Turmoil and strife followed the U.S. Civil War: news of reconstruction, industrialization, the Gilded Age, labor struggles, and women’s suffrage monopolized newspaper headlines. Through it all, a family paper born in Boston, The Youth’s Companion, was a welcome touchstone in half a million homes across the nation. Featuring the voices of poets and presidents, reports on science and tales of travel, The Youth’s Companion not only promoted patriotism and temperance but educated and enlightened its readers about events, people, and places both near and far.
From the security of his home and office, reclusive publisher Daniel Sharp Ford quietly used his wealth to help thousands of disadvantaged people. None but The Best turns back the pages of time to reveal a man whose generosity has left its mark across Boston, New England and the nation.
Featuring original music by Daniel P. Ryan
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Saturday, June 8 at 6:30 PM – outdoors!
Sunday, June 9 at 6:30 PM – outdoors!
Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds
286 Waverley Avenue, Newton
Patrick Gabridge, the author of None But the Best, has a passion for history and has worked on plays and books set in a wide range of time periods.
His plays include Lab Rats, Blinders, Drift, Distant Neighbors, Blood on the Snow, and Reading the Mind of God, and dozens of short plays that have been staged in theatres around the world. He co-founded Boston’s Rhombus playwright’s group, the publication Market InSight… for Playwrights, and the on-line Playwrights’ Submission Binge. His plays are published by Playscripts, Brooklyn Publishers, Heuer, Smith & Kraus, Original Works Publishers, and YouthPlays. He’s been a fellow with New Rep and with the Huntington Theatre Company and is the co-founder and coordinator of the New England New Play Alliance. His novels are Steering to Freedom, Moving [a life in boxes] and Tornado Siren. In his spare time, he likes to farm and fix up old houses.