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Bonnet House Announces the Release of a New Book

By Bonnet House Blog, News No Comments

Bonnet House Museum & Gardens announces the release of a new book written by Kent Planck entitled Bonnet House: A Legacy of Artistry and Elegance. The release date is scheduled for Monday, November 14 with a reception at 6pm on the Bonnet House Veranda and Courtyard.  This new book is a coffee table-book about the historic home and the artistic legacy of Frederic and Evelyn Bartlett.  The book traces the history of the property and explores and depicts the decorative embellishments utilized by the Bartletts to create a truly unique home.

Author Kent Planck, a long-time Bonnet House volunteer and graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Journalism, vividly illustrates Hugh Taylor Birch’s love of South Florida’s pristine barrier islands, his gift of the Bonnet House site to daughter Helen and her artist husband Frederic, Bartlett’s art career and marriage (after Helen’s death) to Evelyn Fortune Lilly, Evelyn’s own period working as an artist, and Evelyn’s desire to see that the home be preserved. Kent Planck has donated his services as have several photographers.

The cost of the book is $35 and will be available online after November 14 at www.bonnethouse.org and in the Bonnet House Museum Shop and at various local cultural organizations and bookstores.

For more information about Bonnet House: A Legacy of Artistry and Elegance or Kent Planck, please contact Patrick Shavloske at [email protected] or (954) 563-5393 ext. 140.

About Author

A native of Pekin, Illinois, Kent Planck holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University where he was elected a charter member of the Medill School of Journalism’s Hall of Achievement in 1997. He worked nearly 30 years in the field of communications before retiring in 1994 as Vice President of Public Relations at AT&T. A life-long history buff, Planck has held board positions at both Bonnet House Museum & Gardens and the Wellfleet Historical Society on Cape Cod where he has summered for more than 35 years. Now a resident of Fort Lauderdale, FL, Planck is a volunteer tour guide at the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society and tour guide and annual historic lecturer at Bonnet House. He is also a self-taught artist who exhibits his oil-on-canvas landscapes in both Florida and Cape Cod.