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Written by Jack Perkins
Illustrated by Mary
Jo Perkins
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Bar Island, Maine, is a place --- and
a metaphor.
The merry memories of a girl romping
that island a century ago are a delight --- and an inspiration.
When NBC newsman Jack Perkins, after
30 years in television, moved with his wife Mary Jo to Bar Island
in 1986, they became its first human residents in many years.
What and who prededed them, they wondered?
What previous walkers had its flower-spattered meadow enticed?
For what other eager mouths had it ripened wild cherries? To
reward what climbers of its peak had it spread sublime panoramas
of sunglint seas?
Their search to understand today led
them deep into yesterday where they discovered a remarkable 10-year-old
girl named Eugenia who would speak to them across generations
of the simple joys which a child finds but adults forget to seek.
- Like gathering fustfuls of violets.
- Like settling down to a serene summer
sunset.
- Like promenading beneath parasols of
fern.
She spoke to the two of them. Now, through
this evocative book, may Eugenia, after all these years, speak
to you.
| AUTHOR: after
a quarter-century of traveling the world as a correspondent and
commentator for NBC News, Jack Perkins found Maine. By 1994,
contentedly ensconced on Bar Island, he pursued television from
a distance, hosting programs on the A&E Network, and contributing
television essays to PBS's MacNiel-Lehrer Newshour. Those
are avocations. His occupation was island-living. |
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ILLUSTRATOR:
Only after raising three children and moving to Maine did Mary
Jo Perkins resume a career in the arts. She began producing illustrations
for bird and nature guides, and whimsical art for children's
books. Parasols of Fern represents the first opportunity
she and her husband had to collaborate. |
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