David Walsh asked Elizabeth Rosner:

Thank you for checking my review of your book. Our 'Couples Book Group' read it last winter, and then went tromping around Steinmetz's property line in the snow. My wife developed a program on Steinmetz for the local traveling Children's Museum. What was the genesis/inspiration for the Native American characters? They created such a wonderful juxtaposition of old culture and the new world of Steinmetz.

Elizabeth Rosner Hi David. Thanks for your note and apologies for my delayed reply. I'm delighted to hear of your personal connections to Steinmetz, and truly appreciate knowing that there are ongoing re-discoveries of his important work! As for the Longboats, I was initially inspired by meeting a member of the Mohawk tribe in San Miguel de Allende, MEXICO (where I own a small home and where I am at this very moment). He was an indigenous dancer, close to my age, and when he told me his family was from Schenectady I realized that the living presence of his people had been invisible to me all my life. I began to investigate further and had an intuitive sense that Steinmetz felt his own deep interest in Native Americans... thus the characters of Joseph and his grandson Martin arose into being. That's the short version!

flag