Judge, farmer, author and musician, Henry A. Shute was a real boy at heart. In the spirit of Aldrich and Twain, he wrote 18 novels about bad boys that delighted readers across America. And everyone knew him as Plupy. Read our biography of a man almost forgotten by history.
The Mark Twain of Exeter
He wrote more than 20 books, all set in his beloved town of Exeter, New Hampshire. But his fame lasted only a lunchtime. Today few outside of rural Exeter recall the name of Judge Henry Augustus Shute (1856 – 1943), better known as "Plupy."
Henry "Plupy" Shute was an impressionable adolescent when the first rough and tumble "boy books" of American literature appeared soon after the Civil War. The revolutionary Story of a Bad Boy by Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1869) must have knocked Plupy’s socks off, if he wore any. Aldrich’s hero did awful things – lying, stealing, firing off explosions and setting things on fire -- and often escaped punishment. Mark Twain, a friend of Aldrich, took the genre to its highest form with tough kids Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Shute clearly followed in the footsteps of these highly original writers, tapping the tales of his Exeter boyhood into a seemingly endless flow of stories that appeared in books and magazines for 25 years. In an era before television, Shute’s boy adventures functioned like the Saturday morning cartoon version of the classic works by Aldrich and Twain.
Shute was popular in his day, but not immediately. He was 40 before he began submitting his boyhood stories to the Exeter Newsletter. His friend, newspaper editor John Templeton, encouraged these reminiscences, although the reading public was, at first, less than enthusiastic. Templeton published a very small edition of these collected stories in 1897 while Shute was judge of the Exeter Police Court, a position he held for 50 years.
Mother Courage May 16 - 17, 2008 Our mainstage season wraps up in May with the Senior Youth Repertory Company production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children. Through Brecht’s stark vision, the play relentlessly questions the distinctions between war, bu...
Remembering Oney Judge May 17, 2008 PORTSMOUTH -- In commemoration of the Bicentennial Anniversary Year that ended the legal U.S. Atlantic Slave Trade and Annual Spring Symposium From Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 9 am to 1 pm -
Keynote: Cheryl LaRoche describing him life at Presid...
Books & Blooms Sale May 17, 2008 BRENTWOOD -- Our Annual Books & Blooms Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 17th from 9 - 11:30 am! Come to the Mary Bartlett Library, 22 Dalton Road in Brentwood, to purchase lots of books for little money - and purchase great plants at great prices. Pl...
Lighthouse Cruise May 17, 2008 Lighthouse cruise from Portsmouth aboard the Thomas Laighton, sponsored by the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company. This cruise will leave from the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company dock at 315 Market Street in Portsmouth, across from the Sheraton Harbors...
American Lighthouse Foundation Annual Dinner May 17, 2008 Portsmouth Elks Lodge, 500 Jones Ave., Portsmouth, NH. Buffet dinner featuring garden salad, baked stuffed haddock, chicken breast with fruit glaze, roast beef, and more. The featured speaker at the dinner will be Chris Mills, author, former lighthous...
2nd Portsmouth Peace Treaty Commemorative Concert May 17, 2008 Seacoast Wind Ensemble presents “Peace & The Presidency: Music for Washington, Lincoln & Theodore Roosevelt” featuring Aaron Copeland's "Lincoln Portrait" narrated by Phillips Exeter Chaplain Robert Thompson. At The Music Hall. In 1905, diplo...
Free Gaelic Football Clinic May 18, 2008 Gaelic Football is a FUN, fast moving high scoring game that incorporates the skills used in playing soccer and basketball.
When- Sunday, May 18th, 2008
Where- Stevens Field-Stratham, NH
Ages- 5-12-Boys & Girls
Cost- FREE!!
Prior Expe...
Mother Courage and Her Children May 18, 2008 Our mainstage season wraps up in May with the Senior Youth Repertory Company production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children. Through Brecht’s stark vision, the play relentlessly questions the distinctions between war, bu...
4 Walls 1 Roof Meeting May 19, 2008 Join the new "seacoast chapter" of 4 Walls 1 Roof, a network of women business owners and professionals who collaborate on a variety of marketing initiatives for our respective businesses. Members offer services or products for home owners, fr...
Greenability Lecture & Soup May 19, 2008 EXETER -- Blue Moon Natural Foods, 8 Clifford Street, Exeter, celebrates its thirteenth year with “an intergenerational green initiative” that includes three different cooking series running through May. The anniversary schedule of events promoting h...