Dr. Sara Lawrence Lightfoot Says Today's Seniors Seek to Redefine Success in Unconventional Ways During the Third Chapter of Their Lives
Dr. Sara Lawrence Lightfoot walked the 142 steps from her home in the South End to the local library the other day, where a packed room of neighbors and library patrons awaited her. "It's good to be home," she said appreciatively. Reading from her book, The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years after Fifty, the distinguished author and professor of sociology reminded the audience that, each day, 10,000 Americans turn 60. They are healthier, live longer, and represent a specific new demographic group in the 21st century the way 'adolescents' were newly defined in the 20th. They feel less bound by traditional rules, want to reinvent themselves more readily, and hope to leave a legacy that makes a positive difference. "We've honed our expertise," she said, "we're re-calibrating the meaning of success and want to look back and give forward."
In assessing what new thinking might help people navigate the Third Chapter more easily, Lawrence Lightfoot, who is the Emily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education at Harvard University, focused on four areas:education, which by encouraging specialization at too early an age discourages later learning choices that may be very different but more suitable; the need for an intergenerational compact of 'respectful reciprocity' that reduces competition between young and old by means of mentoring and apprenticeships; crossing boundaries between race, class, gender and age to help us make a "bodacious leap of faith" into different arenas we may be fearful of; and a public discourse that uses imagery and innovation to infuse the purpose of our lives with a more collective view, rather than just individual achievement.
Elaborating on these themes in response to many questions, Lawrence Lightfoot suggested, for example, that in the classroom the concept of how long "wait time" can be matters. Referring to the time a child is allowed by the teacher to answer a question, wait time has been decreased to accommodate larger classes or packed curriculum requirements. But by asking too many questions that have only one correct answer, a child may not develop a necessary comfort level with open-ended questions, or those with multiple answers, and circumscribe new learning later on in life. In a different setting, the institutions people interface with daily, like banks or medical clinics, employees too easily refer to older people as "honey" or call them by their first name, infantilizing them. "We have to learn to say, "don't call us that," Lawrence Lightfoot stated firmly. With respect to her own Third Chapter transformations, she said she cares less about what people think of her, and that she has taken up long-distance swimming again.
Answering another question about her most recent book, Exit: the Endings That Set Us Free, Lawrence Lightfoot explained that it is not a sequel to The Third Chapter, but an exploration of the premise that we live in a society pre-occupied with beginnings. "We ignore the departures," she asserted. For this book, she looked at many 'exits' and found that instead of the negative space of regression and loss it is made out to be, it is a process that can unlock the regenerative powers 'that set us free.'.
FOSEL inquired whether the author would want to return to explore this subject further, and she did not turn us down. Stay tuned.
Sociologist, Educator and Author Sara Lawrence Lightfoot Will Read from "The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50," Tuesday, October 9, at 6:30 p.m.
sara l lightfoot
Sara Lawrence Lightfoot, a MacArthur prize-winning sociologist and Emily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education at Harvard University, will be at the South End branch Tuesday night to talk about her book, The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50. Written a few years ago when she had entered her sixties, Lawrence Lightfoot discards the notion that being over fifty means acting enthusiastic about new adventures and directions is either "inappropriate" or "undignified," or that just playing golf and leading a life of self-centered leisure is the recipe for successful retirement. Instead, she explores how the bulge of healthy but aging baby-boomers in the population snake is forcing a reconsideration of the options available in the --now extended-- later stages of life.
In her interviews with forty educated and financially stable men and women, the South End resident explored what motivates people in their 'Third Chapter' of life to want to learn something new, even when they have been very successful up till then and even if the new direction is difficult and has a high risk of failure. She asserts her subjects were no longer interested in making it to the top of the ladder of individual achievement but wanted to find a way "to use their privilege, skills, networks, and access for the benefit of the broader community."
Lawrence Lightfoot wants to know what "institutional innovations, cultural priorities, and educational reforms might support the translations from individual gain to public good?"
You wondered about that yourself? The South End library is the place to find the answer Tuesday night, where the author will be introduced by health coach and wellness counselor, Colette Bourassa.
Lawrence Lightfoot has written nine books, including The Good High School: Portraits of Character and Culture (1983), which received the 1984 Outstanding Book Award from the American Educational Research Association and Balm In Gilead: Journey of A Healer (1988), which won the 1988 Christopher Award.Her most recent book, Exit: The Endings That Set Us Free, was published in May 2012. Her selection of five favorite books can be found at The South End Reads. The event starts at 6:30 p.m.
Future South End Writes authors are listed below:
Tuesday, October 16, 6:30 p.m. BPD Archivist Margaret Sullivan and Sgt. Detective Dr. Kim L. Gaddy"Boston's Fairest," an exhibit and lecture about the first 50 years of women in the Boston Police Department by the BPD's archivist, documenting the careers of wives and mothers who took on gangsters and bootleggers.
Thursday, October 25, 6:30 p.m. Maryanne O'Hara a former associate editor at Ploughshares and oft-published short-story writer, O'Hara will read from her debut novel Cascade, a recent People magazine pick, and described as "richly-satisfying" by the Boston Globe.
Tuesday, October 30, 6:30 p.m. Margot LiveseyThe Flight of Gemma Hardy, the seventh novel of Scottish-born Livesey which just came out in paperback, is modeled on the English classic, Jane Eyre, a "risky move" at which she for the most part succeeds, according to the New York Times. Introduction by novelist Sue Miller
Thursday, November 1, 6:30 p.m. Stephen DavisMore Room in a Broken Heart: the True Adventures of Carly Simon, the unauthorized biography of one of the most gifted folk singers by a former Rolling Stone magazine's editor and (now former) Simon family friend.
Tuesday, December 4, 6:30 p.m. Victor Howes A South End poet, decades-long college professor of literature and World War II veteran who published poems and book reviews in the Christian Science Monitor for many years, will read from his selected work.
January 15, 2013, 6:30 p.m. Leah Hager CohenThe Grief of Others The author, who publishes both fiction and non-fiction, will read from her latest novel which the New York Times described as "her best work yet." With an introduction by Sue Miller
Tuesday, February 5, 6:30 p.m. April Bernard The poet (Romanticism)and novelist, most recently of history (Miss Fuller), is currently the director of creative writing at Skidmore College. With an introduction by South End author Doug Bauer
Tuesday, February 26, 6:30 p.m. Andre Dubus IIITownie, a memoir The examination of the author's violent past has been described "best book" of non-fiction of 2011 and 2012 by many literary-gate guardians, and was preceded by his previous novelsHouse of Sand and Fog (made into a movie by the same name) and The Garden of Last Days. Sue Miller will introduce the author.
Tuesday, March 19, 6:30 p.m. Mari Passananti will read from her second novel, The K Street Affair.
Tuesday, April 18, 6:30 p.m. Doug Bauer Editor, writer of numerous books of fiction and non-fiction, and revered professor of English at Bennington College (to where he commutes from the South End), Bauer will read from his most recent collection of essays, What Happens Next?, to be published in the fall of 2013 by the University of Iowa Press.
Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m. Alice HoffmanThe Dovekeepers, a historical novel describing the AD70 massacre at Masada from the point of view of four women at the fortress before it fell during the Jewish-Roman war, is the most recent of the nearly two dozen novels by Hoffman and just came out in paperback. To be introduced by Sue Miller.
Tuesday, June 11, 6:30 p.m. Alice Stone, the local filmmaker whose mesmerizing documentary, Angelo Unwritten, has followed the life of a teenager adopted out of foster care when he was twelve, will return with an update of new material gathered since December 2011.
Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m. Philip Gambonewill return to read from his current work-in-progress, retracing the steps of his father who, as a soldier, was sent to Europe during the Second World War.
South End Writer L.Annette Binder Spins a Modern-day Fairy Tale With a Reading from her Short-story Collection,"Rise"
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"Freda weighed eighteen pounds when she was born. Her feet were each six inches long. At ten she was taller than her father." So began Nephelim, read by L. Annette Binder, from her award-winning debut short-story collection, Rise, at the South End Library recently. Husky-voiced, slightly swaying while leaning into her attentive audience, the author spun a magic tale of love and death, a dance between the physical fate of Freda and her all too human quest for love, which centers on the neglected boy of a neighboring family. Finely woven details describe the cruelty of physical deformity and the tenderness with which Freda's mother tries to find a place in the world for her doomed large child.
The former attorney, a classics major who was born in Germany but raised and educated in Colorado, told the listeners she finds the seeds of her materials from "something I hear on the street," or "a blip in the newspapers," but that what drives her stories is "character." Binder's first novel, unpublished, is stored in a 'lined desk drawer,' as she put it, but she is currently at work on another, based on a short story also included in Rise, called "Dead Languages." Binder's five favorite books are listed under The South End Writes tab on this web site.
Stephen Davis, Who Wrote the Unauthorized Biography of Carly Simon, Has been Rescheduled to Talk on November 1 at the South End Branch. Sara Lawrence Lightfoot Will Give a Talk on October 9.
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Stephen Davis, the author of More Room in a Broken Heart: the True Adventures of Carly Simon has been rescheduled to talk at the South End Library on Thursday, November 1, instead of the previously announced date in early October. An interview opportunity for Davis's next book on Stevie Nicks was the cause for the delay. In an email to FOSEL, Davis promises an "excruciating evening of R & R lore unfit to print but fun to hear about." Fasten your seat belts on Tuesday, November 1. Harvard professor, former Mac Arthur fellow, and long-time South End resident Sara Lawrence Lightfoot will talk at the South End Library on Tuesday, October 9, about her book The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50. It will start at 6:30 p.m.
L. Annette Binder Will Read From her Award-winning Story Collection Tuesday, September 25, at 6:30 P.M. at the South End Library
Author and South End resident L. Annette Binder will read tomorrow, Tuesday, September 25, from her short stories collected in Rise, which won the 2011 Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction in 2011. Binder was born in Germany, grew up in Colorado and attended Harvard University, Berkeley, and the Programs in Writing at the University of California, Irvine. Her writings have appeared in the Pushcart Prize Collection XXXVI and other publications. She is currently working on a novel based on her tale "Dead Languages," published in The Southern Review. Books will be available for borrowing from the library, private purchase and signing by the author. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. Below are future readings in The South End Writes series:
Tuesday, October 9, 6:30 p.m.
Sara Lawrence Lightfoot
The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years After Fifty, a review by the long-time Harvard University sociologist, educator, former MacArthur Prize fellow and South End resident, of the career and life choices people make before and after retirement. Introduction by health coach and wellness counselor Colette Bourassa.
Tuesday, October 16, 6:30 p.m.
Margaret Sullivan
"Boston's Fairest," an exhibit and lecture about the first 50 years of women in the Boston Police Department by the BPD's archivist, documenting the careers of wives and mothers who took on gangsters and bootleggers.
Thursday, October 25, 6:30 p.m.
a former associate editor at Ploughshares and oft-published short-story writer, O'Hara will read from her debut novel Cascade, a recent People magazine pick, and described as "richly-satisfying" by the Boston Globe.
Tuesday, October 30, 6:30 p.m.
The Flight of Gemma Hardy, the seventh novel of Scottish-born Livesey which just came out in paperback, is modeled on the English classic, Jane Eyre, a "risky move" at which she for the most part succeeds, according to the New York Times. Introduction by novelist Sue Miller
Thursday, November 1, 6:30 p.m.
Stephen Davis
More Room in a Broken Heart: the True Adventures of Carly Simon, the unauthorized biography of one of the most gifted folk singers by a former Rolling Stone magazine's editor and (now former) Simon family friend.
Tuesday, December 4, 6:30 p.m.
Victor Howes
A South End poet, decades-long college professor of literature and World War II veteran who published poems and book reviews in the Christian Science Monitor for many years, will read from his selected work.
January 15, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
Leah Hager Cohen
The author, who publishes both fiction and non-fiction, will read from her latest novel which the New York Times described as "her best work yet." With an introduction by Sue Miller
Tuesday, February 5, 6:30 p.m.
April Bernard
The poet (Romanticism)and novelist, most recently of history (Miss Fuller), is currently the director of creative writing at Skidmore College. With an introduction by South End author Doug Bauer
Tuesday, February 26, 6:30 p.m.
Andre Dubus III
The examination of the author's violent past has been described "best book" of non-fiction of 2011 and 2012 by many literary-gate guardians, and was preceded by his previous novelsHouse of Sand and Fog (made into a movie by the same name) and The Garden of Last Days. Sue Miller will introduce the author.
Tuesday, March 19, 6:30 p.m.
will read from her second novel, The K Street Affair.
Tuesday, April 18, 6:30 p.m.
Editor, writer of numerous books of fiction and non-fiction, and revered professor of English at Bennington College (to where he commutes from the South End), Bauer will read from his most recent collection of essays, What Happens Next?, to be published in the fall of 2013 by the University of Iowa Press.
Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m.
The Dovekeepers, a historical novel describing the AD70 massacre at Masada from the point of view of four women at the fortress before it fell during the Jewish-Roman war, is the most recent of the nearly two dozen novels by Hoffman and just came out in paperback. To be introduced by Sue Miller.
Tuesday, June 11, 6:30 p.m.
the local filmmaker whose mesmerizing documentary, Angelo Unwritten, has followed the life of a teenager adopted out of foster care when he was twelve, will return with an update of new material gathered since December 2011.
Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m.
will return to read from his current work-in-progress, retracing the steps of his father who, as a soldier, was sent to Europe during the Second World War.
"South End Writes" Speaker and Former School Committee Member Susan Naimark Lists "Ten Things She Wishes She'd Known" Before Sending Her Kids to Boston Public Schools
The South End Library hosted a rapt audience of more than fifty local parents last Thursday night to hear a talk by education activist and author Susan Naimark, who described her experiences as a Boston Public Schools parent in the 1980s and 90s, when she and her husband John guided three children, including a foster daughter, through eight public schools. "My kids got a great education, even though none received their first choice of school," said the former West Concord Street resident who moved to a Jamaica Plain fixer-upper to raise her family. She recalled that many parents at the time left the Boston public schools over court-ordered busing and mandatory school assignments but, despite years of a crazy schedule caused by both working full time and advocating for quality education in all public schools, Naimark stated firmly "I am glad we didn't bail."
Appointed to the School Committee by Mayor Tom Menino in the late 90s, where she served for a total of eight years, Naimark concluded that conversations about public education are often the wrong ones. "There are layers of dynamics around race, but we don't talk about race or racism," she said. "So I wrote a book about it." With The Education of a White Parent: Wrestling with Race and Opportunity in the Boston Public Schools, Naimark hopes to share her learning curve which, she said, is tied to national trends in public schools. "I gave a talk in Minnesota in June and parents there told me that what I had to say sounded just like what was happening in their kids' classroom today," she commented.
Searching for answers as to why so many students of color tested poorly --even though they seemed just as smart as her own white children-- or why selected school activities were dominated by white children, or why parents of color seemed less involved in school committees, Naimark looked beyond standard-fare responses that did not satisfy her. She reminded the audience that the parents, as elementary-school kids themselves, were bused to schools in hostile neighborhoods where they were stoned and spat on. "They may simply not be comfortable going to their kids' schools," she suggested. Pointing to a long history of advocacy by Boston's African-American community for better public schools, Naimark said that the first petition for school equity here was filed centuries ago, in 1798. And again in 1800, and 1840, and 1845 and 1846. The lack of responsiveness, or results, finally led to the Racial Imbalance Act of 1965, which culminated in court-ordered busing in the mid-seventies. During that time, the Boston public-school population declined from 60,000 to 40,000 students, when many white parents fled for the suburbs or private schools.
The question of why parents don't show up at their children's schools is complicated, Naimark emphasized, and differently complicated again for immigrant parents. There's a role for white parents in addressing this matter, she insisted, which starts with relationship building. To that point, she listed "ten things I wish I had known before I became involved as a Boston public-school parent," she said.
They are:
Stretch yourself to get to know others who are unlike you.
Racism and inequity are important for everyone to speak up about. The BPS has an Equity Office that will look into racist remarks. and related problems.
Make it a personal commitment to engage with those who appear left out.
Don’t take perceived hostility personally—decades of racism and exclusion leave their mark.
Make sure kids who are different get together.
Model how to talk about race and racism to your children, even if it is difficult and no immediate solution is in sight.
Don’t be defensive when you are challenged by parents of color: white liberals often appear most defensive about being called racist or making racist assumptions.
The impact of what you say or do trumps the intent. Don’t argue about it.
It’s ok to admit you don’t know certain things.
If you don’t work for ALL kids, you send the wrong message to your own kids
One of the audience participants said that "great stuff is happening" in many Boston public schools, and that there are resources available to help classroom teachers secure materials for their students, including DonorsChoose, an on-line charity that specializes in funding public-school projects large and small.
"The South End Writes" Resumes Thursday, September 20, 6:30 p.m., with Susan Naimark Reading from "The Education of a White Parent: Wrestling with Race and Opportunity in the Boston Public Schools"
When Susan Naimark sent the first of her two sons into the Boston public school system in 1985, she found out quickly that she was getting an education herself. Not in academic subjects necessarily, but in how race and white privilege play out in the public-school classroom. The former South End resident who had moved to a fixer-upper in Jamaica Plains watched her children thrive, while many of their classmates of color did not, she writes. She wanted to know why. "To understand it from the perspective of white privilege, I had to hold up the mirror," says Naimark, who wrote "The Education of a White Parent:Wrestling with Race and Opportunity in the Boston Public Schools," from which she will read at the South End Library Thursday, September 25 at 6:30 p.m. Naimark was appointed to the Boston School Committee by Mayor Tom Menino in 1997 and re-appointed for a second term in 2000. She currently works in non-profit community development, and serves on boards of several organizations that work for racial justice and the improvement of the Boston public schools.
THE SOUTH END WRITES 2012-2013
Thursday, September 20, 6:30 p.m.Susan Naimark The Education of a White Parent: Wrestling with Race and Opportunity in the Boston Public Schools, a memoir of white privilege and unequal access as observed by a former Boston School Committee member
Tuesday, September 25, 6:30 p.m.L. Annette Binder Rise, an award-winning debut short-story collection by a writer born in Germany, raised in Colorado and now settled in the South End.
Rescheduled from Tuesday, October 2 to a to-be-confirmed date later this fall Stephen Davis More Room in a Broken Heart: the True Adventures of Carly Simon, the unauthorized biography of one of the most gifted folk singers by a former Rolling Stone magazine's editor and (now former) Simon family friend.
Tuesday, October 9, 6:30 p.m. Sara Lawrence Lightfoot The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years After Fifty, a review by the long-time Harvard University sociologist, educator, former MacArthur Prize fellow and South End resident, of the career and life choices people make before and after retirement. Introduction by health coach and wellness counselor Colette Bourassa.
Tuesday, October 16, 6:30 p.m.Margaret Sullivan"Boston's Fairest," an exhibit and lecture about the first 50 years of women in the Boston Police Department by the BPD's archivist, documenting the careers of wives and mothers who took on gangsters and bootleggers.
Thursday, October 25, 6:30 p.m. Maryanne O'Hara a former associate editor at Ploughshares and oft-published short-story writer, O'Hara will read from her debut novel Cascade, a recent People magazine pick, and described as "richly-satisfying" by the Boston Globe.
Tuesday, October 30, 6:30 p.m. Margot Livesey The Flight of Gemma Hardy, the seventh novel of Scottish-born Livesey which just came out in paperback, is modeled on the English classic, Jane Eyre, a "risky move" at which she for the most part succeeds, according to the New York Times. Introduction by novelist Sue Miller
Tuesday, December 4, 6:30 p.m.Victor Howes A South End poet, decades-long college professor of literature and World War II veteran who published poems and book reviews in the Christian Science Monitor for many years, will read from his selected work.
January 15, 2013, 6:30 p.m. Leah Hager Cohen The Grief of Others The author, who publishes both fiction and non-fiction, will read from her latest novel which the New York Times described as "her best work yet." With an introduction by Sue Miller
Tuesday, February 5, 6:30 p.m. April Bernard The poet (Romanticism)and novelist, most recently of history (Miss Fuller), is currently the director of creative writing at Skidmore College. With an introduction by South End author Doug Bauer
Tuesday, February 26, 6:30 p.m. Andre Dubus III Townie, a memoir The examination of the author's violent past has been described "best book" of non-fiction of 2011 and 2012 by many literary-gate guardians, and was preceded by his previous novels House of Sand and Fog (made into a movie by the same name) and The Garden of Last Days. Sue Miller will introduce the author.
Tuesday, March 19, 6:30 p.m. Mari Passananti will read from her second novel, The K Street Affair.
Tuesday, April 18, 6:30 p.m.Doug Bauer. Editor, writer of numerous books of fiction and non-fiction, and revered professor of English at Bennington College (to where he commutes from the South End), Bauer will read from his most recent collection of essays, What Happens Next?, to be published in the fall of 2013 by the University of Iowa Press.
Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m. Alice Hoffman The Dovekeepers, a historical novel describing the AD70 massacre at Masada from the point of view of four women at the fortress before it fell during the Jewish-Roman war, is the most recent of the nearly two dozen novels by Hoffman and just came out in paperback. To be introduced by Sue Miller.
Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m. Philip Gambonewill return to read from his current work-in-progress, retracing the steps of his father who, as a soldier, was sent to Europe during the Second World War.
"The South End Writes" Authors Series 2012-2013 Season Featuring Local Writers, Poets and their Colleagues, Will Resume at the South End Library on Thursday, September 20, 6:30 PM
Yes, the summer FLEW by but console yourselves:the 2012/2013 season of The South End Writes will start up in less than two weeks. FOSEL has lined up an amazing group of writers and poets, some coming out with a debut collection or novel, others with a long list of nationally acclaimed books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction to their names, but each eager to read from his or her work and ready to answer your questions. With many thanks to TheSouth End Writes supporters who recruited the speakers, including Sue Miller and Doug Bauer, FOSEL board members Courtney Fitzgerald, Barbara Sommerfeld and Rhys Sevier, and head librarian Anne Smart (who also makes all the speakers' books available for lending at the branch).
And many thanks to graphic designer Mary Owens whose excellent posters for the SEW readings are a pleasure to put up around town.
Below is the list as it currently stands. In addition, Phil Gambone, who two years ago read from his collection Travels in a Gay Nation: Portraits of LGBTQ Americans, hopes to talk in the coming spring about his work-in-progress, in which he retraces the steps of his father who helped liberate Europe as a soldier during World War II. And Mari Passananti, who read from her first novel last June, plans to read from her soon-to-published second novel, The K Street Affair, in the spring, as well. Both dates are currently being finalized.
THE SOUTH END WRITES 2012-2013
Thursday, September 20, 6:30 p.m.
Susan Naimark
The Education of a White Parent: Wrestling with Race and Opportunity in the Boston Public Schools, a memoir of white privilege and unequal access as observed by a former Boston School Committee member
======
Tuesday, September 25, 6:30 p.m.
L. Annette Binder
Rise, an award-winning debut short-story collection by a writer born in Germany, raised in Colorado and now settled in the South End.
=====
Rescheduled from Tuesday, October 2 to a to-be-confirmed date later this fall
Stephen Davis
More Room in a Broken Heart: the True Adventures of Carly Simon, the unauthorized biography of one of the most gifted folk singers by a former Rolling Stone magazine's editor and (now former) Simon family friend.
=====
Tuesday, October 9, 6:30 p.m.
Sara Lawrence Lightfoot
The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years After Fifty, a review by the long-time Harvard University sociologist, educator, former MacArthur Prize fellow and South End resident, of the career and life choices people make before and after retirement. Introduction by health coach and wellness counselor Colette Bourassa.
=====
Tuesday, October 16, 6:30 p.m.
Margaret Sullivan
"Boston's Fairest," an exhibit and lecture about the first 50 years of women in the Boston Police Department by the BPD's archivist, documenting the careers of wives and mothers who took on gangsters and bootleggers.
=====
Thursday, October 25, 6:30 p.m.
a former associate editor at Ploughshares and oft-published short-story writer, O'Hara will read from her debut novel Cascade, a recent People magazine pick, and described as "richly-satisfying" by the Boston Globe.
=====
Tuesday, October 30, 6:30 p.m.
The Flight of Gemma Hardy, the seventh novel of Scottish-born Livesey which just came out in paperback, is modeled on the English classic, Jane Eyre, a "risky move" at which she for the most part succeeds, according to the New York Times. Introduction by novelist Sue Miller
=====
Tuesday, December 4, 6:30 p.m.
Victor Howes
A South End poet, decades-long college professor of literature and World War II veteran who published poems and book reviews in the Christian Science Monitor for many years, will read from his selected work.
=====
January 15, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
Leah Hager Cohen
The author, who publishes both fiction and non-fiction, will read from her latest novel which the New York Times described as "her best work yet." With an introduction by Sue Miller
=====
Tuesday, February 5, 6:30 p.m.
April Bernard
The poet (Romanticism)and novelist, most recently of history (Miss Fuller), is currently the director of creative writing at Skidmore College. With an introduction by South End author Doug Bauer
=====
Tuesday, February 26, 6:30 p.m.
Andre Dubus III
The examination of the author's violent past has been described "best book" of non-fiction of 2011 and 2012 by many literary-gate guardians, and was preceded by his previous novelsHouse of Sand and Fog (made into a movie by the same name) and The Garden of Last Days. Sue Miller will introduce the author.
=====
Tuesday, March 19, 6:30 p.m.
will read from her second novel, The K Street Affair.
=====
Tuesday, April 18, 6:30 p.m.
Editor, writer of numerous books of fiction and non-fiction, and revered professor of English at Bennington College (to where he commutes from the South End), Bauer will read from his most recent collection of essays, What Happens Next?, to be published in the fall of 2013 by the University of Iowa Press.
=====
Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m.
The Dovekeepers, a historical novel describing the AD70 massacre at Masada from the point of view of four women at the fortress before it fell during the Jewish-Roman war, is the most recent of the nearly two dozen novels by Hoffman and just came out in paperback. To be introduced by Sue Miller.
=====
Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m.
Philip Gambonewill return to read from his current work-in-progress, retracing the steps of his father who, as a soldier, was sent to Europe during the Second World War.
=====
John Sacco Said It First About A (1993) Worcester Square Concert: "Just As Nice As If It Were Symphony Hall..."
worcester square concert
There was a lovely concert in Worcester Square by the Duo Sonidos last Thursday. What does this have to do with the South End Library? Only this: in February at the library, FOSEL's authors' series The South End Writes hosted former Police Blotter scribe Officer John Sacco who talked about his many years as observer and reporter of he local crime scene for the South End News. Occasionally, Officer Sacco, who loved the South End, would drift off into non-criminal subjects, as he did in his column in 1993 when, under the heading Point of View, he described another concert in Worcester Square, held in those very 'bad old days.' The description of the musical scene was nestled between an item about a 'Tremont St female' confronted by a 'culprit who gave her a beating' and another report about 'Meredith' who had been 'flagging down male motorists' for cash. All of which to say that about those Worcester Square concerts John Sacco said it first: "..it was just as nice as if it were in Symphony Hall.." Here is the long version of what John Sacco wrote in September 1993's Police Report for the South End News:
"One night recently a group of Worcester Square area residents held a chamber music concert in the park. It was a beautiful evening of fine music in a lovely setting. People in the area, not interested in the music, remained quieter as they went about their business. Mothers hushed noisy children at play. The soft music came through just as nice as if it were Symphony Hall, not an outdoor park. The South End was a pleasant place to be on a breezy summer night in Worcester Square."
For other Worcester Park concerts, visit the WS Neighborhood Association's web site for their Facebook link..
South End Resident Judith Klau to Lead a Discussion of Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" at the South End Library on Tuesday, August 7
Long-time South End resident Judith Klau will lead an informal talk about Shakespeare's most political play, Coriolanus, at the South End Library on Tuesday, August 7, at 6:30 PM.Coriolanus, one of Shakespeare's tragedies, is being staged by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and directed by Steven Maler. It is performed for free Tuesdays thru Sundays, weather permitting, on the Boston Common, through August 12, at 8:00 PM, 7:00 PM Sundays.
The play is based on the life of the Roman general Caius Marcius Coriolanus (5th Century BC). Its themes of the military leader's discomfort with civilian rule, as well as prevailing conditions of partisanship and disparities between rich and poor in Rome at the time, has kept the play relevant throughout the centuries. Don Aucoin, the theatre critic for The Boston Globe, commented in his August 3 review that by "staging a modern-dress “Coriolanus’’ in an election year, director Maler clearly wants us to think about what qualities we seek in our leaders, and about the ways in which partisan politics — seen here in the form of a pair of scheming, demagogic Roman tribunes played by Jacqui Parker and Remo Airaldi — can poison and undermine the functioning of a republic."
Ms. Klau, the former Head of the English Department at the Groton School in Western Massachusetts, found the Boston Common performance "brilliantly acted and remarkably affecting." Although all performances are free, for a donation of $30 one can obtain "a very good seat right in front of the stage," she noted.
Head librarian Anne Smart has copies of the play available at the South End branch.
For more information about the play, call 617 426-0863 or visit www.commshakes.org.
Rutland Square Author Mari Passananti Will Read From Her First Novel, "The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken," Tuesday June 19 at 6:30 PM
"Don't go to the beach without it," is the advice of Wendy Walker for her colleague Mari Passananti's first novel, "The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken." Passananti who like Walker once worked as an attorney, was raised by a Finnish mother and an Italian dad in Rhode Island before settling in the South End with her family. She is currently wriiting a suspense novel, tentatively titled, "The K Street Affair," scheduled for publication sometime this year. The reading will take place on Tuesday, June 19, at 6:30 PM at the South End Library, upstairs in the community room.
The same evening, there will be a fundraiser on the library's first floor to raise money for an ethnic weaving scholarship to honor the memory of fiber artist Theresa-India Young. The event will start at 5:30 PM.
Memoirist Christine Chamberlain and Custom Publisher Jane Karker will Tell You All You Need to Know About Memoir-writing, Tuesday, May 22, 6:30 PM
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On Tuesday May 22, at 6:30 PM, The South End Writes will host memoirist Christine Chamberlain and custom-publisher Jane Karker,who will discuss how to write memoirs of people and places AND get published. Here’s your chance to learn how to put into words your observations about the block you’ve lived on for so many years, or just a family memoir to encourage your children to think of you fondly. Chamberlain and Karker have helped develop a small body of such memoirs produced by residents of Maine, where they hail from, and would be happy to assist in starting such a collaborative venture in the South End.
Chamberlain, a Wellesley College graduate and former journalist who reported from Europe for various publications in the U.S., began to write memoirs when a friend asked her to do one of her mother. She has since completed more than 70, as well as histories of places and institutions, including the history of rowing at Dartmouth and one of the Cambridge School of Weston. Samples of her work will be available for viewing at the event.
Tonight's Reading by Author Leah Hager Cohen Cancelled Due to Family Emergency
The scheduled reading tonight, May 15, by Leah Hager Cohen had to be cancelled to to an emergency in the author's family. We wish her the very best and hope to reschedule the event when it is convenient to do so.
Next week, Tuesday May 22, at 6:30 PM, The South End Writes will host memoirist Christine Chamberlain and custom-publisher Jane Karker, who will discuss how to write memoirs of people and places AND get published.
Here's your chance to learn how to put into words your observations about the block you've lived on for so many years, or just a family memoir to encourage your children to think of you fondly. Chamberlain and Karker have helped develop a small body of such memoirs produced by residents of Maine, where they hail from, and would be happy to assist in starting such a collaborative venture in the South End.
We hope to see you there.
Author Leah Hager Cohen Will Read from "The Grief of Others" on Tuesday, May 15, after an Introduction by South End Novelist Sue Miller
The South End Writes author series will bring author Leah Hager Cohen to the South End Library on Tuesday May 15th to read from her latest novel, The Grief of Others. She will be introduced by South End novelist Sue Miller, who invited her to speak at the program. The event will start at 6:30 PM.
Hager Cohen has been described as one of this country’s best novelists by the editor of the New York Times Book Review, Sam Tanenhaus. The Grief of Others delves into a family fighting for its emotional survival while whipsawed by the loss of a small child. A Boston Globe’s book reviewer described the writing as “fluid and insightful." The author, a graduate of the Columbia Graduate School for Journalism, has published both fiction and non-fiction books, and is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines. In one recent Boston Globe opinion piece she explained why the Pulitzer Prize Committee’s refusal to select a winner for its 2012 Fiction category was ‘a good thing;’ in another, she provided an insightful look into the working life of the South End Writes' most recent speaker, award-winning short-story writer Edith Pearlman.
Hager Cohen's other titles include the non-fiction books Train Go Sorry: Inside a Deaf World, and Glass, Paper, Beans, as well as the novel Heart, You Bully, You Punk.
Head Librarian Anne Smart has many of the titles available at the South End branch for those who wish to borrow them: all you need is your BPL library card.
The final two South End Writes events of the season will take place on Tuesday, May 22 and Tuesday, June 19, both at 6:30 PM at the South End Library. Memoirist Christine Chamberlain and custom-publisher Jane Karker will talk about how to write memoirs of people and places AND get them published on May 22; and South End resident Mari Passananti will read from her first novel, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken.
Edith Pearlman Will Read at the SE Library May 1, Followed by Fiction Writer Leah Hager Cohen (May 15), Memoirist Christine Chamberlain Accompanied by Custom-Publisher Jane Karker (May 22)
The South End Writes authors' series will be in full swing in May when authors Edith Pearlman and Leah Hager Cohen will read from recent work at the South End branch on Tuesday, May 1 and Tuesday, May 15, respectively. They will be introduced by local novelist Sue Miller, who invited them. Edith Pearlman's much-prized collection of new and selected short stories, Binocular Vision, has just been released in paperback. Just in time ,as every book venue in Boston was sold out of the hardcover version. The collection won the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award, the 2011 PEN/Malamud Award, and was a finalist in the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction. Pearlman won other awards, such as the Pushcart Prize, the O'Henry Prize and a number of others for previous work.
Leah Hager Cohen has been described as one of this country's best novelists by the editor of the New York Times Book Review, Sam Tanenhaus. Her latest novel, The Grief of Others, delves into a family fighting for its emotional survival while whipsawed by the loss of a small child. The Boston Globe's book reviewer described the writing "fluid and insightful." Hager Cohen, a graduate of the Columbia Graduate School for Journalism, is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines, as well, and recently explained in a commentary for the Boston Globe why the Pulitzer Prize Committee's refusal to select a winner for its 2012 Fiction category was 'a good thing.'
CHRISTINE CHAMBERLAIN, a memoirist and biographer, will talk about how to turn your oral history, family history and any other history of interest to you and others into books that can be self-published. It can be the history of rowing, of first-generation families who want to preserve culture and customs for their children, or the history of institutions that don’t yet have one written down. Chamberlain, a former journalist working from Europe, will bring Jane Karker, a small publisher from Maine, who will provide pointers on self-publishing and display samples of self-published work. Tuesday, May 22, 6:30 PM.
Award-winning Author Edith Pearlman Will Read from Her Bestseller, "Binocular Vision," at the South End Branch on May 1, with an Introduction by South End Novelist Sue Miller
Good luck trying to find a hard-cover copy of Edith Pearlman's latest short-story collection, Binocular Vision, at any of the local bookstores.
Barnes and Noble is out. Trident Books and Raven Used Books are out. Brookline Booksmith is out. The publisher is out. And there's a long waiting list at the Boston Public Library for the book, which won the 2011 Pen/Malamud, National Book Critics Circle, and Edward Lewis Wallant award and was a finalist for the National Book Award. The good news is the paperback issue will show up in the stores next week. But the BEST NEWS is that Edith Pearlman herself will read from the collection at the South End Library on Tuesday evening, May 1, at 6:30 PM.
South End resident and nationally known novelist Sue Miller will introduce Ms. Pearlman, whose profile was featured earlier this week in the Boston Globe. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the South End Library as part of its The South End Writes/The South End Invites authors series.
Author/Librarian Catherine Willis to Talk about Surprising Facts in her Recent Book about the History of the Boston Public Library, Tuesday, March 27, at 6:30 PM, at the South End Library
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CATHERINE WILLIS, who recently wrote a pictorial history of the Boston Public Library, will talk about some of the things she discovered while researching the book, which is part of the Images of America series. Currently the Manager of Technical Services at the BPL, and the 2007 recipient of the New England Library Association’s Award for Excellence in Library Technical Services, Ms. Willis can tell you, among other things, that the idea of the BPL was first proposed by French ventriloquist Alexandre Vattemare in 1841 and that the lions flanking the staircase in the BPL’s McKim building precede those of the New York Public Library by 15 years.
Tuesday, March 27, 6:30 PM. Sponsored by FOSEL as part of The South End Writes series. The South End Branch's staff has made numerous copies available at the library to patrons who wish to borrow a copy and take a closer look...
Essayist and Literary Critic Sven Birkerts to Read at the South End Library on Tuesday, March 6, 6:30 PM, with an Introduction by Author Sue Miller
Sven Birkerts has written extensively about the threat posed by fast-paced and analysis-driven data and information on the art of contemplative thought and reading. Not too surprising for an acknowledged devotee of book stores, among other places in Ann Arbor, MI, where Birkerts worked closely with the Borders' brothers in their first booksellers' venture.
As the editor of the --mostly-- on-line literary magazine, AGNI, published by Boston University, Birkerts doesn't shy away from cyberspace but does review, and regularly rings the alarm bell about, unintended consequences of the inescapable digital imperative and electronic surround of our lives.
In addition to his many articles on the subject, including Resisting the Kindle (2009), Reading in a Digital Age (2010) and You Are What You Click (2010), Birkerts has written eight books, including The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age, The Electric Life: Essays on Modern Poetry, and a memoir, My Sky Blue Trades: Growing Up Counter in a Contrary Time.
His latest collection of essays, The Other Walk, came out in paperback recently, with many of its pieces set in and around Boston, where Birkerts lives with his family, and some in Latvia, where he was born.
The author will be introduced by South End resident and writer, Sue Miller, who invited the author as part of The South End Writes series, sponsored by The Friends of the South End Library.
Former Area D4 Police Blotter Scribe John Sacco Returns to the South End Library to Reminisce About Those Very Good Very Bad Old Days
JOHN SACCO, the Poet Laureate of the South End News’s Police Blotter, who for decades reported on those flaunting the rule of law, at least such as it existed in the (much rowdier) South End at the time, will talk at the South End Library next Tuesday, February 7. Sacco’s iconic and oft-repeated declaration, “The Scoundrel Was Arrested on the Spot,” lives in the heart of many Area D4 police-blotter aficionados. Retired but much missed since 2000, Sacco will reminisce about his days as law-and-order scribe when he once cited a man for making love to his dog and was forced to research the law on bestiality then on the books. Tuesday, February 7, 6:30 PM. THE SOUTH END WRITES is a program sponsored by the Friends of the South End Library (FOSEL) with the generous cooperation of the staff of the South End Branch. Previous readings have included South End luminaries like novelist Sue Miller, essayist Doug Bauer, poet Henry Cole, culinary writers Chris Kimball and Joanne Chang, filmmaker and screenwriter Alice Stone, authors Philip Gambone and Johnny Diaz, and many others.
The 2012 South end Writes Spring Season Will Start with Wendy Wunder's "The Probability of Miracles" on Tuesday, January 17, 6:30 PM
Growing up in a small town in New Jersey and feeling she faced a certain kind of death by leaving the life she knew for the unknown territory of college, Wendy Wunder asked herself what it would be like to be dying at the age of eighteen. Now an author, parent, yoga teacher and city dweller, Wendy Wunder will start the new season of THE SOUTH END WRITES by reading from her debut novel, "The Probability of Miracles," in which she explores that very question. Written from the point of view of a sixteen-year-old who has been in and out of hospitals for years fighting a fatal illness, the story of Cam Cooper is a meditation on life and death for Young Adults (15 and up) with crossover appeal to the older set.
THE SOUTH END WRITES is a program sponsored by the Friends of the South End Library (FOSEL) with the generous cooperation of the staff of the South End Branch. Previous readings have included South End luminaries like novelist Sue Miller, essayist Doug Bauer, poet Henry Cole, culinary writers Chris Kimball and Joanne Chang, filmmaker and screenwriter Alice Stone, and many others.
In addition to the January 17 reading by Wendy Wunder, the 2012 Spring Season will feature the following local writers:
JOHN SACCO, the Poet Laureate of the South End News's Police Blotter, who for decades reported on those flaunting the rule of law, at least such as it existed in the (much rowdier) South End at the time. Sacco's iconic and oft-repeated declaration, "The Scoundrel Was Arrested On The Spot," lives in the heart of many Area D4 police-blotter aficionados. Retired but much missed since 2000, Sacco will talk about his days as law-and-order scribe when he once cited a man for making love to his dog and was forced to research the law on bestiality then on the books. Tuesday, February 7, 6:30 PM.
SVEN BIRKETS, essayist and literary critic, editor of AGNI literary magazine, and director of Bennington (College's) Writing Seminars. Author of many books, literary reviews and articles, including a number on the impact of electronic media on the act of reading: Reading in a Digital Age (2010), and You Are What You Click (2010). While he does not exactly live in the South End (but in Arlington), he has important friends here... Tuesday March 6, 6:30 PM
CATHERINE WILLIS, who recently wrote a book on the history of the Boston Public Library, will talk about some of the things she discovered while researching the book, which is part of the Images of America series. Currently the Manager of Technical Services at the BPL, and the 2007 recipient of the New England Library Association's Award for Excellence in Library Technical Services, Ms. Willis can tell you, among other things, that the idea of the BPL was first proposed by French ventriloquist Alexandre Vattemare in 1841 and that the lions flanking the staircase in the BPL's McKim building precede those of the New York Public Library by 15 years. Tuesday, March 27, 6:30 PM
NANCY DEVILLE, an author who divides her time between Santa Monica, California, and the South End, previously wrote "Healthy, Sexy, Happy: A Thrilling Journey to the Ultimate You." She now has come out with "Death by Supermarket," a diatribe against the "fattening, dumbing down and poisoning of America." Fasten your seat belts for this reading on Tuesday, April 24, 6:30 PM.
This reading has been postponed since the author, who lives part-time in California, was unable to return to Boston in time. We hope to reschedule her reading for the 2012/2013 season.
EDITH PEARLMAN, 2011 nominee of the National Book Award for her collection of new and selected stories, Binocular Vision, and the 2011 winner of the Pen/Malamud Award. Even as the author of more than 250 works of fiction and non-fiction, she describes herself as slow: "A sentence often takes an hour to compose before I throw it out. What can I do?" Find out more about her dilemma on Tuesday, May 1, 6:30 PM
LEAH HAGER COHEN, who wrote among other novels, The Grief of Others and House Lights, teaches in the low-residency MFA program at lesley University. She is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review and considered one of the best novelists in America by some. Tuesday, May 15, 6:30 PM
CHRISTINE CHAMBERLAIN, a memoirist and biographer, will talk about how to turn your oral history, family history and any other history of interest to you and others into books that can be self-published. It can be the history of rowing, of first-generation families who want to preserve culture and customs for their children, or the history of institutions that don't yet have one written down. The former journalist and her husband will provide pointers on self-publishing and display samples of their work. Tuesday, May 22, 6:30 PM.
MARI PASSANANTI, a South End resident who practiced law until she began to write, will read from her first novel, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken. It addresses the notion many women have that their lives will be perfect as soon as they meet the right guy. So you have to come and find out....Tuesday, June 19, 6:30 PM