November 29, 2002
Buxton, Maine

Snow gently fell as people sat shoulder to shoulder in the Tory Hill Congregational Church, waiting for Gerald Charles Dickens to begin his one-man performance of A Child's Journey with Dickens.

The first Dickens, Gerald's great-great-grandfather, Charles, had performed once in Portland, Maine back in 1868.

A 10-year-old local child named Kate had revered the 19th-century Dickens from having read his books. Her excitement of riding in the same train car with him to Boston led her later to write about that experience in a book entitled A Child's Journey with Dickens.

Gerald heard his own father read Kate's story aloud. When he became an actor, he developed Kate's account of that train ride into a one-man show with the same title.

For 40 minutes, Dickens regaled the audience with voices of Charles Dickens, the young Kate, and a narrator. His performance brought attendees to their feet in appreciative sustained applause.

Kate Douglas Wiggin would have been proud. When she became a famous writer herself with Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, she gave public readings in this same church. She founded the Dorcas Society of Hollis and Buxton, Maine, named after the Biblical Dorcas, a woman who did good works.

Richard and Beverly Atkinson sponsored this performance with the Dorcas Society. They hosted a reception and booksigning at their Royal Brewster Mansion and Barn for all who attended .
Eleanor Poe Barlow, author of The Master's Cat, Richard and Beverly Atkinson, event sponsors and hosts, and Gerald Charles Dickens prior to his performance.
Near the Tory Hill Congregational Church is the picturesque Salmon Falls Library, established in 1911 with books donated by Kate and her sister Nora. Caroline Jackson, Jackson Enterprises, Inc. President, presents a donation check to the Salmon Falls Librarian, Mary Weyer. Victoria Hugo-Vidal, dressed as the child Kate would have been dressed in period clothing, welcomed Mr. Dickens and Ms. Jackson to the library. Standing in the snow prompted Victoria to ask, "Did history have cold ears?"
 
Gerald Dickens visits Kate Douglas Wiggin's memorial stone in the nearby cemetery.
 Gerald Charles Dickens and Caroline Jackson sign guest book at Kate Douglas Wiggin's writing desk in her Hollis, Maine home.