Sunday with Friends Lecture on Beatrix Potter: A Women Ahead of Her Time

Beatrix Potter and her dog Kep, 1913

On Sunday, January 12th at 2pm, The Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library welcome Betsy Bray to the Library as the next speaker in their “Sunday with Friends” program series. Betsy will present an illustrated talk about the life of Beatrix Potter (1866 – 1943). The talk is free and refreshments will be served.

Beatrix Potter is well-known as the author and illustrator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and other classic children’s books, but she was also a diarist, sheep farmer, land conservationist and community activist. Her gifts to the National Trust made possible the preservation of large areas of the Lake District in North West England. Beatrix Potter overcame a strict Victorian childhood to become what Betsy considers “a woman ahead of her time.”

Betsy Bray has been a member of the Beatrix Potter Society since 1984. She is a Trustee of The Society, and has spoken at a number of the Society’s International Study Conferences and given illustrated talks to various groups in the US, UK, Africa and Australia. She gave a series of lectures on transatlantic voyage on the Queen Mary 2. Betsy is a former public library director, with a BA from Curry College, Massachusetts and a Masters of Library Science from Saint John’s University in New York.

This Friends of the Library are volunteers that encourage public understanding of the Library's vital role in the community, support activities for both adults and children, and provide various other volunteer services. For more information about the activities of the Friends, please stop by library, or visit the library website at www.vhlibrary.org.