Belle Dorman Rugh — An American Writes about Lebanon

One of the American ladies who grew up in Lebanon, came to know its people at close hand, and its customs and traditions, and so came to love it.

She is the daughter of Dr. Dorman of blessed memory, whose kindnesses to the medical students of the American University and to their families were abundant. Mrs. Rugh taught English literature at the Ahliah National College for Girls and the American College for Girls, and many of her students remember her graciousness and her merit. She married in Beirut the professor of history at the American University, Professor Douglas Rugh, and sailed with him to China, where he was appointed a teacher at the University of Peking. At last she settled in America — Connecticut — until this past summer, when her husband went to work, on secondment, as an assistant in the relief organization in Lebanon; Mrs. Belle accompanied him, with their two daughters Molly and Joan, to spend nine months in our land.

Whoever sees Mrs. Belle telling her daughter about Beirut and its quarters and her memories, and about the Lebanese customs that once were and have vanished, and the other changes that have come about in the twenty years she was away from Lebanon, sees the very same longing and emotion one sees in every emigrant returning to Lebanon after twenty years! Nor is this the only proof of Belle's love for Lebanon and its people; in the book she wrote in 1955 in America, under the title "The Crystal Mountain," there is a kindly picture of Lebanon and its people and of the independence to which it aspired.

Belle wrote this book for her daughters, to share with them the memories of her beautiful childhood; but hardly had the book appeared when it won the monthly book prize.

It runs to about 200 pages, adorned with drawings by Mr. Shepard — true-to-life pictures that add to the book's value and make it a pleasure to read. There are no dreadful happenings in the story, nor extraordinary climaxes; they are simple incidents molded with the skill of one who is at once mother and teacher — incidents that captivate children from nine to twelve years of age. They all turn on a summer in the village of Shemlan — where the Dorman family owns a house and vineyards — how three American children and an English girl spent it; how they profited from their surroundings; how they taught an ill-bred American boy a hard lesson in respecting Lebanese customs and understanding them; how they made use of a ruined house and turned it into a refuge, a playground, and a laboratory of their own. Then you read between the lines how an American family succeeded in raising its children in virtue, good manners, and the true spiritual life, by sharing with its children their hours of play and by granting some of their requests.

How the free people of Lebanon were persecuted when they demanded their independence.

In this book is delight for the twelve-year-old — and no less, say, for his parents. A "clean" book, such as we usually ask for our children, and an educational one, full of charming jokes and scientific information. May our children read it.

And thank you, noble American-Lebanese lady, for your love and your kindness.