Isobel "Belle" Osbourne Strong Field was Robert Louis Stevenson"s step-daughter and sister of Lloyd Osbourne.
Background
Belle was born in Indianapolis to Samuel and Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne and married the artist Joseph Dwight Strong (1853-1899) in 1879, giving birth soon after to a son, Austin Strong (1881-1952) who later became a successful playwright.
Career
There she was Robert Louis Stevenson"s literary assistant transcribing his words when he was too ill to write. When oil was discovered on property owned by Field they became wealthy. In 1926 Field purchased Zaca Lake and surrounding land in the Figueroa Mountains near Los Olivos, California.
Isobel built an artists" studio there and the Field home became a popular meeting place for writers and actors.
Later Isobel wrote her memoirs in two books This Life I"ve Loved (1937) and A Bit of My Life (1951).