Thursday, June 28, 2007
Eric Parkman Smith, Concord's Concordian.
The Boston Globe today commemorates Eric Parkman Smith, the tenth-generation Concordian who so courteously corrected my pronunciation of "Thoreau" after I preached an entire sermon ten years ago about Henry David's strained relationship with the First Parish in Concord. Smith wrote a church history, served as a trustee at First Parish for 36 years, and felt a personal connection to the town's nineteenth-century history. (His mother met Louisa May Alcott, and he used to portray Bronson Alcott in living history exhibits, according to the obituary.) He was utterly charming — the obituary gives great examples of his Victorian courtesies — and I'm grateful to have known him.
("Eric P. Smith, authority on the history of Concord, at 97," Brian Marquard, Boston Globe 6.28.07)
Copyright © 2007 by Philocrites | Posted 28 June 2007 at 8:16 AM
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3 comments:
Scott (Boy in the Bands):
June 28, 2007 10:03 AM | Permalink for this comment
It's supposed to be "THOR-oh" isn't it?
Philocrites:
June 28, 2007 10:27 AM | Permalink for this comment
Yup.
Fred Wooden:
July 1, 2007 11:24 AM | Permalink for this comment
Glad to have cruised on by. Eric was a friend via my father, who was also a railroader. When I preached there some years back we met and he was most gracious. We stayed in touch from time to time, even after my father died in 1999. Sheepishly, I admit I assumed him to have died already.
BTW, I am not a 10th generation Concordian (a monument to stability if ever there was one) but I am a 10th generation Marylander. In my home church in downtown Baltimore I was the fourth generation. My great garndmother and her sister were among the first to be baptised, yes they used that term then and meant it, in the great font in the south aisle.
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