Rebecca Northen Recollected: Letters to Two Orchid Friends - Paperback

by Rebecca Tyson Northen (Author)

Rebecca Northen penned her first letter to Robert M. (Bert) Hamilton in 1968 requesting a copy of his book, "Orchid Flower Index." From that small beginning grew a correspondence that continued for 35 years until 2003. Northen passed away in 2004, but Hamilton had carefully kept the almost 300 letters, notes, and cards he and his wife, Anne, had received from their dear friend. Hamilton, 97 years old, asked friends and family to help organize his collection of Northen's letters. "Rebecca Northen Recollected" is the result. Northen's frank and witty observations about the world of the orchid hobbyist during the last three decades of the twentieth century are a delight. The letters are arranged in chronological order and are preceded by two autobiographical sketches, one previously unpublished. A general index and an index to orchid plant names are provided.

Author Biography

Rebecca Tyson Northen, 1910-2004, was a well-known writer and educator. She attended Radcliffe College and received a BA from Wayne State University and an MA from Mount Holyoke College. Northen travelled extensively in Central and South America studying and collecting orchids in the wild with her husband Hank, a plant physiologist and professor of botany at the University of Wyoming. Northen's book "Home Orchid Growing" is still regarded as the standard reference for orchid hobbyists. She also wrote "Orchids as House Plants" and "Miniature Orchids". Northen spoke to hundreds of orchid groups over the years, and her articles appeared in "Popular Gardening", "Flower Grower", "Horticulture", and the American Orchid Society "Bulletin". Robert M. (Bert) Hamilton's more than forty publications include "The Orchid Doctor", "Flowering Months of Orchid Species Under Cultivation", "Orchids and Ordeals in Guatemala", "Letters of John Lindley", and the "Life of Sarah Drake". Edited by Robert M. Hamilton and Louise Hamilton Cover design by Ann Nelson