From the not-so-annual meeting of the Stevenson Society of America on Aug. 25, 1934:

“Members and friends of the Stevenson Society — again we are assembled to dedicate a few fleeting minutes to the memory of a brilliant genius whose life and thoughts have left a permanent influence on literature, and in a measure moulded the fortunes of this community … During the two years that have elapsed since our last annual meeting this society has felt the heavy hand of the depression. In the judgement of the directors of the Society, it was thought wise to omit the annual meetings during the depression, but I am frank to confess I believe it was a mistake,” said Col. Walter Scott, president.

Scott then drew attention to the worsening economic conditions around the world.

“It is said,” he said, “that during the 18 years which have elapsed since the fall of the Czarist regime, 30 million Russians have died of starvation … there is a thankful realization that conditions here might be infinitely worse. We are spared the horrors of war and the desolation of plagues and epidemics … Science and education have conferred untold blessings on us today, even with fortunes at a low ebb …

“Gratitude is a recognition of debt, and we who are members of the Stevenson Society are deeply grateful for the character, example and superb courage of Robert Louis Stevenson, who, while sowing the seeds of hope and happiness, faced with a lightness of heart and flashing smile, a far more discouraging future … for while there are many far better qualified than myself to discuss his great literary genius, and a few still living who can testify to his unique personality, to me he typifies the greatest quality with which human nature is endowed: Courage. He certainly possessed it in the highest degree, and if we as a people exercise the same fortitude that he displayed at this very spot, we can with hope and faith face the uncertainties of the future and pass a rich heritage to prosperity …This cottage which he immortalized is a monument to a period in his life, and a beacon to Saranac Lake and the world at large.”

Those were hard times for everybody. Yet the Stevenson Cottage remained open and the annual meetings continued but the glitz was gone — no more high class glossy annual reports printed by the legendary Currier Press, no more RLS birthday dinner events while “the regretful tone of letters of resignation assure us that it is only due to financial conditions that the writers have to drop their memberships.”

The installation of resident curators in the Stevenson Cottage by the Stevenson Society has been a primary factor in its survival. The pioneering Bakers had been the first and only occupants and the de facto first resident curators when they allowed the Stevenson Society to start up a museum in their own house.

Time was also taking a toll on the founding fathers of the Saranac Lake shrine, meaning that people were dying. By Oct. 2, 1937, Dr. Lawarson Brown, a charter member and then vice-president, found himself writing a depressing letter to a fellow member in Hollywood, California:

“My dear Mr. Justin, Mr. Livingston Chapman (secretary) is dead. Col. Walter Scott, our president has also died. Stephen Chalmers has died. As I am vice-president, the duty of conducting the Society has fallen on my shoulders … I might say that the Stevenson Society of America has fallen on hard times. We need a new furnace and we need $1,000 a year for running expenses. If by any chance an oportunity comes your way to interest some Stevenson lover in this laudable enterprise, we would all deeply appreciate it. I might say that the Stevenson Cottage here is the only house in the country which is as it was when Stevenson lived in it, and it is also one of the few literary landmarks which have been preserved in America. Yours Very Truly …”

And so began the search for a parent organization to adopt the “sacred shrine” on Stevenson Lane and if they found one, just hope for the best. They began with New York state.

Historic Saranac Lake knows Dr. Brown very well because of his knowledge and professionalism which Dr. E. L. Trudeau utilized by putting Brown in charge of his Adirondack Sanitorium. Besides his writing about medical issues, he founded the popular magazine, Journal of Outdoor Living. Dr. Brown was active in community affairs, while finding him on the Stevenson Memorial Committee would have surprised no one who knew Larry Brown, the kid, growing up on those soon to be banned stories by RLS, the invalid author from Scotland. Over the years Dr. Brown accumulated his own rich library of Stevenson’s works which today are part of the Robert Louis Stevenson Collection at the Saranac Lake Free Library.

Dr. Lawarson Brown lived on until Dec. 26, 1937, about three months after taking up the challenge of navigating the Stevenson Society through “hard times.” Who was next in line?