Every not for profit group needs to do its share of fundraising so all its planned projects and improvements can be paid for, and The Garden Club of the Back Bay is no exception. In 1983 we welcomed Thalassa Cruso (1909 – 1997) at the First and Second Church on Marlborough Street (now known as First Church, Boston). Her lecture was entitled My Grandfather’s Garden. Tickets were $6 in advance and $8 on the day of the event, and included refreshments in the Library Courtyard garden.
Thalassa Cruso was well known as the host of WGBH’s Making Things Grow, and was a successful author and newspaper columnist. In her obituary in the New York Times, she was referred to as “The Julia Child of horticulture” and “In brisk, impeccable diction, she indoctrinated viewers into the mysterious world of cyclamen and spathiphyllum, enjoining them to tend their plants with loving kindness, and to throw them in the dustbin without a backward glance if the little ingrates failed to respond.” Net profits from the event totaled $387.45, with 69 tickets sold. Image from www.digitalcommonwealth.org.
