Summer 2021 Lecture

“Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson — 
a Lifelong Treasure Hunt”

 a lecture by Roger Swearingen

Sponsored by the RLS Club of Monterey and the Pacific Grove Heritage Society

Saturday, August 28, 2021, 2:00 pm

Performing Arts Center of Pacific Grove
Pacific Grove Middle School
835 Forest Avenue
Pacific Grove, CA, 93950

Free admission for RLS Club and Heritage Society members; $15 donation for non-members

In late August 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson came to Monterey from his native Scotland to marry the woman he loved and develop his craft as a serious writer.  During the ups and downs of his short stay, he made an impression on those he met.  Little did they know that in a few years, he would be a celebrated author of future classics such as Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped, A Child’s Garden of Verses and many others.  The Stevenson House, located in an historic adobe belonging to the Monterey State Historic Park, has a museum-quality collection of art and artifacts which pay tribute to the man, his works, and his enduring spirit among us.

To commemorate his arrival in Monterey, the RLS Club of Monterey and the PG Heritage Society present a lecture open to the public.  The speaker, Roger G. Swearingen, is an internationally-acclaimed authority on the life and works of Robert Louis Stevenson.  He will share his thoughts about features of Stevenson’s writing – and particular works of his – that have kept him fascinated, inspired and busy over a fifty-year career of research and writing about RLS.  Participants are asked to come prepared with questions and thoughts of their own for a lively question-and-answer session that will follow.

Roger Swearingen is one of the most respected contemporary scholars of Robert Louis Stevenson, has written books and journal articles about RLS, and has traveled and lectured in Scotland, France, Samoa, Australia, Saranac Lake, NY, and California.  His research has taken him to world-class libraries which hold Stevenson manuscripts, published and unpublished. A resident of Santa Rosa, he has contributed generously to the Silverado Museum in St. Helena, Napa Valley and to the Stevenson House and RLS Club in Monterey.  Current projects include a full length biography to be titled “Robert Louis Stevenson: Spirit of Adventure,” a fully annotated edition of The South Seas,” and a guide to photographs, paintings, and sketches of Stevenson.