Native Vermont filmmaker Nora Jacobson pays tribute to Vermont poet and writing instructor Ruth Stone (1915-2011) in a tender, clear-eyed documentary that examines her enduring legacy as much as her eventful life.
During her 96 years, Stone published 13 books of poetry, served as poet laureate, taught hundreds of students, and raised a family that includes six grandchildren, including poet and visual artist Bianca Stone who provides the animated interstitials. As Stone tells her granddaughters in a 2009 sequence, "All my family are poets." She encouraged their creativity, leading them to become writers and visual artists. She also reads several poems, including "Tenacity" and "I Have Three Daughters."
Prior to Jacobson, film and television editor Sidney Wolinsky (The Sopranos, The Shape of Water), who had been one of Stone's poetry students, made a documentary short about her in 1973. Jacobson weaves excerpts throughout the film.
Poet and literary critic Sandra Gilbert recalls that Stone was always writing. Even if she was just riding a bus, "The muse was somehow inhabiting her in this extraordinary way." About her poems, Stone claims, "I didn't write them--they came though me."
Stone and her second husband, Walter, moved to their Goshen farmhouse in 1956. She paid for this "Vast Library of the Female Mind," as she called it, with earnings from a poetry award. It became a hub for students and writers to converse and engage in spontaneous poetry-writing sessions. Her three daughters remember those days with fondness--despite the lack of heat in winter. Phoebe even met her photographer husband, former poetry student David Carlson, at one of these gatherings.
In 1959, the family spent Walter's sabbatical from Vassar in London, where they were having a fine time until he killed himself with no warning. In retrospect, his daughters believe it may have been due to a fear of failure. Upon her return to the States, Stone couldn't write at first, but she would eventually address Walter's death in poems, like "Metamorphosis." Though she didn't attend college, she would spend 40 years as a visiting poetry lecturer at several universities, eventually attaining tenure.
If her work was greatly admired, Stone's books sold poorly, and money was always in short supply, a problem exacerbated by her disinterest in promoting her work or currying favor with the powerful, especially men. She preferred the company of other women poets. She also faced dismissal in some quarters simply for finding the poetry in mundane, mostly female experiences, like hanging the laundry or watching a plumber fix the pipes, rather than Important Topics, like politics and the economy.
Since her passing, Bianca and her husband, poet Ben Pease, have helped to renovate Stone's beloved farmhouse, install a roadside marker, and open up the property as a writers' retreat. Twelve years in the making, Nora Jacobson's affectionate portrait reveals a born poet and loving mother who inspired most everyone she met. That inspiration shows no signs of stopping.
Can this film be used in a library education program?
Ruth Stone's Vast Library of the Female Mind, which aired on PBS stations, would provide an enlightening choice for a variety of library education programs, particularly those involving women writers of the 20th century and modern American poetry.
What ages would this documentary be suitable for?
This documentary is suitable for all ages, including high school students. Parents and instructors should be advised that the film includes mention of the suicide of Stone's husband, a devastating loss that Nora Jacobson handles with requisite sensitivity.
Why should an academic librarian or professor request Public Performance Rights for this film?
Ruth Stone's Vast Library of the Female Mind would provide an engaging introduction to the life of a poet with Jacobson's personal approach combined with insightful comments from notable poets, including Pulitzer Prize winner Sharon Olds.