Thursday, October 13, 2011

Inveroran Hotel


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The hotel is very small, only seven rooms, but has hosted visitors like Charles Dickens and the Comte de Paris, both of who passed without comment. Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge stopped on his way south from Glencoe, and waited an hour and a half here for a dish of tea. Dorothy and William Wordsworth complained of a terrible breakfast, with inedible butter, hard oat cakes, and eggs boiled hard as stones. Robert Southey couldn’t get milk. Charles Darwin had better luck, and used the nearby birch trees as an example in his writings on natural selection. The hotel proudly displayed these questionable comments in its publicity materials, with a humor that came from these sorts of places, which have seen hard times and lived to tell about them. We had a fantastic time there.


 

4 comments:

C said...

Eric, I am visiting Bridgeport CT and possibly NYC, and was hoping to see some Henry Miller landmarks. I recently ordered a copy of the Nexus Int'l Henry Miller journal, containing your article, but unfortunately I believe it will be mailed on too much of a delay to reach me during my time here. I was wondering if you might be able to send me a copy of your article regarding Richard Galen Osborn, or any information of interest that might lead me to visit related Henry Miller sites in Connecticut, while I am here. Sorry for leaving this comment here, but I could not find any email address listed for you on the web.

Thank You

Clint

Eric D. Lehman said...

Clint - I've sent you the article and a photo of Osborn's house. Have fun!

C said...

Hi Eric!

My name is Clint and three years ago you were kind enough to send me a copy of your article on Richard Osborn, while I awaited my copy of Nexus in the mail! My family is from Bridgeport, but I am in Arizona and I don't get to visit often! Incidentally, I did end up driving by Richard's old house and taking a picture! I couldn't help but wonder, seeing your comment on the HM cosmo blog, if you had any new information about Richard Osborn? It is nice to have a Bridgeport connection with HM, as I feel like it give me an edge on the HM fans who will undoubtedly not visit CT just for their HM interest. Take Care!

Sincerely,

Clint

Eric D. Lehman said...

Clint - Well, the upshot is that I met with Osborn's niece, who is still alive and a childrens' book author. She says that when Richard died her father destroyed a trunk of his papers, presumably containing letters to/from Miller and his 'novel' of his Paris years. We'll never know. Alas!