Beaconsfield event 'did Robert Frost proud' (From Bucks Free Press)

Beaconsfield event 'did Robert Frost proud'

7:30am Thursday 20th September 2012 in News

By Paul Wright

BEACONSFIELD hosted a "real Anglo-American occasion" at the weekend to celebrate 100 years since poet Robert Frost came to live in the town.

The Beaconsfield Society held a commemoration of the four-time Pulitzer Prize winner on Saturday, with audiences packing out the Fitzwilliam Centre.

Organiser Kari Dorme said she was thrilled by the interest in the event - with a representative from the American Embassy and Beaconsfield mayor Graham Corney both present in the audience.

Performances by actor and Radio 4 reader Gabriel Woolf and American lecturer Linda Hart brought life to Frost’s work and helped chart his family’s life in Beaconsfield through several letters which were sent back to America.

Audiences were also told how the poet saw the sign of A.C. Frost estate agents when he first stepped off the train in 1912.

He went on to rent a bungalow in Reynolds Road from Alfred Frost, and they became friends as they had children of the same age. Alfred’s great-grandson now runs The Frost Partnership estate agency, which sponsored the event.

Mrs Dorme, a Robert Frost enthusiast, said the poet is part of the town’s heritage and the event "did him proud".

She added: "I think this has raised the profile of the Beaconsfield Society and the town and [raised] the bar for other town groups in general. Long may this local interest continue."