Clare Green is known around the region for her random acts of kindness as well as generous projects carried out with exquisite planning.
Her latest literary project falls into the latter category, and locals can enjoy Green’s talents at 7 p.m. this Tuesday evening, Dec. 2 at the Warwick Free Public Library as she launches “Whisper Me Flowers,” a collection of poetry, prose and meditations that includes visual delights. Originally intended as a gift for friends, the slim volume is organized by seasons.
“I sat in stillness with each flower to create the verses,” said Green. “Flowers humbly exist and grow in nature, resonating in our hearts and allowing us to smile. They’re subtle, like whispering.”
Her full name is Dorothy Clare Green, but the Warwick resident goes by her middle name. Green’s inclination to connect with others through art and natural beauty stems, in part, from early experiences with the renowned sculptor Brenda Putnam. Green was born in 1952, shortly after Putnam retired to Wilton, Connecticut, where Green’s family lived.
“As the youngest of five, I loved going next door to Brenda’s and receiving undivided attention,” said Green. “I spent many happy hours surrounded by her art. Brenda fed the birds and squirrels, which made her yard a sanctuary. I lived in a haven: walking through fields of phlox, skating on a pond during winters, and falling asleep many a night with the sounds of Brenda’s beautiful piano playing wafting in my window. It was magical.”
Putnam’s father was a librarian of Congress and her paternal grandfather was a famed publisher and founding superintendent of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Brenda Putnam shared her talents with neighborhood children, as in this vignette: “When I was five,” recalled Green, “a few of us kids found a dead blue jay. Our mother suggested we take it to Brenda, which we did. Brenda told us to come back in a week.”
When the kids returned, Putnam had mounted the bird’s skeleton. “It was upright, beautifully clean, and startlingly white,” said Green. “On the pedestal, Brenda put the date and the names of the kids who found it. She took a dead bird and — because she knew exactly what to do — transformed it into something that magnified my appreciation of nature.”
Green loves sharing her deep nature appreciation and wonder with others. She worked for years as an early childhood educator and continues to create books for people of all ages. Her books for young children include “Hearts & Hands: A Child’s Eye on Herbs” and “The Little Pine Tree,” but you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy them; they’re filled with history, reverence and spunk.
In “Cutting A Bond with the Long Trail,” Green compiled journals written by her son, Ned, who died in 2001 at the age of 26 in an ice-climbing accident.
“Ned worked on trail crews for all the New England mountain clubs,” said his proud mom. “He could build stone stairs and maintain trails, and was a caretaker at a cabin frequented by ice climbers. He was very good at what he did.”
Ned’s skills came in handy when Clare’s mother was in her last days: “My mom passed along to me her great love of flowers,” said Green, “so I wanted to plant a magnolia tree in her honor, since it was one of Mom’s favorites. At the end of my mother’s life, Ned was home for the Memorial Day weekend, and he dug the hole for that beautiful tree. My mother died on June 9, 2000.” Green added, “June 9 was Ned’s due date in 1974.”
Within a year of his grandmother’s death, Ned Green, too, left this world. His resourceful mom produced a gorgeous record of her son’s exuberant life, one that remains relevant in a world perennially in need of courage and hope. Like the woman who birthed him, Ned Green is an inspiring model of a life: lively, deeply and truly.
“Whisper Me Flowers” was initially a gift for a tight-knit group of artistic women friends who — for nearly 40 years — have gathered each summer for a weekend or a week of camaraderie, relaxation and inspiration.
For a dozen of those years, the group headed to Islesford, Maine, where they reveled in friendships with other visitors and island residents, including the renowned author and illustrator Ashley Bryan, who vacationed on the island each year.
“Ashley showed us things no one else had seen,” said Green. “He admonished us to put our cameras away … and then let us peek at whatever he was working on, like his popular book Beautiful Blackbird. It was an honor to see his artistry before it was shown to the world.”
Green and her friends loved to hang out with other creatives, and hosted gatherings where others could share their talents. Each year, the women’s circle produced a booklet to preserve that season’s adventures. Some group members have passed on, “but we carry their memories forward,” said Green.
She hopes her new book will “bring light and joy, and help people connect to nature. I want us to keep listening and attuning.”
As she prepared for publication, Green came across a photo of her son at age 7: “During a visit to Plum Island, Ned picked a flower and handed it to me. That photo seemed like the perfect cover for the book.”
Green, who writes regularly for Uniquely Quabbin magazine, credits local author Diane Kane for helping her format the new book. She’s also grateful for a supportive writer’s group, Writers from the Heart, facilitated by local poet and author Sharon Harmon.
Green is currently working on other books, including one for children, “Gentle as a Deer.”
“I love doing what I do,” said Green. “And living where I live!” With customary generosity and enthusiasm, she added, “Folks are welcome to come visit my fairy cottage and woodland labyrinth!”
To learn more, visit claregreenbooks.com.
Eveline MacDougall is the author of Fiery Hope and can be reached at eveline@amandlachorus.org.