TREASURES OF MEMORIES
"When we got out of the car in Ede’s pebble driveway, we could hear the rhythmic breakers on the other side of the dunes, and smell the freshness of the ocean. . . . We’d climb the steep stairs in the kitchen to the second floor to put on our bathing suits. There was a guestroom under the eaves, a small bathroom, and what Ede called the “Pilot Room.” Through its old windows, you could see over the dunes to a wonderful blue band of ocean, where sometimes a fishing boat would be making its way up the coast. How magical was that view of sea and sky. How that magic is retained in memory, with gentle sea breezes stirring the windows’ frail lace curtains, just as in Andrew Wyeth’s painting “Wind from the Sea.”
—Treasures of Memories
"It is tiny specks of gold from the blowing dust of our lives that can be the most memorable. Way does indeed lead on to way, and there is never time to revisit the wonder of these special moments in our lives—except in memory. The people are gone. The places we knew are gone. Seasons turn. Years rush by. Decades vanish.
"And then, something will remind you: Sunlight swimming on a carpet as it filters through the blowing leaves of the tree outside your window. The way a fat cloud sails through the blue, windy sky. A face in a passing car. The sound of a voice. A fragment of a song from long ago.
"And suddenly, a glimpse of a memory starts to come into focus, until, once again, I'm back. These are not transformational moments. And it may be that they mean nothing. Or maybe everything. Either way, for a few minutes, come join me there."
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—Treasures of Memories: How Way Leads on to Way
CONTENTS
There’s a Summer Place
Chappy
Auntie: The Last Rose of Summer
Whitecaps in Winter
Roughhousing
Snow Day
Curing Snow Madness
Plant Porn
Our Lucky Day
Bubs
I Say a Little Prayer
Making a Statement
Playing Hookey
The Last Day of School
The First Day of College
A Knock on the Door
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PRAISE FOR TREASURES OF MEMORIES
Arthur Vanderbilt opens Treasures of Memories with self-deprecating humor and more charm than the prince with the glass slipper as he lists the skills he lacks . . . Treasures of Memories, Mr. Vanderbilt’s second collection of essays, is peppered with historical as well as literary and cultural references from Allen Ginsberg to Thornton Wilder to Martha Stewart. The memories are often moving, often very funny, and of course, always, full of the vivid five-sensory acuity of the author.
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PLC
After reading the transporting Treasures of Memories: How Way Leads on to Way, I will never again say that a departed person, place, or thing I loved is only a memory now. Mr. Vanderbilt’s latest offering made me realize that saying something is only a memory is tantamount to saying something is only a masterpiece.
EAM
Compelling, detailed, brilliant work. Some readers may be impelled to dig out their diary and try their hand at writing. It is only Vanderbilt's gift that makes his stories come to life.
JIM
