R is for author Kenneth Roberts

Kenneth Lewis Roberts

(1885-1957)

Kenneth Roberts was born in the Storer Mansion on Storer Street in Kennebunk on December 8, 1885. His writing career began as editor of the Cornell Widow, a humor magazine at Cornell University, from which Roberts graduated in 1908. Roberts went on to write for the Boston Sunday Post and for Life and Puck magazines.

Roberts and his wife Anna Mosser of Boston were wed in 1911. They initially lived in Boston, but by 1919, they had purchased and remodeled a stable they called "Stahlhall" at Kennebunk Beach. In 1924, they moved nearby to a home he designed and affectionately called, "Blue Roof" for its blue shingles.

After serving in the United States Army as a military intelligence officer during World War I, Roberts became the Washington, D.C. and European correspondent for the Saturday Evening Post. In the 1920s, Roberts met novelist and playwright Booth Tarkington, who summered in Kennebunkport. Tarkington had a great influence on the young writer and became his lifelong friend and mentor.

In 1928, Roberts decided to pursue writing historical novels. He was insatiably curious about the experiences of his own ancestors, many of whom had been Indian fighters, Revolutionary War soldiers and shipmasters of privateers in the War of 1812. Meticulous research and Roberts' own heritage served as the fodder for his first four historical novels constituting the "Chronicles of Arundel."

With the success of his 1936 book, Northwest Passage, Roberts and his wife had the means to build their dream home between Kennebunkport and Cape Porpoise. Called "Rocky Pasture," the 146-acre estate provided Roberts—famously intolerant of disruption and distraction by "twittery idle people" and "uninvited sightseers"—the peace and quiet he demanded for his work.

Roberts' books were well-received, and many became best sellers with foreign language editions. He made the cover of Time magazine and, just two months before his death, received a special Pulitzer Prize citation for his historical novels.

Roberts died of a coronary thrombosis at Rocky Pasture on July 21, 1957. His beloved home Rocky Pasture succumbed to a fire in 1977 that destroyed all but the stone walls of the house.

His books remain popular with loyal followers, and many of the titles were reprinted as commemorative editions in the 1990s.

Kenneth Roberts' WWI Uniform

These were worn by Kenneth Roberts during World War I, when he served as a captain in the United States Army's Military Intelligence Division and as a member of the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. Frank B. Ellis, 1975. 75.44.1-.3

Selection of Books by Kenneth Roberts

Roberts' books were published in several foreign languages, and a few were even adapted for film. Roberts' historical novels won him a special Pulitzer Prize Citation in 1957, just two months prior to his death.

• Arundel, 1930
  The book represents Roberts' first novel and foray into historical fiction. Published in several editions by Doubleday, the book chronicles Colonel Benedict Arnold's march from Maine to Quebec in the first year of the American Revolution. A diorama depicting a scene from the novel is on display in the Museum's entry gallery.
• Lively Lady, 1931
  The book is set in the War of 1812 and features the son of the hero in Arundel. The story deals with privateering during the war and of the imprisonment of several Maine men at Dartmoor Prison in England. Roberts' great-grandfather Daniel Nason had been captured by the British and jailed at Dartmoor.
• Rabble in Arms, 1933
  Roberts dedicated this book to his mentor and lifelong friend, Booth Tarkington. The book was reissued in 1996.
• Captain Caution, 1934
  This novel—along with the three previous ones—constituted the "Chronicles of Arundel," which drew upon the history of the Kennebunks and Roberts' Arundel relatives. The book was re-released in 1999.
• Henry Gross and His Dowsing Rod , 1951
  Henry Gross was a federal game warden in Maine whose gift for water dowsing led to finding fresh water in Bermuda.
• Boon Island, 1955
  This true story was about an early Maine shipwreck.

Dust Jacket Art by Josef M. Arentz and Publisher’s Mock Up of Boon Island Dust Jacket

Josef Arentz (1903-1969) was one of America’s most renowned painters of maritime scenes. He was born in Germany in 1903 and came to the United States in 1926. He owned a home and gallery on Summer Street in Kennebunk and for many years maintained a summer gallery on Wharf Street in Kennebunkport. Arentz was very involved with the Arundel Opera Company for which he painted stage scenery.

In 1955, Kenneth Roberts stopped by the Arundel Opera House and saw one of Arentz’s ocean paintings hanging in the lobby. Roberts knew immediately that such a powerful scene would be perfect for the dust jacket of his latest novel, Boon Island. The book dealt with the true story of a 1710 shipwreck off the Maine/New Hampshire coast that resulted in much suffering and cannibalism. Arentz agreed that the painting could be used. He was quoted as saying, “I would rather be a good painter than a famous one,” but the jacket illustration appearing on Doubleday and Company’s 1956 release of Boon Island brought Arentz unsought fame.

The painting and oversized dust jacket mock up you see here were sold to the Museum in 1980 by Arentz’s widow.

Kenneth Roberts also had a close association with artist N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945), who illustrated several of Roberts’ novels.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Museum purchase with funds donated by Mr. and Mrs. Abbott Pendergast in memory of Earle M. and Margaret Peters Craig, 1980. 80.36.1.