Speakers try to get inside the heads of their subjects
By JILL SHERMAN, DAILY SUN
THE VILLAGES, FL – Betty Jean Steinshouer searched for answers while in the midst of developing a new character Monday.
It seems there is not a heck of a lot to go on when trying to pinpoint the real Constance Fenimore Woolson.
“Whatever she is, she’ll be,” Steinshouer said, “and she’ll grow from there.”
Steinshouer is known for taking on the personas of women writers to breathe life into her presentations about them.
Her travels take her to various locations, including The Villages, where she has performed several times previously.
Steinshouer will debut her portrayal of Woolson when she presents “Florida’s Laureate: Constance Fenimore Woolson” at 6 p.m. April 2 at Paradise Recreation Center.
The presentation is a part of The Villages Lifelong Learning College Special Speakers series.
Extensive research has put Steinshouer in touch with voice recordings of most of the women authors she portrays.
She has had no luck, however, locating Woolson’s voice on tape.
For that reason, Steinshouer is drawing from Woolson’s writing and history to completely bring to life this character.
“I’m trying to get her voice to come out,” Steinshouer said.
Details of some of Woolson’s life remain elusive.
“Some of her writing,” Steinshouer said, “has been out of print for decades.”
What Steinshouer has found out, though, is that Woolson’s family roots are in Cleveland.
For years, Woolson took her ailing mother to St. Augustine.
“Her coming to Florida was a last-ditch effort to gain her mother a few more years,” Steinshouer said, “because the winters (in Cleveland) were so hard.”
All of this took place before Henry Flagler began developing the area.
“In those days, traveling was difficult,” Steinshouer said. “There were all sorts of things that could have kept them from coming here regularly.”
But Woolson loved wild Florida and took every opportunity to go exploring.
When she wrote about canoeing on the treacherous Ocklawaha River, she became one of the first travel writers.
Woolson’s admiration for Henry James took her to Europe, where she developed a relationship with the writer and ended up living in Italy until her 1894 death.
Steinshouer said she believes it was Woolson’s love for Florida that ultimately convinced James to return to the United States and visit St. Augustine.
“I don’t think Henry James would have come to Florida,” Steinshouer said, “without his relationship with Ms. Woolson.”
Another installment in the Special Speakers series is “Famous Singers: Their Lives & Music Featuring Bette Midler,” scheduled for 6 p.m. April 16, also at Paradise Recreation Center.
Village of Santiago residents Joe and Diana Arlt, known locally as the Jay N Dee Show, will give a narrated PowerPoint presentation highlighted with live performances of Midler’s best-known music.
Tickets for “Famous Singers” cost $3 for college patrons, $8 for Villages residents and $13 for the general public.
Tickets for “Florida’s Laureate” cost $8 for college patrons, $13 for Villages residents and $18 for the general public.
Special Speakers series tickets are available through TVLLC office. Call 753-3035 for information.
Jill Sherman is a reporter with the Daily Sun. She can be contacted at 753-1119, ext. 9253, or jill.sherman@thevillagesmedia.com.
