a mini biography of Alice C. Fletcher from a collection at Project Gutenberg titled Heroines of Service by Mary Rosetta Parkman. Miss Fletcher attempted to overpower the Europeans who were harrassing Indians away from valuable lands in the U.S.

Portrait of Alice C. Fletcher from Popular Science Monthly Volume 43 via Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain.

Campfire Interpreter - Alice C Fletcher

Hallowe'en, a poem by Virna Sheard
recorded for LibriVox.org by Grace Buchanan
This recording is in the Public Domain

Hallowe'en

Halloween, by Virna Sheard

When my son asked me to find and record something by the philospher Lucius Annaeus Seneca, I had great fun untangling Sir Roger L'Estrange's convoluted language, the way that I learned to with Shakespeare and poetry. I recorded his article (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/56075/56075-h/56075-h.htm#OF_SENECAS_WRITINGS) true to his wording, and hoped that my phrasing illuminated the meaning for you. Let me know? 

I found Seneca's extant writings to be too interesting and specific to record just one; but this introductory article gave me a satisfying overview of Seneca's popular quotes from his books that are lost. 
I was amused by the list of criticisms against Seneca, including his "tinkling" sentences; but even his critics commended him for his moralizing.

My favorite quick quotes from this article:
"They worship the images of the God...and yet...they have no regard at all to the workman that made it."
"Philosophers... make me think of gallipots in an apothecary's shop, that have remedies without and poison within."
"There is no escaping from our keeper...There is no dividing us from ourselves...He that has a conscience gives evidence against himself."
"Once in a year people may be allowed to be mad."

The author of this article was the translator for the book titled, "Seneca's Morals of a Happy Life, Benefits, Anger and Clemency". You can find the entire book at  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56075 This article was included in that book.

Listen to all the work that I've done for LIbriVox. https://librivox.org/reader/13638/

This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox.org. 

The cover image and text are in the Public Domain.

Of Seneca's Writings

I have little patience for slapstick and vulgur English humor, but savor the restrained clowniness of certain British actors. John Reid of D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, and Edward Petherbridge of the Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery Series inspired me as I recorded Chapter 4 of Leave It To Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse, Painful Scene At The Drones Club.

You can read the entire book at Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60067

Listen to all the work that I've done for LIbriVox http://librivox.org/reader/13638/

This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: http://librivox.org.

The cover image is in the Public Domain.

Leave It To Psmith, by P. G. Wodehouse

As I rehearsed for this recording, I was inspired by characters from Jane Austen books, movies, and audiobooks, especially Lydia Bennet (Pride and Prejudice), Emma Woodhouse (Emma), Lucy Steele (Sense and Sensibility), and Mary Musgrove (Persuasion). The History of Emily Montague is a novel about courtship during the mid 1700s between silly young girls and awkward gentlemen. Frances Moore Brooke probably influenced Jane Austen's work, as their lifelines overlapped, and they were both from England, and their writing styles are similar (e.g., characters, issues).

Volume 1 describes the predicament of Emily Montague as she discovers that marrying Sir George Clayton, the man whom her uncle chose for her, might not be in her best interest as she finds herself attracted to Colonel Rivers. Her decision to spend the winter with her friend Arabella Fermor increases her opportunities to distance herself from Sir George and align with Colonel Rivers.

I recorded the letters that Arabella wrote in Volume 2 from the 4-volume set. Most of her correspondence is to her and Emily's dear friend back in London (Lucy Rivers) who happens to be Colonel Rivers's sister, and who has her own romantic story to tell. Here are the first two letters from Volume 2.

I am delighted by this story's turn from Arabella's immersion in flirting to her describing the Canadian landscape at some length. What an interesting choice of character to do such a job for the author as she was the first European to publish a novel in and about Canada. I am familiar with "one of the noblest works of nature," which Arabella describes, and am saddened as I think about how it has changed as a result of development, especially in the U.S., particularly from the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Listen to the entire first volume of this book https://librivox.org/the-history-of-emily-montague-vol-1-dramatic-reading-by-frances-moore-brooke/

Listen to the entire second volume of this book https://librivox.org/the-history-of-emily-montague-vol-ii-by-frances-moore-brooke/?q=emily%20montague&search_form=advanced

Read the entire book https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16300

Listen to all the work that I've done for LIbriVox 
https://librivox.org/reader/13638/

This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox.org.

The History of Emily Montague Vol II by Frances Moore Brooke

I've been listening to segments of many audiobooks lately to help me find my place in the voice acting world. Where am I needed? What are my limitations? 

I was suprised to find that the audiobook versions that I heard of Siddhartha by Herman Hesse sounded like adventure novels. I understood it to be a poetic prayer of meditation, so I began recording my understanding of this text. Please let me know what you think.

Read the entire book https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2500

Listen to all the work that I've done for LIbriVox http://librivox.org/reader/13638/

This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: http://librivox.org.

Image credit:
Buddha by nomo/michael hoefner, http://www.zwo5.de / Creative Commons license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Buddha_1251876.jpg

Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse, Chapter 1

I thought that the author was harshly judging the main character for her selfish thoughtlessness, but then I started to see that there is a tone of compassion for people who give of themselves so selflessly that they become deliriously starved for self nurturance.

This story was originally published in an 1897 issue of Vogue Magazine, and was then included in the author's book, The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories. I like how the author's voice trips along from one scene to another.

Please be careful as you tend to the needs of others, especially during this pandemic, to make sure that you are tending to your own creature needs. Please keep in touch with your sense of comfort, peace, and wellness.

Read the entire book "The Awakening and Selected Short Stories" at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/160/160-h/160-h.htm#link2H_4_0050

Listen to all the work that I’ve done for LIbriVox at https://librivox.org/reader/13638

This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox.org.

Image credit:
Kate Chopin Portrait
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kate_Chopin_portrait_T-P.jpg
Photographer not credited / Public domain

A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin

I resisted my dear one’s urging me to record Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Great Stone Face as long as I could. After all, Basil Rathbone mastered the job of telling the story, but our home-recorded cassette tape copy is wearing out, and we haven’t found a replacement after years of searching. So, I acknowledge and thank Mr. Rathbone, may he rest in peace, for his inspiration during my recording.
Basil Rathbone was confined to the 20-minute length of a vinyl 33 1/3 LP record in 1960, so his version was edited, but I spoke the entire 1897 text.
A favorite line:
“behold a man who might have fulfilled the prophecy, and had not willed to do so.”
Are YOU fulfilling your grandest dreams? I see that we are each a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. The picture is best when we each contribute what we have.

Listen to the entire story https://ia802901.us.archive.org/15/items/ss084_2002_librivox/ss084_08_various_64kb.mp3
Read the entire story http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39716
Listen to all the work that I've done for LIbriVox https://librivox.org/reader/13638/
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain in the USA. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox.org. 


Image credit:
NH Franconia NH RPPC Rocky Outcrop Old Man of the Mountain also known as Great Stone Face or The Profile on Cannon Mountain in White Mountains Photographer Unknown Postmarked" by UpNorth Memories - Donald (Don) Harrison is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Great Stone Face

The Great Stone Face, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

"The Flu": A Brief History of Influenza in US, Europe, Hawaii (an excerpt)

We’ve been here before. Medical historians are familiar with pandemics like our current one.

I find this book comforting as I read about the familiar symptoms of cough and fever and lung ailments. It puts our latest pandemic into perspective as I compare my state’s, country’s, and planet’s recent number of daily and total deaths with those of past pandemics.

The author’s ideas about causes, remedies, and prevention are old fashioned but food for thought as we figure out how to deal with the illness that is overwhelming us now.

Listen to the entire book (except the last chapter, which drifted from the primary purpose as inferred by the title) at LibriVox https://librivox.org/the-flu-a-brief-history-of-influenza-by-a-mouritz/ 

Read the entire book at Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61607

Listen to all the work I’ve done for LibriVox  https://librivox.org/reader/13638

This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain in the USA. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox.org.

Image credit:
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016855254/
1918-1920 Spanish Flu Pandemic, Walter Reed Hospital Flu Ward, 
Photographer: Harris & Ewing, 
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C., USA,
Public domain.

The Flu

The Flu: A Brief History, by A. Mouritz

Chapter One: Mrs. Rachel Lynde is Surprised

Mrs. Rachel symbolically and literally puts herself in the sunshine, while Marilla screens herself from it.  Mrs. Rachel looks about to see what her neighbors are up to. She expresses her opinion, and spreads any news; while Marilla is reclusive, perhaps as a screen against feeling overwhelmingly influenced by others. However, both women are described as being excellent housekeepers, attentive to their environments, indoors and out, so they both apparently have ample light to see what's important to them.

This chapter was included in the LibriVox First Chapter Collection 6. It is the first track.
https://ia601509.us.archive.org/5/items/fc_06_2005_librivox/fc06_01_various_64kb.mp3

Read the entire book "Anne of Green Gables" at Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45

Listen to all the work that I've done for LibriVox at https://librivox.org/reader/13638

This is a LibriVox recording. All LIbriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: LibriVox.org.

Let me know if you would like me to record a short story, poem, or the first chapter of a book for you. Most of my texts come from Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/

Image credit:
https://archive.org/details/AnneOfGreenGables_201303/page/n11/mode/1up
Illustration by Anonymous
Licensed under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND/3.0) License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Anne of Green Gables, Chapter One

Anne of Green Gables, Chapter 1, by Lucy Maude Montgomery

Let's Build Bridges Together
Download samples
Blogging at WeaverGrace.com

Grace Buchanan

Popular tracks