Gladys Taber
ots of you have noticed that some of the most wonderful quotes I put in my books and calendars are attributed to Gladys Taber. I’ve been asked many times who she is and how to find out more about her. I think I learned everything I needed to know about her when I read this:
ladys Taber was born in 1899 and spent her life writing about the every-day simple things in life for her wonderful Stillmeadow and Still Cove books. She loved everything I love, which is why I love her! Through her eyes, we experience the passing seasons from her 1690 Connecticut farmhouse; share in her passion for animals, gardening, cooking, and homemaking. Her books are filled with practical advice and her common sense view of the way things are. She also wrote the Diary of Domesticity column for the Lady’s Home Journal in the late 1930′s, and Butternut Wisdom for Family Circle through the 1960′s.
any people inherit their fondness for the writings of Gladys Taber from their mothers or grandmothers. Others "discover" her by accident. I found her waiting for me on a shelf of old books left behind by the previous owner of the first little house I bought on Martha’s Vineyard. The book was Best of Stillmeadow, where I read the words "April in New England is like first love." and fell in first-love myself, with Gladys. I feel like I just missed her, she died on Cape Cod at 81 years old, the year before I moved to the island
began collecting her books; finding them almost lit up, like little torches in dark and dusty used bookstores. As soon as I found out about it, I joined the Friends of Gladys Taber Fan Club. For years I have received their wonderful snail mail newsletter that still thrills my heart every time I see it in my mailbox. It’s real mail, the kind you save and read with a cup of tea. Afterward, you feel the way you do when you open all the doors and windows on the first spring day after a long cold winter!
‘ve also corresponded with some of Glady’s other "Friends" and without really "knowing" them, it’s easy to feel an instant connection between kindred spirits because of our mutual admiration for Gladys Taber, which extends right out to each other.
n a beautiful June day in 1999 the beloved "Editor-in-Chief Emeritus" of the Friends of Gladys Taber Fan Club, Gilbertine "Gilly" Moore, stopped by my house on Martha’s Vineyard to say hello. We’d been pen pals for years, but this was our first in-person meeting. We visited in the backyard, under the rose arbor; she was like a link to the past for me. She gave me the black and white photos you see at the top of this page… she took them when she visited Gladys in 1955. Gilly and I wrote to each other until her death in 2008.
illy is gone, but her spirit and heart continue to inspire The Friends of Gladys Taber Newsletter. They have what they call a "minimal" web site (due to everything being volunteer, having no funds particularly, just a lot of heart), but you can go there www.FriendsOfGladysTaber.org to request membership information — they would love more people to know about Gladys Taber. So if this seems like your cup of tea, it’s only $20 a year for four "sturdy" issues of about 40 pages each, sent out in March, June, September, and December; a mere pittance for the wonderful job they do of carrying on the true tradition of what Gladys Taber was about.
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f you’d like to read what Gladys meant to others http://books.dreambook.com/stillmeadow/taber.html |
If you want to know more about Gladys, here is her page at Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_Taber
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Went to Gladys’s home last week with my Grandma, Stillmeadow that is:) I wish I could have a cup of tea inside!! Instead we left flowers out front.
How wonderful for you!
What a great site. I just came across it because I wanted to know what year Gladys Tabor died. I never knew when it was. So Having never actually heard that she died, I am just now feeling it as I write this. It was 2 years after my mother passed on.
I grew up with people that read and talked about Gladys Tabor all the time. My mother and her sister both read all her books as quickly as they were published. I have a number of them. I even have a signed copy of the book my mother had autographed for my aunt one Christmas. I too have read and re-read all the books. I am so comforted by them. I cook from her cook book too.
We grew up with houses in the country. Cape Cod and gardens, dogs, cats feeding the birds and horses. Gladys was like a fond family friend. We all went to see her house in Southbury, CT and I still have the pictures. Had a picnic on the way. It was a day in July 1957.
I just wanted to stop by and write a note. Thank you for being here. It was a good visit.
So happy you enjoyed yourself . . . it’s a lovely memory to have.
My son is currently doing an internship at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Ct., and go there to visit him on occasion. I was wondering what the street address of Stillmeadow’s is? I have been a long time fan of Gladys Taber, and my deceased mother-in-law, Jan Schlenz, was able to meet Gladys in Cape Cod not long before her death. She got a photo of her standing at the top of the stairs to her home, and glued the picture for me inside the cover of one of her books!
I would love to see her Stillmeadown on my next trip to Bethlehem, Ct.
Thank you!
I don’t know the street address, but it’s off Jeremy Swamp Road in Southbury Ct. It should be fairly easy to find!
Dear Susan, I left my comment at your web-site by mistake..sorry…smiley face…Marcia Anderson
I have all of Gladys Taber’s books. We have been to Stillmeadow, and view her house through the fence. Also, her Cape Cod home in Orleans. Thank you
I have read and reread Gladys Taber’s books for many years, after I first
read her column, “Butternut Wisdom”. Gladys made everyday life experiences
seem exciting and wonderful. When I was able to visit Stillmeadow and then
Still Cove, it validated everything I had read. I am thankful that I got to know this lovely lady through her books and recipes!
Susan, thanks for this web site. I was tickled to find it. I’ve loved Gladys’ book for years. It’s nice to find others who also appreciate her books.
Thanks again, Jane
Love Gladys’ books. Have enjoyed them for many years. Very inspirational.
Wish I could have met her. Someday maybe I can visit Stillmeadow.
A berry blessed birthday to you, mon ami ~ May the coming year be heaped with
the grace and joy multiplied that you share with others. OK, thanks to you, here
is the beginning of another shelf of beloved books to collect… you never let me down in your recommendations…that is what kindreds are all about, I imagine. As
the years go by and we look over our shoulders, we begin to discern with greater
awareness those souls that have helped to mold our character and outlook and
you are steadily becoming one of mine….Enjoy the extra candle and know that it
exemplifies another year of loving and being loved.
Gentility
My dear friend just introduced me to a Gladys Tabor book and I am enjoying it so much. Love the everyday activity and joys that she has penned. Thank you for highlighting her life and books.
My pleasure Carrie, so happy you’ve found her. She’s such a treat.
So nice to find some others who know Gladys Taber if only through her books. I thought they were my secret treasure. I pull them out from time to time to cheer me.
They’re everyone’s secret treasures — I feel the same way.
Oh I love this! My maiden name is Taber and so I am thrilled to learn more about Gladys and her writings.
Hmm, I wonder if you’re related!
I, too, came to know Gladys Tabor by accident when I bought a book at a library book sale. I was so charmed by her homey observations and felt that she was a kindred spirit in every way. She tickled my love of whimsy by mentioning her unicorn, and I think of her when I long for the sweet silver song of the peepers. I like to say goodnight to the moon too! How neat to find I ‘m not the only one! I have all of her Stillmeadow and Still Cove books, and my copy of Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge has an inscription by Barbara Webster and an ink sketch by Edward Shenton. I was thrilled to find it at an Antiquarian book sale!
Does anyone in her family live at Stillmeadow? Is it open for visitors?
I’m not sure, check with the Fan Club site — I believe the site has been preserved, but not sure whether you can go in the house.
Susan–How exciting to read about Gladys Taber on your website! I discovered her in the 1980′s through a section of her books at our local library. I savored every book that was available! I knew I had found a kindred spirit and longed for a personal visit with her at her beloved Stillmeadow. I could picture us sitting before the fireplace with a cup of tea discussing the joy of a white garden, the antics of dogs and cats, and what would be fun to fix for dinner. Luckily, I can relive moments like that (since I never did get to visit!) each time I open one of her books. I’m happy to say I also own a number of her books and cherish each one. What a pleasure it is to share life’s ordinary days with such an extraordinary woman!
I have all the Stillmeadow books, but does anyone know she wrote fiction? Wonderful fiction!! I have three of her novels; Give Us This Day, Give Me the Stars, and the Family on Maple Street. They were all written in the 1940s, during the war. They were hard to find, but oh, so worth it! She also wrote One Dozen and One, a collection of short stories, and the Diary of Domesticity and numerous short stories for The Ladies Home Journal in the 1930s and 1940s. I am lucky enough to own every copy of The Ladies Home Journal from January 1940 through December 1945, and the stories she wrote during those years are wonderful! Just sent off my request for membership to the Friends of Gladys Taber. Thank you for the recommendation!
You are the perfect person for the Friends, they will love you!
Never heard of her before!! But will check out her books, hopefully they have some!!
Always fun to find something new!
Dear Taber fans– My first contact with you! I was conceived on a pre-Revolutionary farm in New Milford, Conn. in l947! I thought my Grandfather bought our fabulous family farm (put together with pegs, not nails), but I JUST contacted the Town of New Milford and found my GRANDMOTHER bought it in l930–the loan ($3,000) was even in HER name (how sexist of me to think my Grandfather bought it!) Our family had fabulous summers there (there was no plumbing–hiking to the outhouse in the dark was to be avoided, we used chamber pots!) We DID have electricity and a huge fireplace just like at Stillmeadow. Our farm was “Syringa Farm”, and I adored it. Now I am living on the 4th farm of my life in N.E. Tennessee, raising Miniature Horses with a 3rd generation farmer husband (long suffering, and wonderful). Needless to say,Taber’s books have special meaning for me.
Wonderful story Deb!
I have read several of Gladys Taber’s books and she always spoke of Jill as her friend. I was surprised today when I started reading The Book of Stillmeadow and she referred to Jill as her sister and Jill’s son, Don as her nephew. Does she identify Jill as her sister?
I haven’t heard of that before.
..in any other books that anyone has read?
Good morning Susan!
I was reading my June FOGT newsletter last night and a paragraph in Gilly Moore’s ’87 newsletter jumped out at me. She quoted a line from an announcer for the Metropolitan Opera. He was speaking about the composer Guiseppe Verdi, and he said “He read my heart. He said what I could never say.” Gilly added that this is how Gladys Taber fans feel about her and her writing. Isn’t that beautiful? And, may I add, it’s how your fans feel about you, too!!
PS….and, you’re mentioned on page 39
!!
Oh, that was nice, ♥ Shannon. What beautiful words “He read my heart.”
Susan, you led me to Gladys and all her wonderful books and Gladys led me to Hal Borland’s writings (“This Hill, This Valley” is superb) and Hal led me to Henry Beston’s “The Outermost House.” Thank you Susan, for starting me off in the right direction!
Aren’t girlfriends who share the best? I think so!
P.S. I ordered your book early and now I can’t wait to get it in a few months!
Won’t be long — every day it seems something new happens — the ribbon bookmarks just came for me to choose the color! SO happy you’ve enjoyed the Gladys Tabor Trail!