HvS KIN | Family Websites and Blogs

Hilda van Stockum in 1932, the year she married
my father in Dublin.

Since my mother Hilda van Stockum died, I have been trying to keep alive her memory and her many books for children. Along the way I have been doing research on her family. In this post I am providing a tour d'horizon of the various purposes of the different websites and blogs.

Hilda van Stockum and Her Books

The oldest website is www.hildavanstockum.com. This website was created in 2006. The last content was added in 2007. It is meant to be an extended memory of her life and remembrances at the time of her death. Updates are here on this blogsite - www.hildavanstockum.blogspot.com.

I am promoting her books at the website www.boissevainbooksLLC.com and the blogsite www.boissevainbooks.blogspot.com.

More broadly, I write about authors and illustrators of children's books at www.writers4kids.blogspot.com.

The Boissevain Family

The website www.boissevain.us is updated irregularly and includes a great deal of information about my mother's Dutch family. Updates are more regularly posted about the families of my mother and grandmother (Olga Boissevain) on two sites:

www.inezmb.blogspot.com focuses on Inez Milholland Boissevain, who married my grandmother's brother Eugen Boissevain. It focuses on the lives of Eugen and his two wives, Inez and Edna St. Vincent Millay, and related woman suffrage issues. I have posted there recently.

www.nyctimetraveler.blogspot.com covers the Boissevain family. I have recently been writing about their active roles fighting Hitler in the Dutch Resistance. I have been posting here a lot recently. Plans are afoot for a Boissevain Family Reunion in the spring of 2016. Stay tuned. Please comment on my blogs or send me an email - teppermarlin@aol.com. THANKS!!

HvS BLOG: Passes 10K Page Views - Top Posts

Hilda van Stockum in Berkhamsted, Herts., UK.

The Hilda van Stockum Blog was opened in 2008.

Here are the most-viewed posts.

Thank you for reading this blog.

First, the most read since 2008, then the most-read within the last month.

Most-Viewed Since 2008
Bucket List - The Matisse Chapel, Vence Jun 20, 2011
Hilda van Stockum: My Spiritual Journey

May 9, 2014

Edna St. Vincent Millay and Eugen Boissevain

Mar 19, 2012, 2 comments

HvS Books the Topic on Sullivan's LTV Show

Mar 17, 2012

A Dutch Housewife Fights the Nazis in Holland, 194...

Dec 30, 200

Hilda van Stockum Portrait of Evie Hone in 2014 Di...

Oct 11, 2013

March 13 - Death of Evie Hone (Personal Comments)

Mar 5, 2014

"Little Old Bear" Sells at EH Children's Fair

Aug 15, 2015

V for Victory Anniversary July 25

Jul 19, 2012

Most-Read in Last Month

Letter from Amsterdam, Five Months after the Nazis... Feb 24, 2015
February 9 - Celebrating HvS's Birthday in Berkham... Feb 22, 2015
Recollections of Heentie Kooiman-de Jong Dec 27, 2014
Introduction - Why This Book on a Family in the Du... Feb 8, 2015
Best Books for Children on World War II May 19, 2013, 2 comments
HvS Blog Reader Wins Auction for Self-Portrait Nov 25, 2014
February 9 - Will Celebrate HvS's 107th Birthday i... Feb 1, 2015
February 22 - Olga Marlin and Her Pamplona Family Feb 22, 2015
Edna St. Vincent Millay and Eugen Boissevain Mar 19, 2012, 2 comments

BOISSEVAIN | Edna St. Vincent Millay and Eugen

Edna St. Vincent Millay and Eugen Boissevain, 1945, at their
700-acre farm, "Steepletop", which Eugen purchased in 1925.

Edna St. Vincent Millay married my great-uncle Eugen Boissevain (uncle of my mother Hilda van Stockum) in 1923. 

He had been a widower since 1916 when his previous wife, Inez Milholland Boissevain, died in Los Angeles after collapsing while on stage, campaigning for the National Woman's Party (now housed in the Sewall-Belmont House in Washington, DC). 

Millay's poetry is clever and often soothing, but faces reality squarely in the eye. She wrote a post-mortem note to Eugen after he died in 1949, saying "The only thing I every did for you was survive you - but that was much." 

From stories of their marriage together, Edna was not far off the mark. He kept her alive much longer than she is likely to have survived on her own. 

His devotion to her was so great that at one point he suggested he join her in her addiction to pain-killers, so that he could fully empathize with her withdrawal difficulties.

Edna was found in 1950 by the Austerlitz, NY postmistress (as she was called). She was lifeless at the bottom of the stairs. Here is a link to 16 of her poems and a tribute to Eugen:
http://www.inspirationforthespirit.com/poetry/classic-poets/edna-st-vincent-millay/