The Detroit times., 1912-02-02
Wrote Her Own Life
In -Little Women

I,1ulsa Al. Alcott. author OF Little
Wonen.- which. dFamatized by Mar
ian de Forest, II 10 be presented IN
4 iho flarrlck thoater the week OF feD
h. n one on the few women who lived
10 ace her dream come true, The story
Of her life IL an inspiration and an
srn,nple 10 the ambitious girl OF to
dass for Louisa Alcott won out In the
face Of obstacles that seemed insur-
f.iountabIe. and she had hard bat
lie 10 ight before fame and prosperity
s,1me her way.
NAs almost everyone knows, Louisa
Alcott was the second daughter OF
Amos Bronson Alcott, and the family
Of sturdy New England stock lived
he simple, frugal life of the period
and place. both simplicity and frugal
lty. however, exaggerated By financial
stresf. For Bronson Alcott. scholar.
gentleman, the friend OF Emerson and
az Thoreau, was rich in all except
money.
The Alcotts were vegetarlans and
throughout Louisa's journal are many
sly little illusions TO the meatless diet
Of the Alcott family, Louisa Alcott
was born In Germantown, Pa. she
died In Boston, Mass. in her hfty-
sixth year. To everything that came
her way, she turned her energetic
hands. She sewed, she acted as gov
trness, she taught, but all the time
she scrubbed. turning out any num-
Der of thrilling melodramatic tales for
sensational papers. just as did 10 In
Miss Alcott's most famous book,
'IAttle Women"
During the war, Miss Alcott volun-
ieered as an army nurse and her
healtl was permanently shattered
during her service In field and hos
pital work She embodied many OF
Ter experiences during this period in
her little book OF Hospital Sketches
ALTHOUGH I'll for the latter part of her
iifo. her writings retained TO the last
buoyance, charm, intense human in
ferest and a broad democracy.
Miss AIcott was q new woman in
the widest and best sense of a much
abused term. She had keen love OF
the stage and her girlish plays, In
which she had the assistance of her
three sisters, aroused In her an In
terest I'm the theater that, had cir
cunstances warranted, would have
led her to adopt the stage as pro-
fession. In her Journal, she makes a
quaint entry regarding herself and
her elder sister, Anna, the original OF
Meg I'm Little Women" turning to
the stage 40 o means OF livelihood.
And TO this she appends the naive
remark, I've heard 1t is very gay
life"
When Miss Alcott wrote Little
Women" the publishers were not par
ticularly enthusiastic about the manu-
script. Neither was she, but when II
was In printed form and she went
over the proofs she made this entry
In her Journal: 1T reads better than
I expected" And she adds: I'VE
really lived most Of II, and II 1t sue
ceeds, that will be the reason"
Sc great was the success OF the
first book. which took the Alcott girls
through their girlhood experiences,
ending with the engagement OF Anna,
that Miss Alcott speedily set about
writing the sequel, which carried the
Alcott girls, as she expressed II.
Through the lowering stage" and this
two-volume edition Of Little Women"
10 the one the world knows today:
tile book that has gone through many
editions. 100000 copies OF which
have been sold In America, has been
adopted as one Of the standard
.ciassics In school libraries, forms