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Today begins a mini-series featuring one of several prominent members of the Stevenson Society of America in its formative years who had known Robert Louis Stevenson intimately and then outlived him. The story of this one begins in the American West.
“Belle” is for Isobel, the older sister by 10 years of Lloyd Osbourne, the lucky American kid who got to have Robert Louis Stevenson for a partner and stepfather in many colorful enterprises, and to whom “Treasure Island” is dedicated. As Mrs. Isobel Field (her second marriage), Belle and Lloyd came to Saranac Lake in February 1917 at the invitation of the Stevenson Society, in which they were members, and the village of Saranac Lake. A headline from the Saranac Lake News, Feb. 8, 1917, reads: “ALL HONOR PAID STEVENSON FAMILY — Stepchildren of Famous Author revisit Saranac Lake after Thirty Years — Mr. and Mrs. Osbourne and Mrs. Salisbury Field, Entertained at the Baker Cottage, Country Club and in Public Reception.”