Finding Meher Mount - A Dramatic Reading
Meher Mount
“Oh, there’s a place for Meher Baba…”
Agnes Baron, who later became a co-founder and lifetime caretaker of Meher Mount, was staying at the New Life Center in La Crescenta, CA, in 1946.
When she arrived at this Center dedicated to Avatar Meher Baba, Agnes knew nothing about Him.
One day during her stay, one of the founders of the New Life Center, Jean Adriel, said to Agnes, “We are going out for a drive this afternoon looking for a place, would you like to come?”
“Well, it was a hot day so I thought I would go with them. I just went for the ride,” Agnes remembered.
“It seems they were planning to sell the New Life Center and buy another place. I didn’t know what the details were, and I didn’t particularly care. I just went for the ride.
“Every time they’d see a lovely place they’d say, ‘Oh there’s Baba’s place.’”
“There’s a place for Meher Baba…” is a dramatic reading that portrays the series of coincidences that led to finding the property, now known as Meher Mount, in 1946 and keeping it for Avatar Meher Baba through “hell, fire and damnation.”
This 29:43-video captures the flavor of Agnes Baron’s role in finding Meher Mount and keeping it for Avatar Meher Baba.
Agnes Baron: Erin Sommerville plays the role of Agnes Baron, Meher Mount co-founder and lifetime caretaker.
Erin is an international teacher, lecturer, consultant and coach on Mind Body Spirit wellness. She was named by the Long Beach Business Journal as a Visionary – a woman with original ideas about what the future will or could be, and honored by the American Cancer Society, Long Beach, for her courage, compassion, contributions, and leadership in the fight to eliminate cancer.
Previously, Erin studied at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. In Palo Alto, she appeared as Roseline in As You Like It and Desdemona in Othello, and then began managing and lecturing in the Healing Power of Laughter and Play programs. This is her first production with the Meher Mount Players.
Script: Wayne Myers. The dramatic reading was researched and compiled by Wayne Myers who is indebted to Mandali Hall, org. for their recordings and transcribed audio talks of Agnes Baron and to The Beloved Watchdog video of Agnes by Wendell Brustman. He also relied on personal accounts from Bing Heckman, Sam Ervin, and Margaret Magnus, and the published accounts by Filis Frederick, Kitty Davy, and Lord Meher : The Biography of the Avatar of the Age by Bhau Kalchuri.
Film Editor: Michelle Choug
Cameraperson: Juan Mendez
75th Anniversary: This dramatic reading was performed on August 7, 2021, as a salute to the 75th anniversary of the founding of Meher Mount.