Sarah Orne and Henry David Seen in Keene
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Sarah Orne Jewett and Henry David ThoreauMARK YOUR CALENDAR

Keene Chautauqua 2012 will focus on the theme of Building Common Ground: Community, Compassion and Civility. Funded in part by a Humanities Council grant, this year's June 27 and 28 living history festival offers the opportunity to travel back in time and meet two of America's most influential literary legends – Sarah Orne Jewett and Henry David Thoreau. (Continued below)

Keene Chautauqua will be held on Thursday, June 28 at Heberton Hall in Keene. The performances begin at 6:30 p.m. and pre-show musical entertainment will begin at 6 p.m.

This year Keene Chautauqua will bring two legends of New England literary history to life. Betty Jean Steinshouer will portray novelist Sarah Orne Jewett and Kevin Radaker will portray author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau.

A two-part book discussion series is part of the festival. It begins on Wednesday, June 13 at 7 p.m. at the Horatio Colony House Museum with a discussion of Sarah Orne Jewett's The Country of the Pointed Firs. The second session meets on Wednesday, June 20 at 7 p.m. at the Horatio Colony House Museum and will focus on Walden, or a Life in the Woods by Thoreau.

On Wednesday, June 27 at 6 p.m. the public is invited to the Horatio Colony House Museum for a Croquet Reception with Sarah Orne Jewett and Henry David Thoreau.

Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1912) was born in South Berwick, Maine. Her fiction celebrated what she called the "grand, simple lives" of Mainers. In her work, personal friendship is the building block of community. Betty Jean Steinshouer is the author of Travels with Willa Cather and Red Cloud to Cross Creek. She has been a touring Chautauqua scholar for more than two decades.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) wove two central themes through his essays, books and poems; nature and the conduct of a just life. His writings explore the relationship of the individual to the communty. Kevin Radaker is a Professor of English and Chair of the English Department at Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana. Since 1991, he has presented his portrayal of Thoreau over 400 times throughout the United States.

All Keene Chautauqua events are free and open to the public. Books for the discussion series are available to borrow from the Keene Public Libary. For more information contact the Keene Public Library at 352-0157.

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