Bringing back the Chestnut, and literary references

This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 1 month ago by Rob Halpern.

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October 18, 2010 at 10:13 am #167330

Trace One
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/17/AR2010101703320.html?hpid=topnews

Nice article on bringing back the beautiful chestnut tree, with two quotes from books where the chestnut tree appears.

I am always interested in ‘the literary landscape.” If one could draw Yoknawpatawpah (sp??) County (Faulkner’s creation) what would it look like? Maybe not the best example since Faulkner pretty much tried to depict the South of his home, but just in general..The plan for the town in “Tortilla Flat”…

Other references to Chestnut trees the author of the article significantly missed, in my book, are from 1984, I think (!!!???)

“Under the spreading Chestnut tree,

I sold you and you sold me.”

as well as one of my favorites, James Thurber’s short story, I think it is “The night the bed fell” where he relates that his weak and nervous brother ‘died of chesnut blight’ , the only person to succumb to the disease..(Meant to be funny, of course!)..

Anybody else, literary references to the Chestnut?

(Is anyone sorry that I finally learned to post links! It can be extremely annoying, just posting links..I am open to that criticism!)

October 18, 2010 at 12:06 pm #167333

Rob Halpern
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Trace One,
While this is not a literary connection (perhaps more a literal connection), when I worked at the Bronx Zoo, I did some research in the archives into the initial discovery of chestnut blight which occurred at the zoo. The photographs of the century old chestnut trees on the property astounded me! No oak of the Northeastern forests could outshine them.

October 18, 2010 at 1:52 pm #167332

Trace One
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Cool, Rob, would love to see those pix, I didn’t know it was discovered at the good old BRONX ZOO, right down from my dad’s house!..
We can’t imagine what america looked like, when covered with the old growth forests..there’s a cool patch of 300 year old maples in Nova Scotia, preserved, but it is in a dip in the island, in the middle, so the Maples put their efforts to growing tall – it is a very very tall stand of trees..Still pretty exciting..

: )

October 18, 2010 at 3:04 pm #167331

Rob Halpern
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Sadly the blight can be reasonably traced to a shipment of Japanese Chestnuts to a nursery in the Rochester area. Some went to the NY Botanic Garden (among other places). It was the zoo’s Chief Forester (as the grounds manager was then titled) that first noticed die back of the zoo’s American chestnuts and sent samples to Washington for i.d…..and so it began.
I know the pictures have appeared somewhere in print but I don’t remember where!
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