The Third Friday Book Club

A Condensed History of the Third Friday Book Club from 1954 to 2010, written by Mrs. James C. Robinson the former Elizabeth “Betty” Thornton, a member since 1977, provides a glimpse of the club’s activities and books reviewed from June 1954 to 2010. The history of the club dates back even further to around 1943, according the long time member Eleanor Yothers Fisher in an article published in the Orlando Sentinel on July 5, 2015.

Members mentioned in the Secrtary’s notes from 1954-1955 include Gracie Andersen, wife of Martin Andersen, publisher of the Orlando Sentinel; Grace Barr (widow of L. G. Barr) who was the Society columnist for the Orlando Daily newspapers; Emily Bridges, wife of E. S. Bridges; Adair Edwards, wife of Gaston Edwards; Elizabeth “Betty” Fawsett, wife of C. F. Fawsett, Jr.; Mildred Hill, wife of Coite W. Hill; Frances Irving, wife of Thomas T. Irving; Mary Keene, wife of R. D. Keene; Ruth Leedy, wife of Loomis C. Leedy of Leedy, Wheeler & Alleman; Ruth Maguire, wife of McCullogh Maguire; Adelaide McLeod, wife of L. B. McLeod; Mary Moss, wife of M. J. Moss, Jr.; Anna Smith, wife of F. Burton Smith; Ruth Gilbert Smith, wife of A. H. Smith; Edna Townes, wife of Andrew W. Townes, Margaret Piper, Mary Robinson, Mary Knapp, and Shirley Essington.

Meetings were, and still are, usually conducted at club members’ homes on the third Friday of the month. In 1954, the club met every month except August, but later met from October to May. Meetings sometimes included luncheons at the Orlando Country Club and outings like the April 15, 1983 visit to Cross Creek – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ homestead near Gainesville.

The history of the club is documented in notebooks maintained by the club’s secretaries since June 1954. The entries sometimes provide little more than date, reviewer and hostess, and other times provide great details. One such notation pertaining to preparations for the Christmas party to be held on December 13, 1985, made me chuckle. The members were assigned or volunteered to procure specific types of food for the event. The Orlando Public Library’s former director Clara E. Wendel and her sister Edna Buckman, along with Edna Miller, where in charge of the wine.

The meeting notes, recorded by the club’s Secretaries beginning in 1954, record members sharing their travel adventures and slides of faraway places like Mrs. Ruth Maguire’s May 18, 1972, talk on her African journey and Edith Beardall’s talk at the December 1960 meeting on her presentation at British Court. Other meetings featured guest speakers like Library Director Dorothy Field, and authors like Don Whitehead who discussed his book A Story of the F.B.I.

We see the march of time through something as simple as members’ telephone numbers. From GA 4-0123 to 424-0123 to including the area code 407.424.1023 and from the more touching-changes in address. As an example: Mrs. Bert (Florence “Flo”) Neidig begins at home on Nela Avenue, moves 16 years later to Westminster Towers on Lucerne Circle, and finally is mentioned in this 2010 notation: “Deceased: Flo Neidig 10/3/10. Memorial sent to Orlando Public Library.”

The brief notes carefully recorded by the club’s secretaries provide a mere glimpse into what was, and still is, the monthly meetings of a group of intelligent, thoughtful, well-read, well-traveled women who have enjoyed each other’s company and been positive forces in the life of their community.

Hat’s off to the Third Friday Book Club – may you read on forever!

Secretary Notebooks:  1954-1979      –      1980-2013      –      2013 forward

Chronological Table of meetings, books reviewed, reviewers and hostesses.

Obituaries for many of the members can be found at EpochLegacies.org  To locate all members with tributes, use FIND and type “third friday” in quotes in the KEYWORD field.

Peruse the IMAGES and DOCUMENTS under Attachments below.