Tuesday Talks: Betsy Bray: Beatrix Potter: The Woman Behind the Rabbit

Peter Rabbit and Squirrel Nutkin fans note that Betsy Bray, an international authority on Beatrix Potter, presents a lively look at the remarkable life of this acclaimed children’s author/illustrator. Her 45-minute illustrated talk includes the various roles played by Beatrix Potter over 77 years of her life, from an author-illustrator of 23 children’s books to her later life as a sheep farmer, land preservationist, entrepreneur, and community activist.

Admission: $10, Members are Free

About Betsy Bray:

Betsy has been a Beatrix Potter Society member since 1984. In 2012, she became the first overseas Trustee ever elected to The Beatrix Potter Society. She has spoken at several of the Society’s International Study Conferences and given illustrated talks to various groups in the United States, United Kingdom, Africa, and Australia. She has organized many Beatrix Potter Society conferences in North. Betsy lectured about Beatrix Potter on a transatlantic crossing of the Queen Mary 2. She was instrumental in establishing “Pottering About,” The Beatrix Potter Society’s e-news. She formed the North American Leadership Circle in 2012 for The Beatrix Potter Society for Members in the United States and Canada. She also served as website manager for The Beatrix Potter Society.

Betsy is a self-described Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiast. She is a member and a volunteer for the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, based in Chicago. Betsy received the 2019 Conservancy award at the FLWBC conference in Los Angeles. Betsy was a student at Yestermorrow in Waitsfield, Vermont, a building and design school. She designed two homes and learned to build them: one a vacation home in Vermont and one a primary residence in Connecticut. She has taught courses: “Introduction to Cape Cod Modernist Architecture” and “Charlie Zehnder and Frank Lloyd Wright: Two Architectural Genuises.” Betsy works with Cape Cod Modern House Trust as a Tour coordinator. She loves sharing her passion for the Cape Cod Modern House Trust houses. Betsy currently serves as the First Vice President of the Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Betsy is also Vice President of the Creative Arts Center, Chatham.

?Having earned a BA (History) degree from Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts, and a Masters of Library Science degree from Saint John’s University in New York, Betsy is a retired library administrator and lives in Chatham, Massachusetts.