The Emilie Loring Collection

Emilie Loring wanted her books to give readers rest and encouragement, so they would emerge refreshed and ready to tackle whatever was ahead. I feel that way, having just taken a little time out for my daughter’s wedding and a week of vacation in ever-green Oregon.

The wedding was everything a mom could hope for on her daughter’s special day.

And Oregon had so much of what Emilie loved about the Maine coast: pines, berries, beautiful water, rocky shore, and color, color, everywhere!

The air was sweet with the breath of blossoms, spicy with the tang of kelp and the scent of balsam, spruce, pine and arborvitae. Give Me One Summer

“I have driven miles and miles to get glimpses of snow-capped mountains, orchards pink and white with bloom, the Pacific, the bluest water I ever have seen… As Long As I Live

“Color does something for me.  Sets me on top of the world.” When Hearts Are Light Again

To top it off, I found a used copy of Fair Tomorrow in an antiques store!

Nothing now between her and her chosen work.  Life, liberty and the pursuit of plot-germs!  Fair Tomorrow

Re-entry always requires a moment to catch one’s bearings. Before getting back to writing, the gardens need watering and weeding, the mail needs sorting, and there are current events to catch up on.

“In answer to your query as to my outside interests and hobbies.  My family and my writing are my major interests.  After them, I should list first THE WORLD TODAY.  The tragic surge of events keeps one emotionally stirred and intellectually on the run in the effort not to fall too far behind the daily news.”  Emilie Loring, 1940

This comment came not long after Emilie Loring appeared in the current events section of the Boston Daily Globe.

China and Japan were at war in 1939. The younger Eleanor Roosevelt (the wife of Teddy Roosevelt, Jr.) visited China and observed the plight of soldiers’ orphaned children. With the aid of Mme. Chiang Kai-Shek (who was educated at Wellesley), Mrs. Roosevelt raised money for the Chinese orphans. One of her fund-raisers was a sale of gold and jade jewelry at the R. H. White department store in Boston.

Mme. Lin Yutang, “wife of the man who wrote The Importance of Living and the most important Chinese personage in this country,” plus Emilie Loring and the novelist Dorothy Walker, attended the event at Mrs. Roosevelt’s request “to attract newspaper and magazine coverage.”

“I turned on my radio while I dressed. It makes one heartsick.  No matter what I am doing, all the time in the back of my mind I hear the beat of drums of war.  One can’t ignore it in the life of today any more than one can a minor motif in a symphony.” Where Beauty Dwells

After family, writing, and current events, Emilie listed books, theater, and her Maine garden as special interests. These she enjoyed all summer, during the break she took for herself in Blue Hill, Maine.

From “left coast” to east coast, it’s a treat to have places of beauty to rest, restore, and feel newly invigorated. Whatever that place is for you, may you enjoy it heartily and return  refreshed and ready for all that’s ahead.