info@robertlouisstevensonmemorialcottage.org
Robert Louis Stevenson, the invalid, saw a lot of doctors in his time. They were scattered about the globe. Everywhere the ailing writer went, he had to check in with medical practitioners. But in retrospect, few of them stood out as worthy of special biographical inclusion, the eminent Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau being one of them. R.L. Stevenson did not write an article or notes about the Saranac TB setup the way he did with Menton and Davos. Instead, he put out his name, which was a whopping endorsement at the time, to freely advertise to the world the presence and affordability of a new fountain of “Juventus,” this magic mountain tucked in the wilds of upstate New York. A letter appeared in the New York Evening Post edition of March 8, 1888, two days before the “Great Blizzard of ’88,” stopped the press.
info@robertlouisstevensonmemorialcottage.org
The Cooper house as it appears today was also once the home of Dr. Lawrason Brown, a charter member of the Stevenson Society of America. (Photo provided)
Stephen Chalmers, charter member of the Stevenson Society of America and author of the society’s little book, “The Penny Piper of Saranac,” had three things in common with Robert Louis Stevenson. Both men were sons of Scotland, both became professional writers, and they both came to Saranac Lake for the same reason, though not at the same time. Chalmers was only 25 when he felt his life derailing while his New York City doctor told him, “I am sorry, but I find that you are suffering from tuberculosis of the lungs. … You will have to leave the city at once. … But, whatever you do, my boy, don’t get the blues. Keep up your courage. Fresh air fresh eggs and read Robert Louis Stevenson.”