Helen van Dongen
I never had the pleasure to meet Helen van Dongen, though I used to see her making the rounds of Brattleboro, Vermont on foot, well into her 80s. She lived to be 97. Ever quiet. Humble. She couldn't hide the beauty nor that certain dignity. Over the years, as a book scout, I have come across many of the books from her private library, each one a corker. Dongen was married to leftist and John Reed friend, Kenneth Durant, who had been married to the poet Genvieve Taggard. Much of all their best work was done while in Vermont.
