This is a terrific Zoom presentation. People were really engaged, and Robin’s power point provided just enough information about Fanny and the times she lived to allow all participants to relate. Counted in the audience are RLS aficionados from Scotland and England. Also included are paintings and artifacts related to Robert Louis Stevenson recently acquired by Terry Trotter from a collector in Hawaii.

Club member Robin Chapman presents her research of the California property purchased by Fanny Osbourne Stevenson after the death of her husband. She named the place Vanumanutagi, Samoan for “vale of the singing birds”.

Many of the photos in the presentation were taken in the early 1900s by Louis Sanchez, Fanny’s nephew, and other photos were taken in the early 2000s by RLS Club members on a visit. These rare images are part of the Stevenson archives collection at the Monterey Public Library.

Robin Chapman is a journalist and historian, a native Californian, living on the coast in El Granada.

Next time in Pacific Grove, you’re invited to stop by Trotter Galleries on Forest Avenue. You’d be amazed by his display of the Stevenson’s, Steinbeck, and other celebrities.