Dear Great Book Guru, Spring is such a beautiful time of year here in Sea Cliff and I have resolved to spend as much time as possible outdoors.  I plan to visit each of our seventeen parks regularly with a good book always in hand.    Any suggestions? Lover of Sea Cliff’s Parks

Dear Lover of Sea Cliff’s Parks, What a great idea and I have a wonderful book to suggest: SOME TAME GAZELLE by Barbara Pym. This is a favorite of mine and the perfect choice for early spring reading.  It is the story two middle-aged sisters Belinda and Harriet Bede who are always searching for adventure in their small English village which bears a strong resemblance to Sea Cliff.  Throughout the novel, the Bedes’ fierce love of life finds form in food, clothing, poetry, flowers, friends, and all those wonderful things that fill and enrich our lives. When the two women are presented with the opportunity to leave,  they decide it far better to stay and enjoy these very real pleasures. Change will come but they know that as long as they have something to love even “some tame gazelle or some gentle dove” life is good. Coincidentally, this weekend is the annual Barbara Pym conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts which I will be attending with other members of the  Pym Society of Sea Cliff. There Pym’s characters take on lives beyond their novels in plays, papers, and academic discussions; for Pym lovers this is as close to Paradise as one can get….Highly recommended!