--------------- Forwarded Message --------------- From: Aurelia L. Loveman, 103364,1155 To: Jane Read, INTERNET:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wed, Aug 27, 2003, 4:10 PM
RE: [lace] Doreen Wright Well, since you ask... she was indeed "quite a character." Endless, boundless energy, and she would let nothing and nobody stand in her way when she was out to accomplish something, even if it meant protracted struggle. I was not anything like a close friend; but we knew her well enough that she stayed with us overnight when she travelled in this country (U.S.). We first met when my husband and I drove down to her cottage at Chalfont St. Giles one day (unexpected and unannounced except for a telephone call an hour earlier to say we were coming and to get driving directions -- which I guess makes us "characters" too). This was in the early 1970's. I had learned how to do Torchon and was frantic to learn more. She welcomed us briefly and got right down to business. She put me in a window with a pillow and bobbins and a pattern of Duke's Garter, gave me half a dozen brisk words, and I was on my way, too terrified to object or to ask any questions (the ultimate result of that beginning rests on the sleeves of a blouse that I still have and love!). She had another student in the room that same day, an Australian woman as I remember it, who had come to study with her a year earlier, and was living in the house. The study year was just coming to an end, and I think the two of them had gotten pretty sick of each other; the day that I was there they weren't on speaking terms; and Doreen told me all these various details, at intervals over the whole afternoon, in a perfectly audible voice (the Australian didn't say anything). She was the author of a book, "Bobbin Lace Making," which, although written in a somewhat rushed style characteristic of her, was helpful at a time (1971) when there weren't that many books around for the ardent student of lace, and I was grateful for it. And she gave me one of the most wonderful presents I have ever had in my life: "Dentelles de Notre Temps," by Elena Holeczyova, a stunning book that opened up a new world for me, the wonderful world of 20th century Czechoslovakian lace. Doreen didn't say much; she just gave it to me with a smile, and wrote her name in it. She really loved lace. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
