The Quaker Cellist : The Poetry of Sylvia Spotts

By: Sylvia Spotts

SYLVIA KELSEY SPOTTS was bornin Connecticut on April 14, 1936.Her parents, both artists and Quakers,encouraged Sylvia's interest in musicand interest in Quakerism. She attendedGeorge School, a Quaker boardinghigh-school in Philadelphia. After highschoolSylvia attended Hartt Collegeof Music in Hartford, Ct. During heryears at Hartt College, she met CarletonSpotts, a cellist. They married in 1958 in Connecticut.They soon moved to Columbia, Mo., where Carle served,for many years as a professor in the music department atthe University of Missouri. Their two sons were born inColumbia, Mo. When the children were young, Sylviabegan teaching orchestra classes at local public schools. Shelater gave private cello lessons and played in the UniversityOrchestra. During these years the family grew a large gardenthat provided most of the family's produce.Soon after making Columbia her home, Sylvia was involvedin the establishment of the Columbia Friends (Quaker)Meeting that still serves the local Quaker community today.Sylvia has always enjoyed writing, both poetry andprose. She began writing poems when the childrenwere in grade school.Carle died in 2014 after a short illness.Sylvia has used her Quaker beliefs anddeep love to keep Carle's memory acontinuing part of her life while alsoletting him go.The selected poems in this volume givethe reader a sense of ever present wonderabout nature, life and death while often showing Sylvia'svery active wit and sense of humor.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1616004932
• ISBN13: 9781616004934
• Release Date: December 2015
• Publisher: Mizzou Publishing - The Mizzou Store