Class Note 1979
An inspiring example to live life to the fullest for the good of all wherever we land, Beth Blatt writes, “In 2022 my French husband, Michel, and I made a lightning move to France from the United States, prompted by a job transfer for Michel. I was a French (and German) major at Dartmouth and had a few brief work-study stints abroad back then. I am thrilled to really be living here at last. In France I’ve seen Lizanne Galbreath Megrue, Lisa Mendelson Friel, Carol Bates, Jennifer Hughes, and Dave Van Wie. I see more of Custis Glover here than I did in the United States since she and husband John have an apartment in Paris—where I’m lucky enough to get to stay sometimes. We hosted them in Antibes, where we live, not too long ago.
“France is a writer’s paradise. It’s an overflowing treasure chest of museums, monuments, churches, charming squares, even street names. (Who exactly was Jean Jaurès?) And of course, I’m writing about it all: the history, the language, the culture, the women—especially the women.
“From Day One (okay, maybe Day Two) I’ve been taking a deep dive into the stories of women that history has overlooked or misrepresented. I’m proud to say I already wrote and performed a one-woman, site-specific show in Paris about one of my ‘forgotten women of France’ (FWOF). Last June in Paris, at La Chapelle Expiatoire, the memorial to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette, I did a combination of a visite dramatique (a tour where an actor brings a site to life) and a one-woman show. La Chapelle Expiatoire is one of the few places in Paris proper where one of my latest fascinations, Marie-Thérèse, the daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, has a presence (albeit the prison where she spent three years, five months, and four days and a lot of time praying has been torn down). Most recently I was thrilled to have been chosen to spend March in residence at le Chateau de la Napoule—yes, a chateau!—bringing its story to life!
“With this new year I’m declaring an intention (I don’t believe in resolutions): It’s time to be brave and share what I’m creating. At bethblatt.com I plan on posting monologues, songs, and writings about the challenges and rewards of pivoting my life and career to France and especially about FWOF.” This Class Notes secretary’s recommendation: Check out one of her performances at “Forgotten Women of France—Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild.”
Beth says she writes “to build bridges between cultures and people, to create greater understanding of ourselves and others so we’ll stop trying to blow each other up. I also try to work in a chuckle, maybe even a little ditty. A spoonful of sugar, right?
“I wish you a wonderful 2024 full of hope, expansion, prosperity, success. That’s what numerology says we can expect, since this is an ‘eight’ year (two plus two plus four)—the rainbow after the storm. Call me a cockeyed optimist, I’m counting on it.”
—Janie Simms Hamner, 7327 Centenary Ave., Dallas, TX 75225; jshandkids@aol.com
