The Vinegar Saint

"The Vinegar Saint" by Hughes Mearns is a novel written in the early 20th century. This book revolves around the character of Gorgas Levering and her interactions with Professor Allen Blynn, alongside the enigmatic Bardek, a gypsy who serves as a mentor to her. Through their relationships, the story explores themes of youth, education, and the complexities of growing up in a society with expectations and norms that can be stifling or liberating. At the start of the narrative, readers are introduced to Professor Blynn engaging in a tennis match while reflecting on his professional life as a scholar of Elizabethan literature. The tennis game serves as a backdrop for his contemplations about youth and maturity, particularly in relation to Gorgas, a spirited thirteen-year-old girl he encounters. Their meeting is vibrant and playful, revealing Gorgas’s unique character—intelligent and precocious, she expresses the ambition and challenges of youth. The text also introduces Bardek, a gypsy artist, who plays a crucial role in Gorgas’s education, particularly in artistic endeavors, emphasizing a juxtaposition between conventional education and more unconventional, experiential learning. The interactions amongst these characters set the stage for a deeper exploration of societal norms and personal growth throughout the novel. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

William Hughes Mearns (1875–1965), better known as Hughes Mearns, was an American educator and poet. A graduate of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, Mearns was a professor at the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy from 1905 to 1920. Mearns is remembered now as the author of the poem "Antigonish". However, his ideas about encouraging the natural creativity of children, particularly those age 3 through 8 were novel at the time. It has been written about him that, "He typed notes of their conversations; he learned how to make them forget there was an adult around; never asked them questions and never showed surprise no matter what they did or said."