In Samoa, where Robert Louis Stevenson spent his final years, he became acquainted with Miss Annie Ide, the young daughter of Henry Clay Ide, the U.S. Commissioner to Samoa.  Stevenson learned that Annie was unhappy that she never had a proper birthday celebration, having been born on Christmas Day.  Stevenson, declaring that he had no further use for a birthday, decided to give away his own birthday, November 13,  to Miss Ide.  He drew up a “legal” document and delivered it signed and witnessed to Annie’s father, along with the following letter:

19 June 1891
Dear Mr. Ide,

Herewith please find the DOCUMENT which I trust will prove sufficient in law.  It seems to me very attractive in its eclecticism; Scots, English and Roman law phrases are all indifferently introduced and a quotation from the works of Haynes Bayly can hardly fail to attract the indulgence of the Bench. 

Yours very truly,
Robert Louis Stevenson
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Join us tonight, Tuesday, November 13, at 7 p.m., at the Library, for a panel discussion of Stevenson, the travel writers, with a panel of RLS aficionados discussing their own travels in the great writer's footsteps, with selected readings.  Admission is free.  Email mccombs@ci.monterey.ca.us for information.