Martha Reben (born Rebentisch, 1906-1964) ''Adirondack Daily Enterprise'', January 9, 1964 was a writer. She who wrote ''The Healing Woods'' (1952), ''The Way of the Wilderness'' (1954), and ''A Sharing of Joy'' (1963) memoirs of her experiences camping on the shore of Weller Pond eight miles from

Saranac Lake, New York Saranac Lake is a village in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,406, making it the largest community by population in the Adirondack Park. The village is named after Upper, Middle and Lower Saran ...

in the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

in 1931 in an attempt to cure herself of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. Reben grew up in New York City; when she was six her mother died of tuberculosis. When she, too, became ill she was sent to cure in Pennsylvania, the Catskills and finally, in 1927, to

where Dr.

Edward Livingston Trudeau Edward Livingston Trudeau (5 October 1848 – 15 November 1915) was an American physician who established the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium at Saranac Lake for treatment of tuberculosis. Dr. Trudeau also established the Saranac Laboratory for ...

was having considerable success treating the disease. However, after three operations failed to cure her, she decided to follow her own desires, and hired a guide to take her camping in the wilderness. She spent six years living from the spring through the fall in a tent on Weller Pond, and with her guide, Fred Rice, during the winter. She later moved to a small cottage in Saranac Lake. Her disease slowly improved, and she lived to age 58, cured of tuberculosis. Her memoirs, written from her detailed daily journals, gained a considerable following.

External links

Women of Courage Profiles - Martha RebenHistoric Saranac Lake - Martha Reben
1906 births 1964 deaths Adirondacks People from Saranac Lake, New York {{US-writer-stub