Parasols of Ferns: A Book About Wonder

Bar Island, Maine, is a place -- and a metaphor. The merry memories of a girl romping that island a century ago are a delight -- and an inspiration. When NBC newsman Jack Perkins, after 30 years in television, moved with his wife, Mary Jo, to Bar Island in 1986, they became its first human residents in many years. What and who had preceded them, they wondered? What previous walkers had its flower-spattered meadow enticed? For what other eager mouths had it ripened wild cherries? To reward what climbers of its peak had it spread sublime panoramas of sunglint seas? Their search to understand today led them deep into yesterday where they discovered a remarkable 10-year-old girl named Eugenia who would speak to them across generations of the simple joys which a child finds but adutls forget to seek. Like gathering fistfuls of violets. Like settling down to a serene summer sunset. Like promenading beneath parasols of fern. She spoke to the two of them. Now, through this evocative book, may Eugenia, after all these years, speak to you.