Isabella Fiske

Ancestors

Daughter of Irving Louis (Fishman) Fiske and Isabelle Daniel (Hall) Calhoun

Profile manager: Isabella Fiske [send private message]

Biography

Born August 12, 1950 at 9:52 AM in Randolph, VT. My parents, Irving Louis Fiske and Barbara (Isabelle) Daniel Hall Fiske, were artists and writers who wished to create an art colony for like-minded people. They bought 140 acres of land in Rochester, VT in April, 1946, and called it "Quarry Hill." in the mid-1960s people began to flood up to the land, eager to hear Irving's fascinating talks on philosophy and psychology, or interested in learning to draw with Barbara. My brother, William (b. Feb. 4, 1954- d.Jul. 18, 2008) and I were both eager to meet people and overwhelmed by the number of people we were suddenly living with and responsible for in some way. On August 3, 1971 I had a daughter, Joya Allegra, with William Lonsdale (Now Ellias Lonsdale), of Princeton Junction, NJ, (Born May 8, 1947). He and I were never, however, married. William had two children with Stefani Us, born Dec. 17, 1948. The children were Jason Demian b May 1, 1972, and Eva Isabel Diana, b. Feb. 5, 1974. I married Brion Timothy Patrick McFarlin of Poughkeepsie, NY on October 14, 1984 and we had a son, Andrew Daniel Fiske McFarlin, b. May 19, 1988 in Burlington, VT. I am at present a writer and retired paraeducator, and still live at Quarry Hill, which has attained its 71st Year of existence.

Born in Randolph, VT on Aug. 12, 1950, I helped look after Quarry Hill and have been a writer for most of my life. I also like to experiment with art. I never went to school as my parents did not believe in forcing children to go to schools (they were very much against corporal punishment, very frequently used in schools even in the East in those days) and so my brother and I traveled up and down the East Coast of the US to escape truant officers for years. In our teens, my parents opened a gathering-place, The Gallery Gwen, in New York City, where I met many interesting and well-known people. Many of the people we knew came up to Vermont, and began to build houses and have children. IN the 1990s, there were about 90 people at Quarry Hill.

My parents were both unusual and unconventional people. My mother was a cartoonist for Harvey Comics in the 1940s, drawing " Girl Commandoes," " The Blonde Bomber," and "The Black Cat." My father, Irving, wrote for HL Mencken's American Mercury, among other publications, was a "rewrite man" for the WPA in the 1930s, working with Richard Wright and others on a guide to New York (The WPA Guide to New York City, as it is now called), and translated Hamlet into modern English (-of the 1940s), His literary credentials are "impeccable," as he once said proudly.

I am at work on a memoir of my life. I have 2 children, Joya Allegra Lonsdale, b. 8/3/ 1971, and Andrew Daniel McFarlin, b. May 19, 1988. -- IFM-- May 19, 2014

The Jones', Venables, Daniels, etc. whom I have in my family tree are mostly, if not all, from Virginia and NC. Some moved to Tucson after about 1912. I don't think people with those names from Tennessee,etc. are relatives, but of course I can't be sure yet! I have a lot of info on my ancestors on my mother's side, leading back to Patriot Nathaniel Venable and his wife, Patriot Elizabeth Venable, of Slate Hill, NC. I'm always interested in more! But if anyone has info on my father's family-- his father was named Louis Fishman and came from Russia and his mother from Romania (I think) and her name was Rebecca Chazan-- I'd be grateful. It's almost impossible to trace Jewish folk who have been ejected from or have left their home countries in Eastern Europe. At least, for me... Many thanks. Isabella

Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by Isabella Fiske at registration.
• First-hand information. Entered by Isabella Fiske at registration.

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