Hanover
The event is scheduled for April 13-15 and features programs about the beloved English-Australian author who, nearly 60 years after his death, still has legions of fans around the world.
“The people who are presenting are the absolute best,” said Laura Schneider, who is organizing the symposium and is vice president of the Nevil Shute Norway Foundation and community services chairwoman of The Dartmouth Club of the Upper Valley, which is cosponsoring the event.
The keynote speaker will be writer and Dartmouth professor Alan Lelchuk, who will give a talk called “One Writer’s Beginnings, and Readings” on the Saturday night of the conference at Jesse’s in Hanover.
Two members from the Dartmouth Chapter of the Nevil Shute Society — which started meeting in April 2013 in Hanover and meets from 2-4 p.m. the first Saturday of every month — will also be presenting at the symposium.
Members of Shute’s family will also be attending.
The symposiums started in 1999 in Albuquerque, N.M., when a group of devoted fans wanted to celebrate what would have been Shute’s 100th birthday.
“They thought it was going to be a one-off,” Schneider said. “Well, they had so much fun they thought, ‘We have to do this again.’ ”
Two years later, a symposium was held in Australia, and since then the event has been held roughly every two years. The upcoming symposium is the tenth.
Shute was born on Jan. 17, 1899, in England and died Jan. 12, 1960, in Australia.
His fans come from all walks of life, but for many, part of the author’s appeal is his background: Shute was an engineer by day and author by night.
“During the day he was Nevil Norway, but when he was writing he was Nevil Shute,” Schneider explained.
“People come from all different ways,” said Schneider. Her interest started after the 1981 miniseries A Town Like Alice. “The story just got to me. It dug into me and it remains my favorite Nevil Shute story.”
Throughout his career, Shute wrote more than 20 novels.
“His stories are timeless. He’s a great storyteller,” Schneider said, adding that one of his hallmarks are his characters. “(They) are ordinary people and how they behave in extraordinary circumstances. There’s a lot of moral and ethical dilemmas.”
Shute’s characters and stories continue to endure and draw new fans.
“The best thing about Nevil Shute are the books,” Schneider said, adding that fans say their favorite book of his are the one they are currently reading. “The other thing that’s almost as good, and more long-lasting, is the people. I’ve made very dear friends.”
Editor’s note: The cost of the symposium varies. For more information and to register, visit http://www.nevilshute.org/index.php or https://www.dcuv.org/. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
