Frances Glessner Lee Withdrawal?

 

Now that the exhibit at the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery is over you may be asking yourself, "What next? I was just starting to get into the Nutshells and now what?" 

                                   

I know exactly how you feel. That's how I felt when I read about the Nutshells for the first time in a magazine article about interesting collections. I had to wait three more years for the book The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death to be published. While I loved the book, it wasn't enough. I wanted to know more.

                                      

Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshells haunted me for years. So much so that I found myself visiting the home of the Nutshells - the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner - and making a case for filming the Nutshells for a documentary - Of Dolls & Murder.

                                 

You would think making a documentary film would have satisfied me but no. My filmmaking partner and I unearthed some new information about Frances Glessner Lee and this set a new journey in motion - another documentary film, Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story. We are close to being finished with it. (More funding would be amazing!) But that doesn't do you any good right now, does it? Because you are, perhaps, haunted too. 

                                

So I have a few recommendations for you: Do like I did and start your own Frances Glessner Lee/Nutshell project. Get creative! Do something that hasn't been done before. Try to solve all the Nutshell cases. Write your own fan fiction. Maybe you will be the one to write the definitive biography? There are several books in the works about Frances but who knows when or if they will ever be published, so if you want to write about her - you should! Or perhaps you want to make your own Nutshells - like artist Cynthia von Buhler. (Photo below is a model of her grandfather's speakeasy around the time of his murder.)


                                

I wrote an award-winning screenplay about Frances and it was so satisfying to explore her life in a semi-fictional way. I also wrote a TV pilot and it turned out better than I could have ever imagined. (More news about this coming in 2018?)

                                        

Are you the adventurous Nutshell enthusiast? You could go on the Frances Glessner Lee tour! See her historic home in Chicago, her other home at the Rocks in Bethlehem, New Hampshire and while you're there, pay your respects to Frances's final resting place and go to the Bethlehem Visitor Center to see the missing Nutshell. 

Visit Harvard and check out some of her papers at the Countway Library. Make an appointment at the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to see the Nutshells in person.  She lived part-time at the Ritz-Carleton in Boston. What a great road time it would be!


                                    

Or perhaps you are more of a passive Nutshell enthusiast? Buy the Of Dolls & Murder DVD, so you can own all the DVD extras including an interview with John Waters and filmmakers's commentary. 

                                     

Check out Season Seven of CSI for the Nutshell-inspired plot of the Miniature Serial Killer. A BUNCH of people have mentioned to me that there is an episode of Father Brown that has a dollhouse murder in it - but wow, I watched two seconds of that show and found it unwatchable - so watch at your own risk. There are several podcast about Frances and thousands of articles, like this one that came out today.

There's an event coming up at the Glessner House to celebrate Frances's 140 birthday. It sounds pretty cool, so I don't even mind that they borrowed the title from our film for their event.

I hope this helps you get your Nutshell on and keep Frances's story alive. And keep checking back for updates.