylvania, upriver to Sullivan County and on to Orange County in New York, and to the headwaters of the Wallkill River and

along Warren and Sussex Counties’ rolling hills in New Jersey, with quaint, historic towns and hamlets at the center, the Journal Group opens its doors to our communities, businesses and organizations, to serve as a communicative journal of all that we have to offer for those who live here and for those who love to visit us, too.

Publication Information The Journal Group publishes The Journal eight times a year and distributes it in eight counties in PA, NJ and NY. We assume no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission. We reserve the right to refuse to print advertisements that we deem inappropriate. All rights reserved.

Contents

Summer 2026

12 • art • Marty Stuart 20 • food • Baking with the Blues 24 • history • A Stitch in Time 28 • life • Kenneth Burke 32 • nature • Pacem in Terris

6 • journal entry 7 • poem 10 • around the towns 38 • signs

Journal Entry

Summer Living Cumulous clouds drift overhead. A large grey puff dots the otherwise blue sky where the white parade of wispy nebulae floats by.

Surrounding cliffs of boulder and sheets of ancient metamorphosis rock drop sharply to the glassy surface before diving down toward the murky lakebed.

I’m lounging on an 18-foot skiff in the middle of a lake. The fresh water is not too cold, with just the right amount of rippled placid sheen. But now the mahogany-lined, flat-bottom boat gets knocked around a bit by the wake of passing family-filled pontoons and v-hulled ski boats, pulling lots of enthusiasm.

I watch as a pair of seagulls rides the airstream; a lonely blue heron skims the waves in hopes of catching his next meal.

Normally a deep shade of greenish blue, the water holds a bit of a brownish cast because of the heavy recent rains. We are taking a tour of this lake in Northern NJ, but we could be on any lake, anywhere. On this summer morning, we’ve decided to make it a “cliff” tour.

A cell phone’s shrill ring pierces the wind, but the faroff noise does not disturb the inner peace. Mortal cares and worries drift away, as we bask in the sun and ride the waves in search of the freedom that summer living brings. “Believe me my young friend; there is nothing— absolutely nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” -Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Amy

Poet Lynn Hoins

Poem

On the banks of the Wawayanda river in Warwick, New York, a park filled with sculpture, drawings, stained glass, and even a small concert hall offers free admission on summer weekends. The artist and author Frederick Franck, who died in 2006, created this escape from the cacophony of everyday life and named it “Pacem in Terris,” or Peace on Earth. Frederick and his wife Claske spent many hours exploring the Orange County countryside for Frederick to draw. Not surprisingly, Franck hired a poet, Lynn Hoins, as his office assistant. Hoins, who died in 2021, left us with a booklet, “Called by Stones,” which gives us insights into the life of Franck and Claske.

Frederick

Road Map

He is always drawing or painting, writing, creating. Mostly he is Seeing. His sight transcribed on canvas, wood and steel, in words, opens the eyes of my being. The song of him will sing on long after he is gone.

They would turn this way or that, take whatever road beckoned to them. Sometimes they’d get out a map Mostly not. They didn’t care where they were, as long as it was together. She said to him, “I am never lost when I am with you.” -Lynn Hoins

-Lynn Hoins

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The Antoine Dutot Museum houses a historic collection of artifacts and memorabilia from the golden age of the Delaware Water Gap as the premier resort destination in the east. The Museum is located at 24 Main Street (Route 611) Delaware Water Gap, PA (570) 476-4240

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June 12-28

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July 3-19

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July 24-Aug 9

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August 14-30

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September 4-20 The $150 group show Sept 25-Oct 11

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Around the Towns Summer

Serving Our Community for 35 Years

Through August 1st ––––––––––––––––––––

Warren County Farmers’ Fair & Hot Air Balloon Festival. Phillipsburg, NJ. Family fun, free concerts, tractor pulls & more. Info: 908.859.6563, warrencountyfarmersfair.org.

Through August 2nd Thursdays–Sundays Weekdays 4–11 p.m. Weekends 1–11 p.m. ––––––––––––––––––––

Please Visit Our Website For More Information or To Book An Appointment

402 Route 206 • Montague, NJ 973.293.7486 www.familyveterinaryservices.com

GROOVE-PORT PRESENTS: Robert Kopec Quartet Friday • August 28th • 7pm 10

August 7th–15th 10 a.m.–11 p.m.

July 31st–August 8th Weekdays Noon–10 p.m. Weekends 10 a.m.–10 p.m.

August 8th Saturday 6–9 p.m.

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New Jersey State Fair. New Jersey State Fairgrounds, Augusta, NJ. Proceeds from the Red Rooster Pub, the official venue of the NJ State Fair, benefit the Capital Improvements Committee. Live music, food and drink, nightly. Info: 973.948.5500, www. sussexcountyfairgrounds.org.

Wildflower Music Concert Series: Ghost Town Blues Band. Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary, White Mills, PA. Outdoor festival. $15–$30. Other shows: August 8th & 15th. Info: 570.253.1185, dorflinger.org.

August 2nd Sunday Noon–4 p.m. ––––––––––––––––––––

Pike County Pride 2026. Akenac Park, Dingmans Ferry, PA. Family fun. Entertainment, food, vendors, keynote speakers. Hosted by Triversity Center. Info: 570.618.9638, triver sitycenter.org.

2–4 p.m.

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Music in the Park: Scott Weis Band. Ann Street Memorial Park, Milford, PA. Rock, blues & soul. Also August 16: Chris Raabe Band. Presented by Milford Borough Parks and Recreation. Info: Facebook: Milford PA Music in the Park.

August 15th • The Littles Show

Godspell. Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center, Chester, NY. Culmination of 2-week Summer Musical Theater Intensive at Warwick Center for the Performing Arts for students ages 12 and up. $25–$40. Info: 845.208.5554, www. sugarloafpacny.com.

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Glenn Heller • Sept. 3rd Tropical Turbulence • Sept. 16th Artist Reception • Sept. 18th Nail • Sept. 30th

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Orange County Fair. Orange County Fairgrounds, Middletown, NY. Rides, vendors, exhibits, concerts & more. Info: 845.775.4968, www.orangecountyfair.com.

August 1st Saturday 6 p.m.

31 Jersey Ave, Port Jervis (845) 754-1808 Celebrating 18 Years!

August 7th Friday 7–10 p.m.

August 6th Thursday 6–9 p.m. ––––––––––––––––––––

Farm to Table Dinner. The Barn at Perona Farms, Andover, NJ. $350. Supports the Patriots Path Council, Boy Scouts of America. Info: 973.765.9322, ppcscouting.org.

Wayne County Fair. Honesdale, PA. Rides, animals, food, shows. Info: 570.253.2942, waynecountyfair.com.

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Farm to Plate Dinner. Watres Lodge, Lacawac Sanctuary, Lake Ariel, PA. Live music, locally sourced menu, auctions. Benefits Lacawac mission to protect natural resources. $95. Info: 570.689.9494, lacawac.org.

6–8 p.m.

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A Concert Under the Stars. Connor Green, Sussex County Community College, Newton, NJ. Featuring Frontiers, a tribute to Journey. Info: newtontownhall.com.

6:00–9:30 p.m.

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Peters Valley Benefit. Peters Valley School of Craft Satellite Campus, Dingmans Township, PA. Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, artisan boutiques, art activities, auctions. $175. Info: 973.948.5200, petersvalley.org.

August 9th Sunday 9 a.m.–4 p.m. ––––––––––––––––––––

Bagel Festival. Broadway, Monticello, NY. Food, music, crafts, car show. Hosted by Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce. Info: 845.791.4200, thebagelfestival.org.

1:30–4:00 p.m.

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Ice Cream Social and Free Summer Concert. Grey Towers, Milford, PA. Celebrate Gifford Pinchot’s birthday and enjoy classical favorites by Alexander Markov. Hosted by Kindred Spirits Arts Programs and Grey Towers Heritage Association. Info: 570.296.9625, greytowers.org.

August 11th Tuesday 6–9 p.m. ––––––––––––––––––––

Sunset Social on the Banks of the Drowned Lands. Pine Island Park, Pine Island, NY. Lo-

cal food & entertainment. $50–$60. Hosted by the Pine Island Chamber of Commerce. Benefits scholarships and local food pantries. Info: 845.258.1469, www.pineislandny.com.

August 13th Thursday 8 p.m.

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Sunset Concert Series: Dolphin String Quartet. Sunset Concert Pavilion, Livingston Manor, NY. $10–$35. Presented by the Shandelee Music Festival. Info & other dates: 845.439.3277, shandelee.org.

Morning Bird Walk. Van Scott Nature Reserve, Beach Lake, PA. Locate birds and learn their calls. Free. Hosted by the Delaware Highlands Conservancy. Info: 570.226.3164, delaware highlands.org.

9–11 a.m.

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Flower Cut & Design Workshop. Willow Wisp Organic Farm, Damascus, PA. Growing & arranging cut flowers. $45. Also August 29th. Hosted by Farm Arts Collective. Info: 570.798.9530, www.farmartscollective.org.

August 15th Saturday Noon–5 p.m.

Noon–5 p.m.

Food Truck Festival. Ann Street Park, Milford, PA. Includes beer, wine & live music. Hosted by Milford Presents. Info: www.milfordpa.us.

Pupstock: Peace, Love & Dogs. Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta, NJ. Activities, adoptions, live music, food trucks. $7–$24. Benefits BARKS Animal Rescue & O.S.C.A.R Animal Rescue. Info: www.pupstock.com.

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2 p.m.

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Tractor Parade. Fire House, Sandyston Township, NJ. Great food, raffles. Bring your lawn chairs. Benefits Sandyston Township Volunteer Fire Department. Info: 973.948.3520, sandystontownship.com.

6–8 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

August 22nd–23rd Saturday–Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

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In a Different Light. Grey Towers, Milford, PA. Ivalas String Quartet. $35. Hosted by Kindred Spirits Arts Programs. Info: 570.390.8699, www.kindredspiritsarts.org.

7 p.m.

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Mozart’s Magic Flute. Delaware Valley Opera Center, Lake Huntington, NY. Presented by the Delaware Valley Opera. $35. Also August 16th, 22th & 29th. Info: 845.887.3083, delawarevalleyopera.org.

August 16th Sunday 2 p.m.

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Dingmans Ferry Village: Gateway to a New Frontier. Delaware Township Municipal Building, Dingmans Ferry, PA. Historical presentation by Ted Parsell. Hosted by Dingmans Ferry Delaware Township Historical Society. Info: www.dingmansferryhistorical society.org.

August 21st Friday 7–9 p.m.

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Farm to Table Dinner. PEEC, Dingmans Ferry, PA. Features the bounty of summer. BYOB. $45. Info: 570.828.2319, peec.org.

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Pocono State Craft Festival. Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm, Stroudsburg, PA. $7. Fine arts & crafts, demonstrations, music. Info: 570.992.6161, www.quietvalley.org.

Keystone Jazz Septet. Harmony in the Woods, Hawley, PA. Benefits WVIA, public television & radio. $65. Info: 570.503.6685, harmony inthewoods.org.

August 27th Thursday 9 a.m.

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Keller Williams Pocono Classic Golf Tournament. Glen Brook Golf Course, Stroudsburg, PA. Full day of golf & community. $125. Benefits Olsen Christmas Wish & KW Cares. Info: 570.421.2890, Facebook: Keller Williams Poconos.

August 21st–23rd Friday-Sunday

Wally Lake Fest. Lake Wallenpaupack, Hawley, PA. Sailboat rides, bike ride, crafts, music, beer fest & more. Presented by Lighthouse Harbor Marina, Milford Animal Hospital, and Chamber of the Northern Poconos. Info: 570.226.3191, wallylakefest.com..

Family Fun Weekend. Kadampa Meditation Center, Glen Spey, NY. Meditation, nature walks, games, arts & crafts, and more. $60. Info: 845.856.9000, kadampanewyork.org.

August 22nd

Saturday 8–10 a.m. ––––––––––––––––––––

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August 28th–30th Friday–Sunday

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August 2026 Summer 2026

August 23rd Sunday 5:30–8:00 p.m.

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Outdoor Summer Concert. Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Sparta, NJ. Performance by Bill McGowan of Pushingstone. Free. Info: 973.729.7010, www.sothnj.org.

On View at Hotel Fauchère On Fauchère

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August 30th Sunday 4–6 p.m.

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Opera! Pike! Park! Ann Street Park, Milford, PA. Performances by Academy of Vocal Arts. Free general admission. Presented by Milford Borough’s Parks and Recreation Committee. Info: pikeopera.org. 11

Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives. Photos courtesy of Marty Stuart

Art

By Richard B. Meier

Playing the Real Stuff

Marty Stuart “Marty Stuart is the embodiment of the culture of country music. If that genre had a president, it would be Marty Stuart.” Ken Burns, documentarian

when Lester’s long-time mandolin player Roland White left the band.

After Lester Flatt died in 1979, Stuart experimented with his musical styles, playing electric guitar with the iconic fiddle player Vassar Clements in the group Hillbilly Jazz, and then acoustic guitar with Doc and Merle Watson, before being formally named a member of Johnny Cash’s band.

Widely known as country music’s renaissance man at only 12 years old, Marty Stuart was touring the southern bluegrass circuit in a station wagon and playing mandolin with a traveling gospel and bluegrass group, the Sullivan Family Singers.

Stuart met Johnny Cash in 1980 and toured with him for six years throughout the US, Europe, and Canada. This is the story that he loves to tell about that first meeting: Cash asked, “Where you from?” Stuart replied, “Mississippi.” Then Cash asked, “Where you been?” Stuart replied, “Getting ready.” To which Cash said, “Well, let’s go.” And they were off.

arty Stuart says that his greatest inspiration as a kid was seeing Ernest Tubb getting off his bus, The Green Hornet, dressed in rhinestones and carrying his guitar. It was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen.

After a whirlwind tour, in 1986 Stuart started a solo career. Since then, he has released six top ten hits, one platinum album, and five gold albums. He’s received four Grammy Awards, and he’s been inducted into the Country Music Continued on next page

Johnny Cash and Marty Stuart

By age 13, he was discovered by the legendary Lester Flatt. Lester had recently broken up with the renowned Earl Scruggs to form the bluegrass band Nashville Grass. Marty toured with Lester’s band for six years while attending high school via correspondence. Stuart originally played rhythm guitar but later switched to mandolin

Art

Continued

Hall of Fame and inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Harry Stinson, a sought-after Nashville session drummer and high tenor harmonizer.

“The people that I am paying attention to are the ones that influenced me as a kid; they raised me; I gravitated to them. I look to them as my North Stars,” Stuart explained during our recent interview.

Almost overnight, the Fabulous Superlatives were formed. Stuart considers them to be his legacy band, which as of 2024 included bass player Chris Scruggs, grandson of Earl Scruggs. “We’re basically a country band with broad shoulders. The band members are musical missionaries, cultural ambassadors, students and professors of roots,” Stuart expounded. “We made ourselves a magna carta for the band, which was to follow our hearts wherever it leads us. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime band that found me, that kind of… has it all.” We would have to agree.

Collaborations with music industry titans, including Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, Vince Gill, and Travis Tritt, are also tributes to his musical diversity. Diversity, innovation, and authenticity seem to be at the heart of Stuart’s music. After a string of hits in the ’80s and ’90s, Stuart became disillusioned with the creative costs of chasing radio hits and filling stadiums.

Stuart continued, “Each member of the band could teach classes on music theory and music history. Everybody’s a folk hero, a statesman, a masterful singer, player, producContinued on page 16

Dolly Parton and Marty Stuart

In 2002, he decided to go in a different direction, first approaching Kenny Vaughan, famed guitarist for Lucinda Williams. Stuart asked Ken to find a bassist, and Stuart was tasked with finding a drummer. Vaughan found Brian Glenn, a respected session bassist. Stuart corralled

Since their debut, Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives have continually toured the USA and Canada, Europe, and Asia to critical acclaim, scoring hundreds of interviews and articles. The world certainly has taken notice.

Marty Stuart

Art er, and songwriter. The bottom of every bit of that is that they’re all really good men, good people, good citizens.” Getting down to the musical roots level of country music is vital to Marty Stuart. When asked if he had a sense of which artists are currently emerging with a similar ethos, he answered, “Absolutely, though I’m probably forgetting forty people, but I’d say Billy Strings, Lucas Nelson, Sierra Ferrell, and Molly Tuttle. I’m ‘hootin and hollerin’ for everybody, but those are the ones I tend to root the hardest for, the ones that set themself apart, go against the mainstream grain. There’s always been a wave of new acoustic musicians and roots musicians, but it’s having a moment right now. Younger people are getting involved. Authenticity, the real thing, is attracting a lot of young people right now.” Legacy and history are also very important to Stuart. When he learned that Ken Burns was working on a documentary, Country Music (released in 2019), he sent him a fan letter telling Burns that his Rolodex was open and he’d help in any way that he could. And he did. It took Burns eight years to make the film with Stuart’s encyclopedic knowledge and connections being of great help. “I’m such a fan of Ken Burns’s work. When we finally shook hands, it took every bit of one minute to become fast friends. We call each other brothers now. I respect his body of work, his work ethic, his spiritual ethic; everything about him is just so on point. Every day of his life, he is doing something for the betterhood of mankind,” Stuart stated. Much like Ken Burns, Stuart considers legacy to be essential. At an early age, he began to notice that beloved country music memorabilia, such as costumes, instruments, and handwritten lyrics, were being tossed away as junk. By the 1980s, as country music evolved, many of the older country legends were being forgotten. He was determined to preserve and protect the legacy and began to collect anything he could from his musical idols, from signed autographs to guitar picks and discarded setlists. His collection grew continuously after joining Lester Flatt’s band, with some amazing early acquisitions, including Patsy Cline’s makeup case, which he bought for seventy-five dollars in a junk store, and the first performance outfit Johnny Cash wore on stage. The black jacket with white trim, customized by Cash’s mother, is known as Cash’s “Momma Suit.” 16

Continued

Later, while touring with Cash’s band in Europe, Marty was inspired by the artifact collections at London’s Hard Rock Cafe. Over his lifetime, Stuart has amassed over 20,000 artifacts related to country music and iconic country music personalities, but he struggled with what to do with them all. During a fundraising event for the BB King Museum, Marty had a conversation with the great bluesman who reportedly noted that both blues and rock and roll now had dedicated spaces, but country music did not. Mississippi needed a country music museum. The idea of the Congress of Country Music was born. “I call it my hillbilly presidential library,” Marty laughed. Stuart’s vision for the Congress began to take shape with the restoration of the long-neglected Ellis Theater in his hometown of Philadelphia, MS. The theater was donated to the cause by Marty’s longtime friend and childhood bandmate Butch Hodgins. He envisions the Congress as an inspirational educational facility as well as a place to house his collection of country music’s ephemeras. Marty’s objective for the Congress is to provide a hub where young musicians can find guidance and inspiration. He hopes young musicians will come to the Congress to embrace the timeless bedrock of the roots of country music, rather than conform to music industry standards. “I started this project fifteen years ago. Country music represents authenticity, and this will be the place to study about where it comes from. I want this to represent the relevancy now, and why it will be relevant a thousand years from now.” With funding secured and construction well underway, the Congress of Country Music is set for a hard opening on Labor Day 2027. As our interview came to a close, Marty Stuart said that he and the Fabulous Superlatives are looking forward to performing on August 12th, at the Newton Theater in Sussex County, NJ. “One of the things we believe in is small theaters in small towns. The quality of acts defines the legacy of the theater. It’s our duty and our privilege to perform there, to help keep them alive, to entertain and inform people. “That’s the way to live,” Stuart continued. “It was pointed out to me at one time that art appears in my name twice. Keep it on art, keep it on music. It’s my job to live up to it, and I’ll always wind up at the right place.”

Photo by Alyssee Gafkjen

MORE MARTY • “Take my hand and trust me to take you on a blue sky, palm tree, cactussized, alienized, psychedelic, twang-ified journey through the spirit world of a superlative style of country music.” From Marty Stuart’s Way Out West: A Country Music Odyssey, a cinematic project that was filmed in the Mojave Desert. • On stage, Stuart plays Clarence White’s guitar, Clarence. White was a member of the Byrds, a rock star with country leanings. Marty and the Superlatives were part of the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album’s 50th anniversary tour. • Marty and his wife, singer Connie Smith, are the only living couple inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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Food

Photo by Marlaina Donato

By Marlaina Donato

Dog Days in the Kitchen: A Love Song to Sustenance

turned right and into the narrow driveway leading to the orchard and hoped that Blue Eyes, my rattletrap 1981Toyota Corolla, wouldn’t break an axle in the deep ruts left behind by Hurricane Andrew. Half a mile later, without incident, I pulled up to the old outbuilding where I was greeted by the honeyed scent of ripe peaches.

the names of trees and wildflowers, the one who showed me where a deer had slept amid the ferns and where to pick wild Pennsylvania blueberries, always plucking the sweet ones my young hands couldn’t reach. I remembered listening to whippoorwills at dusk and sitting on the deck beneath mid-August meteor showers, counting up to a hundred wishes an hour.

The harvest shed offered welcome shade from the hot sun as I fought off a gang of late summer wasps on the lookout for a free banquet. The owner was chatty, but I lowered my gaze, unable to meet his eyes. Grief does strange things to a person, and I hurried to make a purchase of some beautiful fruit and a handful of fresh herbs. With tear-blurred vision and thoughts tangled up like kite string, I cautiously drove back down the narrow driveway.

Without a destination and a head full of memories, I drove over the old metal grate bridge…clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clunk, clunk, onto a winding road flanked by deep woods. It had been a week since his passing from a tragic medical error, after my mother and I were informed that he was expected to make a full recovery. It had also been a week of crushing guilt. I had not visited him that day out of sheer exhaustion, the only day I had missed in three weeks.

Queen Anne’s lace was thick as snow along the roadsides, the midday silence punctuated only by snippets of cricket-song. It was then that I remembered being four years old, holding his hand as we walked the dusty, gravel roads around our property in Dingmans Ferry. He had been sober then, a quiet force of safety, the one to teach me

I did not quite know what to do with that moment of forced freedom blowing in through the open car windows. For the first time in eight years, I was free of worrying where he might be, if he might have fallen, if he was behind the steering wheel on the verge of passing out, Continued on next page

Food if he was so drunk that I would need to call 911. For the first time as a young woman, I had no obligation, no co-dependent dread knotting my belly, no one to rush home to, just in case. The pungent aroma of basil and summer’s wealth urged me to slow down and grab a peach from the backseat, colossal, perfumed and the color of an epic sunset. Casually, I took a bite, not expecting a sweet, nectarous gush to stream down my chin and into my denim lap. I pulled over to fetch a roll of paper towels from the trunk and was in the middle of cleaning myself up when I erupted into belly-aching laughter. I stood knee-deep in a patch of Queen Anne’s lace and blue-eyed chicory and hoped to heck that no one would come around the bend and witness such a hot mess. Against all logic, I felt excruciatingly alive with razor-sharp senses. It was as if all the tears I was still unable to cry had bottled up and fermented into a strange, euphoric elixir. At that moment, in a young body that felt weathered from the weight of the years, I realized that beauty can live alongside tragedy; that we can hold gut-wrenching loss yet surrender to uncontrollable joy. The remainder of that August and into September of 1992 was spent in the kitchen distilling loss into soul-sustenance: bubbling fruit cobblers with buttery, cinnamon-crumbs; baked patty pan and zucchini squash; caramelized blueberry breads; fresh cherries topped with homemade Victorian rosewater whipped cream; late summer, saffroncolored soups laced with tarragon. The kitchen became my sanctuary where chopping, slicing, dicing, and mincing by hand became rhythmic meditation. Preparing small feasts for Mama and the occasional visitor was a therapeutic prayer in motion, even when I would catch myself accidentally still setting a place for Daddy. It had been a long, hard road—my relationship with my father—and food was the only bridge to what resembled conversation during the last few years of his life. “That was the best thing I ever ate,” he would say, every night, after he’d wipe the plate clean. Our exchange didn’t go any further, but I would, however briefly, feel visible in his eyes. No matter how our story ended, no matter how ugly it had become, some of my cherished memories are from that horrific transition through grief, where summer sustenance had turned a tiny kitchen into sacred ground. Nourishing ourselves and our loved ones can be much more than a necessary act. It can be alchemy, turning survival into something beautiful, something soul-satisfying, and love lives on, especially on our plates. It is a cellular ethos, a code of ethics I learned during my twenty-third summer and is part of my daily life in the sunny, ample kitchen I share with my husband. Slowing down to cul22

Continued

tivate true nourishment that sustains bodies and soothes souls is a privilege we can all make time for. The dog days of August will always belong to my father. Sometimes, I’ll pull brown sugar blueberry muffins from the oven and think, “You sure would love this batch, Daddy.” And from somewhere, wherever he is, he gives me one of his unforgettable winks. We cannot save anyone but ourselves. Maybe it was never our job. Maybe this realization is the blessing that comes only after three and a half decades. Life is like an orchard—some years are better than others. Sometimes, sweetness runs down our chins; sometimes, a cruel frost aborts a promising harvest, carving out a time of deep famine. Both are indelible and equal in force; both nourish us in unexpected, lasting ways.

One Bowl Brown Sugar Blueberry Muffins Yield: 12 large-sized muffins

Ingredients: 2½ cups all-purpose flour (Arrowhead Mills organic) 4 tsp baking powder ½ cup organic granulated sugar ½ tsp sea salt 1 cup water, cow’s milk, or plant-based milk 1 large egg 3 tbsp melted unsalted butter or melted extra virgin coconut oil 3/4 cup fresh farmstand blueberries (or frozen blueberries) 1 tsp vanilla extract or dark vanilla paste light or dark brown sugar Vietnamese cinnamon • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a 12-cup muffin tin with olive oil or extra virgin coconut oil, enough so the muffins won’t stick. (If you want muffins with lovely crispy sides, use a little more oil or coconut milk to grease the tin.) • Mix dry ingredients—flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and sea salt—in a medium-large size mixing bowl. Add milk, egg, cooled melted butter or coconut oil, and vanilla. Break the yolk of the egg with the mixing spoon and combine all ingredients, lifting the spoon high and often to allow air into the mixture. Don’t overmix. • Gently fold in fresh or frozen blueberries with a few stirs; don’t over stir. • Spoon batter into the muffin tin, filling each up to the rim. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly and generously over each muffin top then sprinkle generously with cinnamon. • Bake in preheated oven until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. • Remove from oven and place muffin tin on a baking rack and allow muffins to set/cool enough to handle without breaking them (about 10 minutes). Carefully remove and place each muffin on the rack to cool completely or enjoy immediately with butter.

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Photos courtesy of Sally Sheneman

History

By Amy Bridge

Sally Sheneman

Quilting Across Generations

ally Sheneman’s mom was a quilter. And so was her grandmother, and so was her great-grandmother. You could say that it is no surprise that Sally has taken to quilting. But it actually did come as a surprise to Sally. “While my mom was alive, I never took the opportunity to learn from her,” Sally explained. “I never felt drawn to the hobby; my mom, on the other hand, was totally dedicated to it. She was always actively piecing and quilting, never sitting still. “I would say creativity runs in our family,” Sally continued. “My grandmother was a quilter and sewed a lot of her own clothes. My mother was taught to quilt by her mother while waiting for her twins to be born. Mom sewed doll clothes for my Barbie, knit, and made quilts that were hand pieced and quilted by hand. In my memory, she always had a quilt in the works. Now my two sisters have the same passion for sewing and quilting. We do things in different styles, but it’s the same love of creating something beautiful with our hands.

“We started sewing in high school, back when Home Economics was mandatory. All three of us had been exposed and were taught basic sewing skills by our mother, but the love of creating really took off for me in high school. I had an outstanding sewing instructor who taught me couture techniques for garment sewing, and I made many of my clothes back in the day. That morphed into quilting as I grew older.” Sally spent her career as a surgical ICU and cardiology nurse, and it wasn’t until about fifteen years ago that she decided to begin quilting on her days off. By now she figures she’s made between 80 and 100 quilts. “I look for inspiration; it could be as simple as a color scheme that catches my eye. I want to challenge myself with every new project,” she said. Sally spoke of one such challenge she undertook with a quilt called The Farmer’s Wife. This is a famous pattern in the quilter world, dating from the 1920s and ’30s. It started when farmers’ wives were asked questions such as, why they liked being a farmer’s wife, or if they had

Left: Pieces of a Farmer’s Wife quilt in progress. Right: Completed Farmer’s Wife quilt.

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History

Continued

a daughter of marriageable age, would they want her to marry a farmer. If a women answered that she loved cows, for example, there’d be a square with cows on it. The questions were originally asked and published in the Farmer’s Wife magazine as a column and then made into a series of thick books where every page was a different block of the quilt; every answer was made into a block on the quilt. There are one hundred and eleven six-inch quilt blocks. One block is considered a pattern or a sampler, which means that no two blocks are the same. “My parents were born in West Virginia,” Sally continued. “Back in the mid-1800s, my great-grandmother began the family quilting tradition and passed this down to my grandmother, who was born in the late 1800s. The quilts were much simpler then. They used mostly squares of scraps and old clothes to make them for their household. I imagine the women sat around the fireplace and had community quilting circles. They were considered the representative story tellers.” Sally’s mom would do everything by hand. This meant moving all the furniture in her living room so that she could make room to sit on the floor and cut cardboard templates for every square. Today, Sally uses a cutting mat, a rotary cutter to cut multiple pieces, and rulers, which makes her quilts precisely pieced as opposed to the old-time version that was more mismatched with a handmade look. Other modern-day quilters, such as Sally’s sister, Judy, use a Long Arm, which is a 12-foot-wide quilting machine that combines three layers of the quilt: the top, the bottom, and the filling. In the old days, this was all done by hand. Yarn was used and tied in knots every so many inches or they would hand quilt, as their mom did. Today, a quilter will fill the quilt with batting, usually a blend of polyester and cotton. Sally’s grandmother probably used flannel. The loft or thickness of the quilt depends on the purpose for the piece—when finished it can be flat and used as a table runner or a wall hanging, or it can be filled with a high loft and become a very puffy quilt. With the modern conveniences, it takes Sally less than a year to finish a piece. “My husband calls this my ‘Grandma hobby,’ but nowadays there are quilting tutorials on YouTube and other places given by young women in their thirties,” she said. I asked Sally if her children are into quilting at all. They are not, but they are creative beings. So, where does generational creativity come from? Is it in the genes, or in the personality, or both? 26

Sally’s grandmother’s quilt

Sally thinks it’s a personality trait. You need to be tenacious. “I see the same traits in all three of my children,” she explained. “All are wonderfully creative but in different ways. I smile when I look at some of their early creations. I can see how much they have grown when I look at the remarkable work they produce now. “My oldest son loves 3D printing, which requires innovative thinking, technical skills certainly, and imagination. My second son is an artist, illustrator, children’s book author and syndicated editorial cartoonist. My daughter has a small Etsy business making tie-dye clothing. She loves interior design and does that work as her livelihood. But none of them were born ‘gifted’ in what they love to do. They researched their interests, took classes, majored in their passions in college, and practiced…tenaciously, practiced and practiced. “I believe that the personality trait of sticking with something until you’re satisfied comes from the parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on. Creativity opens a door, but the tenacity to practice and to persevere transforms into mastering what you love to do. Creativity gives us the vision, and tenacity gives us determination.” 27

Bottom left: Michael Burke studying Libby Burke, A Self-Portrait. Bottom right: Michael Burke and Julie Whitaker. Photographs by Robert Mathewson

Life

By Richard Owens

Equipment for Living

Kenneth Burke and the Farm at Andover

ssayist, poet, and novelist Kenneth Burke was regarded as one of the most intellectually sophisticated, unorthodox, and significant literary critics of the twentieth century. In one of his most well-known pieces, the 1938 essay titled “Literature as Equipment for Living,” Burke regarded literature as exactly that: “equipment for living.” But what is literature in the first place? In short—and without complicating this matter too terribly—literature is, quite literally, art made out of letters. Both words, literature and letter, share a common root and go back to the Latin word littera or, again, letter.

the year Octavia E. Butler published Parable of the Sower, Irvine Welsh published Trainspotting, and Toni Morrison became the first Black American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. In other words, Burke’s life spanned nearly the whole of the twentieth century though, like the Modernist poet Hart Crane with whom Burke was friends, he had one toe planted squarely in the nineteenth century.

But who is Kenneth Burke really, and how did he spend most of the twentieth century living so discretely on a backroad in the backwoods of Andover, New Jersey?

In 1922, while in his mid-twenties, Burke purchased a seventy-acre farm in Andover, NJ, for $1,500 and, in the spring of that year, began to settle with his family into a farmhouse on the property. Largely an autodidact, a self-educated individual, Burke was briefly enrolled at Columbia University. Though he never received a degree from Columbia, he did not leave New York City or the Greenwich Village scene before cultivating a close and enduring friendship with Malcolm Cowley, the literary critic who in his 1934 book, Exile’s Return, famously narrativized the so-called “Lost Generation” of the 1920s that included Hart Crane, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, and John Dos Passos, among innumerable other towering figures.

Kenneth Burke was born in Pittsburgh in 1897 and passed in Andover, New Jersey, in 1993. To frame this out in cultural or literary terms, Burke was born the same year Bram Stoker’s Dracula was published, and he passed

This was the generation Burke was a vital and active part of, and he counted most if not all of these figures among his friends. He outlived most all of them, residing quietly on a farm tucked away in Andover.

For Burke, the art made of letters we typically call literature helps us to live useful, meaningful, and healthy lives. It is for this reason that Burke was so closely associated with so many of the most significant poets, novelists, artists, and intellectuals of the last hundred or so years.

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Life

Continued

Locally, within Sussex County and well beyond, many are aware that songwriter Harry Chapin, the folk artist most well-known for his 1974 Grammy-nominated, number-one Billboard hit, “Cat’s in the Cradle,” was an Andover resident. What many of us do not know, however, is that Harry Chapin was the grandson of Kenneth Burke. In fact, there were and continue to be three interconnected families clustered quietly together at the outer reaches of Andover—the Burkes, the Chapins, and the Leacocks—whose combined contributions to the cultural and literary heritage of the twentieth and twenty-first century cannot be exaggerated.

vérité featuring some of the earliest recorded footage of performances from Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry, and Cisco Houston.

Many members of the Chapin family are well-known as accomplished musical artists, including Harry’s younger brothers Stephen and Tom Chapin, as well as Tom’s daughters Abigail and Lily Chapin, who perform regularly as the Chapin Sisters. Harry, Stephen, and Tom Chapin’s father is the late American jazz drummer James Forbes Chapin, and the father of James Forbes is the late regionalist painter James Ormsbee Chapin. It was Kenneth Burke’s daughter, musician Jeanne Elspeth Burke Chapin Hart, who married into the Chapin family.

During a recent visit to the farm, sculptural artist Michael Burke, who is Kenneth Burke’s son, and his partner, poet and educator Julie Whitaker, pointed out family heirlooms that were on display. As photographer Robert Mathewson and I walked through the home, guided by Michael and Julie, it was hard to not feel transported through time, as though the home itself were a precious time capsule or archival repository, documenting the literary history of the last century. At the center of the home, framed out by a sprawling constellation of visual art, was an old cast-iron coal stove Michael remembered the family gathering around on chilly winter mornings. Michael, who variously continues to reside at the Andover property with Julie, maintains the family photographs, some of which feature not only William Carlos Williams

Michael Burke with Richard Owens

In 1941, Kenneth Burke’s first daughter, the eminent anthropologist and feminist theorist Eleanor Burke, married British filmmaker Richard Leacock. Leacock is known, among other things, for the 1947 documentary film, To Hear Your Banjo Play, one of the first instances of cinéma

The farm in Andover was, in effect, a dynamic and ongoing cultural salon, where major poets, artists, and writers from across the US and beyond routinely gathered, largely around Kenneth Burke. Rutherford, NJ, native and a cornerstone figure associated with literary Modernism, poet William Carlos Williams, one of Burke’s closest friends, visited the farm regularly for more than forty years, from 1922 and into the 1960s.

but also writer Shirley Jackson, known to many for her absolutely bone-chilling 1948 short story, “The Lottery.” Michael vividly recalled as a young child in the late 1940s, before the home was outfitted with running water and electricity, listening to Ralph Ellison read salient and powerful passages from a manuscript draft of the 1952 Civil Rights novel, Invisible Man, over the family piano in the living room. This is the novel former President Barack Obama based his 1995 memoir Dreams of My Father on. Michael also shared wondrous memories of casually wiling away many hours playing music with his nephew Harry Chapin through the late 1960s and noted, too, that his mother, Elizabeth “Libby” Burke (née Batterham), Kenneth Burke’s second wife, was likewise an active artist from the 1930s onward. Scattered throughout the home, which was first built in 1870 and continues to house much of Kenneth Burke’s vast library, are sketches and paintings by Libby Burke. In one particularly striking piece, a vibrant and decidedly Modernist self-portrait painted by Libby Burke sometime in the late 1940s, the shadowy image of a young child appears in a mirror. When discussing the piece, Michael could not recall if the child was he or his brother Anthony, though he was certain it was one of them as he reminisced fondly over the stunning work his mother produced.

Michael also recalled occasional visits from graduate students over more recent years, many of them associated with Dr. David Blakesley, professor of rhetoric at Clemson University in South Carolina and president of the Kenneth Burke Society. Blakesley, one of the most well-informed Burke scholars on the planet, underscores repeatedly in his writing the influence Burke and William Carlos Williams had over one another. Indeed, the literary correspondence between the two of them, replete with family news and light gossip regarding other literary figures, ran from 1921, the year prior to Burke’s purchase of the Andover farm, through 1963, the year of Williams’s passing. In one particularly powerful letter to Burke written Saturday, November 10th, 1945, just a day after Williams visited the Andover farm with his wife Florence, casually known to all as “Floss,” he identifies precisely what it is that brings him and Burke together as both friends and intellectual kin: I saw the beginnings of many valuable conversations between us sticking their heads up as we passed them by yesterday—I particularly liked your manner of explanation when you lowered your voice and spoke quietly of the elementals that interest us both, the humane particulars of realization and communication. This common interest in what Williams calls the “humane particulars” of realization and communication, of understanding and language, is perhaps more than anything what galvanized their lasting and historic relationship across a lifetime, and it is this interest, too, that enabled Burke to transform an aging Andover farm into a dynamic literary and cultural salon active for nearly an entire century. In the poem aptly titled, “At Kenneth Burke’s Place,” first published in 1947, Williams writes: But the earth under our feet is the singing, the winds, the snow–

Photograph of Kenneth and Libby Burke

The earth underfoot here is, to be sure, Andover itself in Sussex County, and there is a curious modesty in these lines from Williams, a recognition perhaps that where and under what conditions we meet—the orchards, the fields, gardens, and forests we meet in—play as much a role in our lives and are often as present as who we meet. The poem is, in effect, a paean to both a person and a place, a meeting place, where poets, artists, and intellectuals gathered regularly through the interest, support, and generosity of a man who may have lived discretely but also insisted on living fully. For Burke, literature—and culture at large—truly was “equipment for living,” and the home that still stands, the library and art that fills that home, and the family of artists, poets, and musicians who continue to actively inhabit it are invariably a living testament to this. Richard Owens and Robert Mathewson are members of the faculty at Sussex County Community College. Owens (row ens@sussex.edu) teaches English, and Mathewson (mathewson @sussex.edu) teaches photography. 31

Entrance to Pacem in Terris. Photos courtesy of Lukas Franck

Nature

By Anna Herscher

Pacem in Terris

Peace on Earth, Peace in Warwick, New York

acem in Terris means Peace on Earth and is also the name of an art- and sculpture-filled green haven open to the public any summer weekend, free of charge. Frederick Franck (1909–2006), an artist, sculptor, author, world traveler, and philosopher, created Pacem in Terris as “a work of art intended to be an oasis of quiet where self and nature may reconnect. It is dedicated to what is human in everyone born human.” Sculptures—Franck called them icons—line the paths, drawings and stained glass fill a small gallery, music flows from an ancient mill by the Wawayanda river on summer Sunday nights, and a bookstore offers many of the thirty-nine books written by Franck. Pacem in Terris is like nowhere else. On a recent afternoon, Frederick’s son, Lukas Franck, picked up the tale of his father’s journey. The family resemblance is striking, and Lukas’s voice even sounds quite a bit like his dad’s, but, unlike his father, he doesn’t draw or build gigantic iron sculptures, and he hasn’t studied religions or philosophies. Insisting that he doesn’t necessarily have all the answers to questions about his father, he said that what he knows he absorbed with the rice and vegetables at dinnertime. Actually, his commentary that afternoon made the story more personal and, consequently, richer. Pacem’s origins go back in time to August 4th, 1914, and across the ocean to Maastricht, Netherlands, a city near the borders with Germany and Belgium. Five-year-old Frederick Franck awoke to the blasts of German bombs dropping only a few miles away in Visé, just across the border in Belgium. As Franck would later describe it in Fingers Pointing Towards the Sky, “under a murky red sky, the town of Visé was burning. The air was atremble with the booming....” World War I had begun. Over the following four long years, young Frederick would see streams of maimed and bleeding refugees passing by his home. When he saw parents pushing carriages filled with bloody blankets, he realized the blankets wrapped their children. Trying to help, his mom cooked up big pots of thick soup, and he carried them to a nearby church soup kitchen. Many years later, he wrote that “… to have lived those early years in comparative safety, warmly clothed, well nourished, but in the inescapable presence of suffering

and death … sensitized the mind of a child to the mysteries of the human condition.” He would pursue those mysteries throughout his life, using his talents for drawing, writing, and, eventually, sculpture as his tools to mine always deeper into his questions. In Maastricht, a deeply Catholic city, the boy also witnessed colorful religious processions winding through the streets. He had no idea what the processions, with their vestments and symbols of Roman Catholicism, meant because his family did not practice any religion, so he made up stories about what he saw. In his imagination, the Christian symbol of a fish, for instance, was a huge fish and its scales all the people in the universe. He also rather organically spent many hours drawing. His fascination with symbols had begun to fuse with his artistic talent and his war memories as foundations for his future creative life. Soon, however, his parents told their artistic son that he must find a way to earn a living, so he graduated from a college of dentistry and set up a practice. In 1933, he learned of Hitler’s election in Germany and, having already seen war firsthand, fled to London where he learned that he would need a British dental degree to set up practice. He graduated from dentistry school at Edinburgh University and had a practice in London while making good use of his free time by pursuing his heart’s delights, art and philosophy. He briefly studied art, the only instruction the otherwise self-taught Franck ever received. He began reading the writing of D. T. Suzuki, who was one of the first to popularize Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism, among westerners. When Franck first read Suzuki, he said that he felt “at home,” and Suzuki would become one of his guiding stars, calling him to “... see life first-hand, in constant wonder.” He started to think of drawing as his “tool,” or “a koan to lay bare the core, to touch the Self, the Real in which we are and have our being.” (Pacem in Terris: A Love Story) He continued to study Buddhism throughout his life, eventually understanding his drawing practice as meditation. When World War II did start, Franck served in the Dutch government as a consultant to the dental service and then moved to the United States—only to discover that he must get a third degree in the profession that he had never particularly enjoyed. He rented a studio in the West Village of Manhattan, practiced dentistry two days a week Continued on next page

Nature on East Fifty-fifth Street and showed his art in galleries on Fifty-seventh Street or Madison Avenue. During this post-WWII era, abstract expressionism captivated many art buyers. Franck wasn’t an abstract expressionist, never wanted to be, so he began to think he didn’t belong there. It was as if the artist who would later write The Zen of Seeing could not find compatriots who saw the natural world as he did. In 1955, everything changed, so that he would later say that “… time stopped, time began.” In 1955, he met his soul mate, Claske, in a romantic encounter most of us would only dream about. One torrid day, Frederick, in the Netherlands to visit his publisher, hired Claske as a stenographer. They took a break at a beach to escape the heat only to encounter a heavy rainfall. Instead of staying dry in the car, Claske jumped out and danced in celebration. One glance at this beautiful woman dancing on the beach in the rain and love bit Frederick. Across the lightning and torrents, he called to her, “You see what I see, nobody ever sees what I see! You see! Never happened before. You are the one, we belong together, Claske!” Indeed, his former isolation ended, and the remarkable life of the duo began unfolding like a rose. Back in Manhattan, now with Claske, another unexpected first changed his life. In 1958, an old friend, Clara Urquhart, who had just arrived from Albert Schweitzer’s medical clinic in Lambaréné, Gabon, invited him to dinner. Before dinner ended, Franck had started making plans to open a dental clinic at the hospital in Lambaréné. As he later wrote in My Days with Albert Schweitzer, “... for the first time in my life, a chance to do something in which my drawing, my dental surgery, and my writing would not conflict with one another, [but] could be integrated at last.” He could draw and write about his time there while treating dental patients with Claske as his dental assistant. During the three years that he and Claske spent most of their time in Africa, Franck observed the deep respect that Schweitzer showed in his interactions with, not only African people, but African animals and even insects. Franck had found the second of his three important guides—Dr. Schweitzer, Buddhist D. T Suzuki, and Pope John XXIII. He would meet and draw all three. Meanwhile, traveling and drawing, and then writing about it became above all a modus operandi for pursuing his quest for knowledge, but also a way of generating income so he could eventually quit dentistry. When they were in New York, Frederick and Claske liked to rev up their vintage Studebaker and head for the Hudson Valley, where they fell in love with a deserted old saloon beside the Wawayanda river in Warwick, New York. As their office assistant, the poet Lynn Hoins, would later 34

Continued

describe it: the slight tilt to one side of the dilapidated building reminded her of an inebriated saloon customer, “listing slightly starboard as if it had too much to drink” (Called by Stones). Despite the piles of snow and the locked doors, they pictured a weekend retreat on the banks of a river that reminded them of home in the Netherlands. Frederick found another soul mate in the builder, Bert Willemse, who had loved the site all his life and wanted to rehabilitate what was no more than an impossible heap to other builders. Three months later, when Frederick and Claske returned to Africa, they handed Willemse $3,000 and told him to see how far that would get him. During the following summers when they returned from Africa, they headed upstate to their riverside cottage in Warwick, which they named “Ontwyk,” a Dutch word meaning Escape. They especially loved to go on rambles around the countryside so that Frederick could draw. It all sounds like an idyllic dream—with dark clouds overhead. In 1962, as the Cuban missile crisis cast a shadow over the country, Frederick was reading his newspaper while walking down Fifth Avenue on the way to his publisher. A headline announcing a Vatican Council convened by Pope John XXIII caught his eye; then he began to read the pope’s message of peace and reconciliation. Deeply moved by Pope John’s words, he cancelled his appointment and rushed home to tell Claske that they must go to Rome immediately. By some miracle, he was the only artist to receive permission to draw hundreds of images at the Council. Only a year later, John XXIII died of cancer. It seems unimaginable in today’s media cacophony, but radio stations took the time to summarize John XXIII’s “Pacem in Terris” encyclical, addressed to all “people of good will,” not just Catholics, showing his desire to include and unite all people regardless of religion or nationality. All people, having been created in the image of God, should be treated with respect and lead lives of dignity based on truth, justice, charity, and liberty. Frederick and Claske listened all day to the radio and considered the Pope “... a living Presence, Christian bodhisattva, a fully enlightened one....” By another miracle, he was able to return to Rome and draw John on his death bier. To those who have read his books and visited Pacem in Terris, it can seem as if the trips to Rome gathered together all of Frederick’s experiences and readied him for many productive years to come. His focus clearly set after his seminal contact with John XXIII, Frederick returned home and “saw in a flash” the huge project that would define the rest of his creative life: converting the old stone mill, just across the Wawayanda, that had become a junkyard into a “canvas” where he could “say in wood, stone, steel, and earth what had moved me from early childhood, deepened over the years Continued on page 36

On the Wawayanda, sculpture by Fredrick Franck

Left: Interior of Pacem in Terris. Right: The Buddha’s Flower Sermon

Nature of living through this cruel [20th] century.” With the help again of Bert Willemse, he spent the next years removing 1,200 wheelbarrows of rubble by hand and then creating the work of art that now houses plays and concerts on summer nights. Along the foundation of the building, he wrote a dedication: “I built Pacem in Terris, an oasis of inwardness in honor of Angelo Roncelli, John XXIII, prophet of human solidarity—following him, I built on ancient foundations, anchored in rock, vivified by living water. May the Spirit soar and make us creatures see our unity.” He would call his creation “trans-religious,” rather than specifically Catholic, since he drew on the wisdom of all religions, primarily the lives and teachings of John XXIII, Albert Schweitzer, and D. T. Suzuki. By 1966, Frederick had entirely quit what he called the “Madison Avenue gallery game,” and the family moved to the Netherlands for five years, always returning to Warwick, NY, in the summers. Then, in the early seventies, the family finally moved permanently into Pacem in Terris, and they opened the grounds to visitors on summer weekends. Frederick’s sculptures began to evolve. The land, wood, stones, even iron scraps dumped around the property became the materials for the sculptures that he used in his explorations around what truly matters in life. His process somehow reversed his experiences as a child when he would see a Catholic symbol and make up stories about it. Now, he designed the sculptures, which he called icons,

Continued

as objects of meditation for his viewers. A local welder, Art Meyer, also extremely driven and extremely creative, egged him on, jauntily asking in the morning, “So, what are we doing now?” As the years passed by, he filled the entire property with the icons that seem so true and so obvious that they had to be created, the mark of all excellent artistic endeavors. He wrote many more books, which always included his own drawings about his travels and what he had learned. He also wrote two plays that he produced in the old mill and held classical concerts. Never focusing anything on himself, he lived his values by using all of his skills to share what he had experienced. Fortunately, nothing has changed at Pacem in Terris. As a visitor, you will come through a rather rickety old gate and along a path to an icon with a lantern that always stays lit, a bell, and a dove. You will find the fish of the universe flying above the Wawayanda river, a powerful sculpture that conveys the Indian saying that we should do everything as if we cared about the next seven generations, a tribute to those who died at Hiroshima/Nagasaki, and dozens of other icons. If you feel drawn to what you see—not everyone is— there’s a bookstore selling many of his thirty-nine books. As far as extra amenities, there is one rather primitive bathroom, but you will not find a snack bar or a parking lot. Like his parents before him, Lukas does not want to enlarge Pacem or promote it so that huge waves of people flow through the front gate. He does want to extend a very warm welcome to anyone seeking a quiet place where it’s okay to relax and just be.

Franck has not told you what to think but has provided a huge body of work for you to think about: Peace on Earth, the search for the humanity of each person. In this time of wars around the world and artificial intelligence sweeping us to some place we cannot foresee, Pacem in Terris draws us in. Pacem in Terris, 96 Covered Bridge Road, Warwick, NY 10990. 845.986.4329. www.frederickfranck.org. Open 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Saturday & Sunday, May–September. 36

Heron, sculpture by Fredrick Franck

In the Samuel Coleridge poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” an old man, compelled to travel and then tell the wonders he had seen, stops anyone along the road to his village who will listen to his story. As a modern mariner, Franck had quested from his childhood days back in Maastricht during WWI and spilled out the results on the pathways and buildings at Pacem in Terris. You can see his longing to be understood in the simple shapes of the icons, the communication with nature and people in the drawings, and the accessible wisdom of his thirty-nine books, including The Zen of Seeing, known to just about anyone who has ever been an art student.

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Signs

Planet Waves by Eric Francis

Aries (March 20-April 19) – Jupiter is now in your fellow fire sign Leo, but there’s still a pileup happening in your sign, which includes Saturn and a supercharged Neptune. The point of disorder is that Saturn is driving false certainty while Neptune is driving false confusion. There’s only one way to resolve this, which is through experience. Do something you think is a little dangerous, then do something else the next day. Taurus (April 19-May 20) – You are always worried about something, and the combination of Chiron in your birth sign and Jupiter in Leo is saying give it a rest. The adventure of growth is upon you. You might sum this as “shift happens.” I would describe shift, first, as course correction. Since you don’t usually embrace change voluntarily, you tend to live from shock to shock and that’s how you make progress. Chiron brings a different approach, which is to tune into your awareness.

and rules all of the orbits in the solar system and makes the Sun wobble as it cycles around the galaxy. This all describes considerable sway and influence, and these things must be handled cautiously. You can and will benefit if you proceed with intention, dedication and a whole-system approach. Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) – Scorpio is a dark and mysterious sign, but there is part of you that loves to shine. And shine you may, with Jupiter now moving across the 10th house of your solar chart. This transit will draw you out into the world, where you may be visible and receive some accolades for what you’ve accomplished. Pluto is moving through your 4th, low and slow, insisting that you maintain a high priority on in-home family matters. In this role, Pluto may serve as a deep well of emotional confidence that you’ve hardly ever experienced before.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) – Mars wants to go fast and far, especially in Gemini. I suggest you go slowly enough at all times to notice everything that seems noteworthy from multiple viewpoints. Insert yourself into the frame; engage with people in physical space and in realtime long enough to find out what is going on for them. You care, and while you’re not here to save the world, you are here to save your own world, and to act in protection and service of your personal domain of existence.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) – Not everything is a matter of image. At a certain point there must be consideration of substance, and of actual rather than perceived value. Chiron, one of the planets associated with your sign, is now in Taurus, which represents embarking on a dramatically different and new phase of life. Another planet associated with your sign, Jupiter, also just changed signs into Leo. This aspect emphasizes practical work driven by a vision. Jupiter square Chiron has extraordinary power to ground deep wisdom into practical knowledge.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) – Jupiter’s ingress into Leo brings good news for your financial situation. It’s essential now that you focus on money with a conscious plan and dedication, and moreover, that you be open to success. Your role is to identify potential sources of revenue and investment and tap into them now that Mercury is once again moving in direct motion in your birth sign. Success is not a matter of luck, despite outer appearances.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) – For you, the combination of Chiron’s entry into Taurus and Jupiter’s nearly simultaneous entry into Leo is about tapping deep and unusual potential. Taurus through your highly creative 5th house is driving you to experiment and to be open to unusual new experiences. Jupiter through Leo, your 8th house, is like a line into a reservoir of resources that summon your creative power to dare.The key here is to remember, in the most calm and objective way possible.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) – Jupiter recently arrived in your sign, kicking off a rollicking month and an equally wild year. If astrology means anything, your confidence is at an all-time high — though this calls for caution. Chiron’s presence in the picture indicates that you must pace yourself, act within your powers, and place your deepest personal values above success in any form.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) – Pluto in your sign is the prime mover; the central axis on which all the other astrology of our era turns. For you, it’s driving your evolutionary growth in a time when spiritual advancement and self-actualization have never been under such persistent attack. In the midst of this onslaught you have one essential necessity, which is to remain committed to being true to yourself. Then, you will be able to take advantage of the circumstances that form around you; you will have a strong enough inner core for them to be meaningful.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) – Events in late June likely popped you free in places you didn’t know you were stuck. Chiron in Taurus is delivering a spiritual message that says go direct to source. Skip the intermediaries, the interpreters, the spirit guides and the YouTube experts. Truth is not just something you know in your mind (which is rare enough) but also something you feel in your body. Both must be present before you can safely count an idea as valid. Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) – You’ve just embarked on one of the most social times of your life. This is about Jupiter entering your 11th place of hopes and dreams. Jupiter is about expansion,

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) – You learn from the morph of ideas and experience. Many factors are working for you right now. It is your ability to take complicated ideas and make them simple enough for others to understand that’s one of your best assets. The digital age is brutal in its disrespect for acquired and experimental knowledge. This is obviously repugnant, though the better news is, you embody actual learning and actual teaching. I would remind you of one of my favorite Fritz Perls quotes: “Learning is discovering that something is possible.”

Read Eric Francis daily at PlanetWaves.net. 38

Celebrating 74 Years!

Save the Dates! 40

ile

New York City

Philadelphia

Sparta Renaissance Festival September 5-6, 12-13, 19-20 Sparta, NJ spartanjrenfaire.com

Annual Oktoberfest September 19-20 Mountain Creek Vernon, NJ mountaincreek.com

Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival October 17 Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta, NJ www.facebook.com/ harvesthoneygarlicSC

Skylands Stadium Jack O’Lantern Experience September – November (Check website for dates) Skylands Stadium Augusta, NJ skylandsstadium.com

Can’t Miss 2026 Fall Events! Wild West City After Dark (Nights) October 2–24 Friday/Saturday Wild West City Stanhope, NJ wildwestcity.com

Sussex County Day September 20 Sussex County Fairgrounds Augusta, NJ sussexcountychamber.org

Haunted Wild West Fest (Day) October 3–25 Saturdays/Sundays Wild West City Stanhope, NJ wildwestcity.com

For more information and a complete list of events visit:

sussexskylands.com

The Sussex Skylands DMO is supported in part by a grant from New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism.