VOICE TWO:
Of all of Barbara Cooney's books, the one that seems to affect people the most is "Miss Rumphius." It won the American Book Award. It was first published in nineteen eighty-two by Viking-Penguin. "Miss Rumphius" is Alice Rumphius. A young storyteller in the book tells the story which begins with Alice as a young girl:
VOICE THREE:
"In the evening Alice sat on her grandfather's knee and listened to his stories of faraway places. When he had finished, Alice would say, 'When I grow up, I too will go to faraway places, and when I grow old, I too will live beside the sea.’
‘That is all very well, little Alice,' said her grandfather, 'but there is a third thing you must do.'
'What is that?' asked Alice.
‘You must do something to make the world more beautiful,' said her grandfather.
'All right,' said Alice. But she did not know what that could be.
In the meantime Alice got up and washed her face and ate porridge for breakfast. She went to school and came home and did her homework.
And pretty soon she was grown up."
VOICE ONE:
Alice traveled the world. She climbed tall mountains where the snow never melted. She went through jungles and across deserts. One day, however, she hurt her back getting off a camel.
VOICE THREE:
“'What a foolish thing to do,' said Miss Rumphius. 'Well, I have certainly seen faraway places. Maybe it is time to find my place by the sea.' And it was, and she did.
Miss Rumphius was almost perfectly happy. 'But there is still one more thing I have to do,' she said. 'I have to do something to make the world more beautiful.'
But what? 'The world is already pretty nice,' she thought, looking out over the ocean."
VOICE TWO:
The next spring Miss Rumphius' back was hurting again. She had to stay in bed most of the time. Through her bedroom window she could see the tall blue and purple and rose-colored lupine flowers she had planted the summer before.
VOICE THREE:
"'Lupines,' said Miss Rumphius with satisfaction. 'I have always loved lupines the best. I wish I could plant more seeds this summer so that I could have still more flowers next year.'
But she was not able to."
VOICE ONE:
A hard winter came, then spring. Miss Rumphius was feeling better. She could take walks again. One day she came to a hill where she had not been in a long time. "'I don't believe my eyes,' she cried when she got to the top. For there on the other side of the hill was a large patch of blue and purple and rose-colored lupines!”
VOICE THREE:
"'It was the wind,' she said as she knelt in delight. ‘It was the wind that brought the seeds from my garden here! And the birds must have helped.' Then Miss Rumphius had a wonderful idea!"
VOICE TWO:
That idea was to buy lupine seed -- lots of it. All summer, wherever she went, Miss Rumphius would drop handfuls of seeds: over fields, along roads, around the schoolhouse, behind the church. Her back did not hurt her any more. But now some people called her "That Crazy Old Lady."
The next spring there were lupines everywhere. Miss Rumphius had done the most difficult thing of all. The young storyteller in the book continues:
VOICE THREE:
"My Great-aunt Alice, Miss Rumphius, is very old now. Her hair is very white. Every year there are more and more lupines. Now they call her the Lupine Lady. ...
"'When I grow up,' I tell her, 'I too will go to faraway places and come home to live by the sea.'
'That is all very well, little Alice,' says my aunt, 'but there is a third thing you must do.'
'What is that?' I ask.
"'You must do something to make the world more beautiful.'"
VOICE ONE:
Many readers, young and old, would agree that Barbara Cooney did just that.
VOICE TWO:
Many of Barbara Cooney's later books took place in the small northeastern state of Maine. She spent summers there when she was a child, then moved to Maine in her later years.
She loved Maine. She gave her local library almost a million dollars. The state showed its love for her. In nineteen ninety-six, the governor of Maine declared Barbara Cooney a State Treasure.
(MUSIC)
ANNOUNCER:
This Special English program was written by Avi Arditti and produced by Paul Thompson. Your narrators were Shirley Griffith and Steve Ember. Adrienne Arditti was the storyteller. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.
