SNAPSHOTS

2019
Had a lovely time at the Fox Hill Village retirement community in Westwood, Massachusetts. To my right is my soloist, Danielle Bavli, who sang America the Beautiful at the end of my program when we asked the audience to join in on the fourth verse, whose words I had projected up on the screen. It was very moving.
At the Hall of Flags in the Massachusetts State House for the celebration of Massachusetts authors by the Massachusetts Center for the Book
In London at the Wellesley Club of the United Kingdom where I gave an illustrated talk on Katharine Lee Bates in England
Wellesley Class Mini-Reunion & Book Talk - New York, NY
Wellesley Historical Society Talk, Wellesley, Mass.
Book Club Talk, Wellesley, Mass.
The Newton Free Library
Marco Island, Florida
The Tides Club,  Naples, Florida

2018
The Massachusetts State House
Prairie Path Bookstore in Wheaton, Illinois 
At Chicago's historic Fortnightly Club
The Chicago Wellesley Club
In the Colorado Springs, Colorado area to celebrate the U.S. Postal Service's dedication of the "O Beautiful" Forever stamps
The Hingham Public Library , Hingham, Mass.
 The Boston Athenaeum , Boston, Mass.
Story Chapel— Mt. Auburn Cemetery , Cambridge, Mass.
Public Library in Tewksbury, Mass.
 Cambridge Boat House, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Scottsdale,  Phoenix, and Prescott, Arizona
Pebble Creek LifeLong Learning, Goodyear, Arizona
Westminster Shores in St. Petersburg, Florida
 Wellesley Club of Tampa Bay, Florida
Wellesley Club of St. Petersburg, Florida
Wellesley Club of Naples luncheon at the Pelican Bay Club 

2017
English Speaking Union holiday party sitting with Wellesley grad and professor 
At Longfellow House in Cambridge, Mass. for my lecture and book signing.
Talking about Katharine Lee Bates with my college classmates in Belmont, Mass.
 Book Talk at Sequoias Portola Valley, Portola, California
Book event- Northern California Alumnae of Pine Manor College 
Book event- The Wellesley Club of Silicon Valley 
Book talk at the Metropolitan Club in San Francisco, California
Book talk at The Book Passage in San Francisco, California
Book talk at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass.
Book talk at Holly Creek Retirement Community in Centennial, Colorado
At Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Book talk at The Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, Colorado
Book talk at Belmont Books, in Belmont, Mass.
Book talk at Indy Reads Books in Indianapolis
Dinner at the Indianapolis book club meeting
Launching the book at Pine Manor College
Talking about my book with Mindy Todd at the WGBH Boston studio
In Falmouth, Mass., where Katharine Lee Bates was born 

OVERHEARD...

“That is the best book talk I have ever heard!”

“Thank you for presenting your stories about Katharine Lee Bates to us. It was a very interesting presentation, and we appreciate how well you wove the Chicago connections into your presentation…. It was also very interesting to hear about the World’s Fair from Katharine’s perspective."

"...such a wonderful and inspiring talk..."

“You are a great story-teller!”

"... I do know all verses of 'America the Beautiful" but did not anything about its poet. BRAVA to you and kudos for slaving away for so long to bring your beautifully written book to all of us!"

"[I] want to thank you for treating us to a captivating evening of learning about Katharine Lee Bates.
Melinda, your research revealed some fascinating details about what it must have been like for our predecessors at Wellesley one hundred years ago."

"[my friend] ....couldn't rave enough about how wonderful your talk was.  She was fascinated to learn more about KLB, but mainly she couldn't get over how compelling your talk was!"


​"My friends who bought your book have all reported on how much they have enjoyed it.” 


"Thank you, Melinda, for writing this book and sharing “your Katharine” with us. I’m looking forward to getting to know her better."

"Someone mentioned she had done a paper in High School about women in patriotic songs or women in history, so she knew about KLB, but now she wants to know more."

"Q: If Katharine were with us today, what would she say about the United States -- is it "America the Beautiful"?  
A: She would see that many of the same issues she was concerned about during her lifetime are still with us.   When she wrote ATB she knew that America was not perfect -- that "God shed his grace on thee" was a prayer, not a fact -- but she believed that we have the ideals and common goals to achieve the best for our country -- and she would see that today as well."

"It made me think that Katharine was the generation before my mother, and it was interesting to think about what that would have been like.  Thank you for teaching us something new."

"Small pox can be transmitted in clothing!"

"You made me want to go to Wellesley!/ You made me wish I had gone to Wellesley!"

"The slides are fabulous - the fact that they are all "of the period" makes her travels, life much more real as to what it was like then."

" Congratulations on finding all those fabulous pictures to illustrate your talk."

"Speaking for the [Pine Manor] alumnae in attendance, we all had a delightful evening with Melinda."

"This is so fascinating!"
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​"Melinda, it was so good to see you in your element last night - you gave a great talk, and it looked like the books were flying off the table!" 

"Congratulations on a very successful launch!"