TARSUS

The United States group was founded by two Americans who were also founding members of TARS, Ellen Tillinghast and Betty Jo Baerg. The current coordinator for the group is Robin Marshall.

Membership in TARSUS seems to hover at about 125, a quarter of which are families (typically with one or more juniors). We have members in most of the contiguous states, plus Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

Publications

TARSUS members receive the same publications as UK members, more details of which are available from the Publications pages.

In addition to this, TARSUS also publishes Signals from TARSUS, a quarterly newsletter for U.S. members, which is distributed in February, April, August and December. Copies of this newsletter dating from 1998 onward are available here.

TARSUS members also receive "resumes" of TARSUS members who elect to tell their colleagues about themselves and how they found the Ransome books, and a membership list for TARSUS.

TARSUS Events

Members are entitled to attend any TARS events (upon payment of any applicable booking fee) irrespective of the region in which they are held. TARSUS members are, therefore, more than welcome at any of the regional and national events organised by TARS in the U.K., including the Annual General Meeting, the biennial Literary Weekend, and a wide variety of camping and sailing events, expeditions, and other activities. Some TARSUS members plan their vacations in the U.K. around one or more of these events.

Due to the relatively small number of members and their distribution across the country, TARSUS has not had very many events, and they have generally been small, informal events organized around a sailing expedition or camping weekend on the part of individual members or families.

Using U.S. Currency

TARSUS maintains a currency exchange mechanism with the TARS Treasurer, such that TARSUS members can use U.S. currency to apply for membership, order books and other Ransome-related items from the TARS Stall, and other TARS enterprises. Details are available at Our British Account. Membership can be paid in U.S. dollars to the TARS U.S. Coordinator.

How To Join

An application form with instructions and current membership subscriptions fees can be printed from TARS Membership Form or request one from the U.S. Coordinator. Membership renewal falls due on 1 January each year; however memberships begun in the last quarter of the year are continued through December 31st of the following year.

More Information

This site has a wide variety of information about Arthur Ransome and about TARS, including photographs, literary pages, a link to the TARS Society Stall from which TARS members can order books and items by and about Arthur Ransome, and much more.

For additional questions, please contact the TARS U.S. Coordinator:

Robin Marshall
210 18th St NW
Bradenton
FL 34205-6845
USA

E-mail robin@arthur-ransome.org

Swallows and Amazons For Ever!