Hermits around the web – Hermitary
news, sites, and pages of interest about hermits and solitude
Bill Porter (“Red Pine”), now aged 72, will be familiar to Hermitary readers as a translator of Chinese texts and poetry, and author of the 1993 book Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits, among many other more recent books. The local newspaper of his hometown of Port Townsend, Washington, offers this update.
The hermit remains a cultural artifact studied as an interesting social phenomenon. Here is note by German University professor Ina Bergmann, who specializes in American Studies, announcing research on a book to be titled: A Cultural History of Solitude in the USA. A topic to be included is Robert the Hermit of Massachusetts (18th-19th century). Notes Bergmann:
This is the fascinating story of Robert, a hermit and former slave, who lost his freedom due to deceit and was separated by force from his family. [Robert chose solitude and became a hermit out of desperation and distress]. This narrative aptly demonstrates the impact of slavery in the US and the close link of solitude and freedom.
In a larger context, Bergmann indicates that, as the note states,
she is studying a subject that is a recurring theme throughout US history. It is about solitude and seclusion from society as an extreme expression of the American values of freedom and individualism. Bergmann’s main interest is how hermits and recluses are depicted in literature and culture.
Another project is intended publication of presentations to a summer 2015 conference “Cultures of Solitude, held at the University of Wurzburg, described in part:
The withdrawal from society is an international and transhistorical, yet also culturally specific phenomenon. This international and interdisciplinary conference seeks to explore American cultures of solitude and their representations in cultural products from the colonial era to the present time. Representations of hermits and recluses – whether fictional or historical, deliberately seeking or forced into isolation, temporarily or finally withdrawing from society –, abound in American cultural history. Media depicting hermits and recluses range widely in time, from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century, and in genre, from broadsides to novels, from poems to plays, from songs to musicals, from ballet to opera, from engravings to art installations, from documentaries to TV shows, and from computer games to social media.
URL: https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/sonstiges/meldungen/detail/artikel/eremiten-in-der-amerikanischen-kultur-1/; http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-05/uow-hia050416.php; http://www.anglistik.uni-wuerzburg.de/abteilungen/amerikanistik/konferenzen/international_and_interdisciplinary_conference_2015_cultures_of_solitude/
An article from the Sun Community News in northern New York state titled “Of Mountain Men and Malcontents: The Story of the Cold River Hermithttp://www.suncommunitynews.com/articles/ncl-magazine/david-greene-the-man-who-translated-ronde” revisits the now famous Adirondack hermit Noah John Rondeau (1883-1967). About Rondeau:
Rondeau was not a typical hermit. While he left civilization to live a life of solitude in the woods, he also enjoyed regular visits from dozens of hikers and hunters each season. He had very little formal education, yet effortlessly conversed on a broad range of subjects ranging from science to politics. Rondeau rejected society for decades, but reveled in the attention he received as a hit “attraction” at sportsmen’s shows, as the guest on radio shows, and even a spot on a television show.
For all that, Rondeau was a born solitary and effectively projected the hermit penchant for garrulousness mixed with eccentricity. The article includes harder-to-find photos.
NOTE: A subsequent article in the same source describes David Greene’s successful efforts to decipher the code writing that Rondeau had devised for his private journal.
“Embracing the eremetical life” is a recent Today’s Catholic News article profiling three hermit nuns in Indiana. They share an eclectic path to eremitism, each being mature in age and having been married, two with children and grandchildren. Each has a rule specific to themselves, governing their overall apostalate. Ech wears a habit, though no habit is required of them. And each lives alone and is self-supporting. The article highlights characteristics common to all Catholic hermits.
URL: http://www.todayscatholicnews.org/2015/08/embracing-the-eremitical-life/
Although the Adirondack Mountains (NY) hermit Noah John Rondeau (1883-1967) may be better known, his predecessor in wilderness hermits was Louie Seymour (1832-1915), called “French Louie.” French Louie survived as a guide, trapper, fisher, and log driver in a remote region of Hamilton County and the West Canada Lakes in New York State. Many anecdotes are collected about his congeniality and resourcefulness.
URLs: “Hermit French Louie” – http://www.adirondacklifemag.com/blogs/2012/02/13/hermit-french-louie-hard-as-granite-and-tough-as-spruce/; “Remembering French Louie” – http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/27628/20150227/remembering-hermit-french-louie-with-bear-grease-and-maple-syrup; and http://frenchlouie.com/