Pearl S. Buck and Marie Leist at The Greenbrier - 1970

Author Pearl S. Buck with Marie Orndorff Leist at The Greenbrier Hotel on March 5, 1970. Mrs. Leist, born in in Arbovale, was President of the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation. The occasion was a gathering of the West Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs fundraising tour for the restoration of the birthplace in Hillsboro, Pocahontas County. Pearl Buck opened her 90-minute speech with the following:

"I'd like to have this house filled with life, and useful things for life, so that my mother's extremely rich and busy and productive years, which began there, can go on into the life of this state which she loved so well. And now to see that life begin again in that house with her spirit there means more to me than anything in life. I don't know how to thank you except to say that it is the loveliest thing to happen to me in my life."

(Photo by Club Photos/The Greenbrier,

Courtesy of Pearl S. Buck Birthplace, ID: MLC000002)