The first question everybody asks when they hear someone is having a baby is, “Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?”  The second question is, “What will you name them?”  Whatever the reply, all parents answer both questions with pride.  But for the parents of little girls named Avonlea, they often respond with extra delight.

Here’s a humorous (and educational!) blog post that I came across from a true Anne fan.  In her blog HelloGiggles, Caitlin Fitzgibbons made a list of the most valuable lessons people can learn from watching Anne of Green Gables.  I’m sure that many will enjoy her often tongue-in-cheek descriptions of what she has personally gained.  Here it is:

Just like Anne Shirley, Colleen Dewhurst (Marilla Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables and Road to Avonlea) was no stranger to the profound impact a teacher can have on a student’s life.  In her autobiography, Dewhurst describes an encounter that undoubtedly changed the way she performed as an actress.  Here is her inspiring account:

Before Mag Ruffman began playing Olivia King on Road to Avonlea, she was a temp worker in an office – and she was in her element.  Fans of Mag may not know that the actress has always been handy with tools, with shows like A Repair to Remember and Anything I Can Do, plus her own website, toolgirl.com.

It is a rare circumstance when an aspiring writer can receive in-depth and continuous feedback about his work from a famous poet.  But this was the case for Franz Kappus, a 19-year-old student at the Military Academy of Vienna who wrote to the great German lyric poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, after learning that the writer attended the same college as him. He received the most thoughtful observations about life and the art of writing in return.

“Well, if you want my opinion, Miss Shirley, I'd write about places I knew something of and people that spoke everyday English. Instead of these silly schoolgirl romances.” ~ Gilbert Blythe

“The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, and familiar things new.”  This is the opinion of a man who is said to be the “most distinguished man of letters” in English history: Samuel Johnson.

Yesterday, we took a look at some of the hardships that author L.M. Montgomery endured during her marriage to minister Ewen Macdonald.  In light of her difficulties, it is interesting to consider the wisdom that Maud acquired when she studied the marriages of others as well.

“To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.” ~Phyllis Theroux

Sending a well-written letter today seems like a forgotten art form.  In fact, it could be said that people spend more time discussing how it’s a shame no one sends letters anymore than they do actually composing them (like this blog).  It wasn’t long ago that letter writing was both a necessity and a joyful thing in people’s lives.  In L.M. Montgomery’s day, it seemed an inherent responsibility to write detailed letters and to write them well.

Francis Bacon once said that, “the genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs”.  If that is true, the proverbial language of Prince Edward Island proves the small province to be a very witty and original place to live.

“A moment with a book is basic self-care, the kind of skill you pass along to your children as you would a security blanket or a churchgoing habit.” – Erin Blakemore, “The Heroine’s Bookshelf”

We recently spoke about all the L.M. Montgomery “Reading Circles” that sprang up in the month of January.  Fans of the Anne books and series of novels that inspired Road to Avonlea – The Story Girl and The Golden Road – vowed to return to these works, as well as pieces by Maud previously unread, including her own journals.