Zane Grey & Moby Dick

My last stop in Pennsylvania was Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, on the shores of the beautiful Upper Delaware River. I arrived late afternoon, just before a downpour, and stayed on the porch of Zane Grey's house while it rained.

Zane's wife Dolly who he met in 1900, believed in Zane's writing ability which led him to continue writing despite rejection by the publishers. In 1910, Harper & Brothers published "The Heritage of the Desert", Grey's first western novel and his first real success. "Riders of the Purple Sage" was published in 1912.

I could see why Zane loved this area.

Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, and Benito Cereno and Bartleby, lived not too far away in the area of Massachusetts called the Berkshires. Arrowhead, his historic home is at 780 Holmes Rd., Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

When I arrived the historical society was there sprucing up for the next day opening, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. At least I could buy my t shirt in the gift shop: Call me Ishmael!

In the summer of 1850, seeking a reprieve from the heat and noise of New York City, Herman Melville brought his young family to Pittsfield, a place he had visited since childhood. Flush with success of his first books and entranced by a supportive new friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Melville bought this farm and named it Arrowhead.

That winter, in his study with its view of Mt. Greylock, he wrote his masterpiece, Moby Dick.

That is me with my new shirt next to the fine lady, Sojourner Truth.