Memories of Forest View Gardens

Memoirs of FVG & Trudie offers a heart-warming and fascinating stroll through the history of the iconic Forest View Gardens in Cincinnati and its talented owner, Trudie Klos Russell Seybold. Trudie leads us from post-World War I Germany to the charming “chicken-dinner restaurant” her parents purchased in 1939. Renamed Forest View Gardens in 1941, and at the urging of friend and patron Dr. William Huebener, the restaurant took on the Bavarian flair many Cincinnati-area residents will remember.

As an adult, Trudie’s talents and her love of opera took her far from Cincinnati. Trudie taught music and sang – and shared her mother’s flair for cooking – all across the country before returning to Forest View Gardens when her parents retired. Soon the restaurant featured a singing staff drafted from her beloved University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Within a short time, she and her new husband Kurt Seybold began holding their popular opera “galas” at the restaurant as well.

Forest View Gardens closed its doors in 2001, but the Conservatory’s Seybold/Russell Scholarship established by Trudie and Kurt in 1987 continues to nurture the next generation of musicians. With Memoirs of FVG & Trudie, the memories – and the music – live on.

A portion of all book sales will be donated to University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music in memory of Trudie and Kurt.