Newton Free Library


OCTOBER, 2001 / Archives

Gallery & Main Hall Hours Monday to Thursday 9:00 am to 9:00 pm Friday 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00pm Sunday Noon to 5:00 pm Are you interested in exhibiting your artwork at the Library? Please click here for more information.
G A L L E R Y
October, 2 0 0 1
"OUT OF CONTEXT" BY PETER VANDERWARKER The Newton Free Library Main Hall will exhibit "Out of Context," a display of architectural photographs by Peter Vanderwarker, October 2 – 30, with an opening reception on Wednesday, October 3, 6 – 8:30PM. Vanderwarker’s soaring black and white and color images capture the grandeur of architectural shapes from a bulbous wastewater treatment plant to the elegant Eiffel Tower. His irreverent look at these structures and their surroundings highlights our anything-goes values of today. The imaginative outdoor mural of a building that covers one whole side of the Boston Architectural Center in the heart of Back Bay seems to him "a wonderful fiction…like someone cut a hole in the city and planted this fantasy," he says. His fascination and enjoyment of the architectural incongruity of old and new, large and small, beautiful and ugly side by side is clear. "Context is the stuff around a building that gives it meaning," he says. "In our complicated and quickly changing world, context and meaning often go to the highest bidder." Thus Boston’s old Customs House is shown sandwiched between two modern office buildings, the image flattened to emphasize the contrasting styles. His favorite structure is the Eiffel Tower, because "it makes absolutely no effort to fit [in the neighborhood]." In his photo, the luminous iron scaffolding rises above a flat row of townhouses, a giant towering over a domestic landscape. Vanderwarker is well aware of the camera’s selective capability, as the photographer frames an image in a subjective way. "The camera, [has an] infinite ability to lie about the world. Photographers choose rectangular chunks of the world to set up on walls as truth." Although some of his works are shot from close-up or underneath to highlight the strength or graceful lines of a subject, at the Deer Island Treatment Plant he posed a delicate dancer next to the colossal tanks to bring it back to scale and add a touch of whimsy, reminding us of the purpose of the wastewater plant. Vanderwarker’s work is published in magazines world-wide and has been exhibited at the Gund Hall Gallery at Harvard University, the Boston University gallery and is in the permanent collection of the Boston Athenaeum. He is the author of five books, including Cityscapes of Boston which he co-authored with Robert Campbell and most recently, The Big Dig: Reshaping an American City. He has been a regular contributor to the Boston Globe since 1981. A recipient of Institute Honors from the American Institute of Architects, he has also received grants from the NEA and the Graham Foundation. As owner of Peter Vanderwarker Photographs, his collection includes more than 40,000 images of major cities in the United States and Europe. He resides in West Newton. Visit his website at: http://www.vanderwarker.com/index.shtml Email the Peter Vanderwarker at : peterv@mediaone.net
M A I N H A L L
October, 2 0 0 1
"LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS" BY JEREMIAH ECK Summer Silence, 14" x 20" Oil on Linen The Newton Free Library will exhibit Jeremiah Eck’s "Landscape Paintings" October 2 – 30, with an opening reception on Wednesday, October 3, 6 – 8:30PM. Eck’s soft oil paintings impart a feeling of comfort and mystery. As he describes "Winter Still," "[this work] endeavors to capture the overcast days of winter when times seems to stand still." He continues, " The foreground and distance of the painting were given a similar tonal value in an effort to flatten the spatial quality of the painting." This technique emphasizes the heavy grey sky and broad white hillside converging in the distance, reminding the viewer of the sleepy feel of cloudy winter days. Other paintings use an earthy palette of rust and browns for fall and greens and blues for summer and spring. Each evokes a mood or atmosphere: the lazy days of summer when, as he says, "all sounds seem to be muted by the enveloping heat," or a late afternoon with the melancholy autumn light reflected in a quiet river. With the exception of his winter scenes, Eck paints en plein air, outdoors, finishing a work in less than three hours before the quality of light changes. As an architect who envisions buildings on a daily basis, he finds it refreshing to paint nature, "a workout for the right brain that in our times seems dominated by the analytical activities of the left." This show will exhibit work from all four seasons, much of it painted in Maine, Essex, Massachusetts and the Dover/Needham area along the Charles River. Eck is principal of Jeremiah Eck Architects in Boston as well as an author, teacher and former lecturer in architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. His book The Distinctive American House is forthcoming. A Newton resident, he has served on the Board of Directors of the New Arts Center in Newton and as a member of the Site Selection, Designer Selection and Visiting Committees for the Library. Eck studied painting with Dennis Sheehan and David Curtis from the Guild of Boston Artists.

Library groups meet at the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton Centre, unless otherwise noted. All meetings are free and open to the public.

October, 2 0 0 1

African Literatures Group
Led by Anne Serafin, this group explores the rich variety of writings from Africa. The group meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 7:30PM, in Meeting Room A. Meeting Date: October 17: Ake, a memoir by Nigerian Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka. For further information, call 552-7145.

Children's Book Writers Group
Meetings are held on the first Monday or the fourth Wednesday of the month at 7:00PM, in Meeting Room A. This group is for writers who have work in progress. Pre-registration required. Please call Karen Day at 244-4830 for more information. Meeting Dates: October 1 or October 24.

Current Fiction Discussion Group
Meetings are held the first Wednesday of the month, 7:30PM now in Meeting Room A. Participants should read works in advance. Group coordinator: Alice Simons. For information, call the Library at 552-7159. Meeting Dates: October 3: Saul Bellow, Ravelstein; November 7: Diane Johnson, Le Marriage.

Great Books Discussion Group

Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month now at 7:15PM in Meeting Room A. Members read books from the Great Books Foundation (available at the Library). Meeting Date: October 9: "Molly Sweeney" a play by Brian Friel. For further information, call the Library at 552-7145.

Landscape of Aging
This group has a new focus on reading autobiographies and writing/discussing 1 – 3 page memoirs. Led by Marilyn Bentov, meetings will now be held on the second Thursday of the month, 2 – 3:30PM in Meeting Room A. Limited to 15 people. Pre-registration required; call 617-969-8022. Meeting Date: October 11.

Newton Camera Club
Meetings are held at 7:30PM on the second and fourth Mondays of the month at the Nonantum Branch Library. Group coordinator: Elisif Brandon: (617) 243-0557. Meeting Dates: October 8: Slide Competition in Nature and Open categories. October 22: Minishows and TechTips. Also slide presentation by member Milt Williamson on "Yellowstone/Grand Tetons/Charles Kuralt."

Playreading
Meetings are held at Newton Corner on the first Tuesday of the month at 7:00PM. Preparation is not necessary. Meeting Date: October 2. For further information, please call the Library at 552-7145 or the branch at 552-7157.

Sequences: Women Tell Our Stories
In this women's workshop, participants read, discuss and write about literature by women. The group meets the second Wednesday of each month from 10 - 11:30AM in Meeting Room A. Leader: Robin Mayer Stein. Meeting Date: October 10. For further information, call 552-7145.

Short Fiction Writing Group
This workshop provides an atmosphere of expert support to polish short fiction It is geared for published writers as well as those who are actively pursuing publication. Preregistration is required: 617-965-8835. The group meets the first Tuesday of each month, Meeting Room A, 7:00PM. Meeting Date: October 2. Please bring 5 copies of work to the meeting. Coordinator is Halcyon Mancuso, a writing professor and writer.

Short Story Discussion Group
Meetings are usually held on the second Monday of the month at 7:30PM now in Meeting Room A. Group leader is Mary Lanigan. For further information, call 552-7145. Meeting Date: October 22: Mary Gordon, "The Deacon," and Nathan Englander, "The Gilgul of Park Avenue."

Sound and Sense Poetry Workshop
This new workshop for experienced poets concentrates on honing literary skills with a focus on publication. The group now meets weekly on Saturdays, 10:30 – 12:30PM, in Meeting Room A.

All concerts are free and open to the public. For directions to the Library, click here.

October, 2 0 0 1

CELLIST JONATHAN MILLER AND PIANIST HORIA MIHAIL

Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Jonathan Miller and pianist Horia Mihail will perform a concert of sonatas by Beethoven and Brahms at the Newton Free Library, Sunday, October 21, at 2:00PM. Seating at the concert is limited and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Miller is a 30 year veteran of the BSO and the founder and Artistic Director of the Boston Artists Ensemble. Solo appearances include the Boston Pops, the Hartford Symphony and the American Cello Congress at the invitation of Mstislav Rostropovitch. Miller has served on the faculty of the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division and currently teaches at the Tanglewood Music Center. He has toured the country as a member of the New York String Sextet and can be heard on the Centaur Records label. Both he and Mihail are members of the Gramercy Trio.

Mihail has appeared with the George Enescu Philharmonic, the State Radio Orchestra and other Romanian orchestras on more than 200 occasions. He has also performed with the Boston Pops under the baton of both John Williams and Keith Lockhart. First prize winner in numerous international competitions, he has toured throughout Europe and the United States as a soloist and chamber musician. He teaches at Boston University.

SPIRIT FIDDLE GETS COOKIN'!

Spirit Fiddle, a lively fiddle/guitar duo will perform at the Newton Free Library, Sunday, October 28, 2:00PM. Composed of fiddler Robin Warren and guitarist Brian Clancey, the duo will present a variety of music ranging from blistering bluegrass and toe-tapping Appalachian tunes to sweet waltzes, old hymns and popular songs, Texas swing, Canadian and Celtic jigs and reels and Parisian musette.

Master Fiddler Robin Warren has won Fiddler of the Festival and Best Performer awards at many fiddle contests in New England and in North Carolina. She has been featured on a PBS video about the celebrated Fiddlers Grove Festival in North Carolina and her music is included on two dozen albums.

Spirit Fiddle has in their three years together given hundreds of concerts throughout New England and recorded two CDs including their latest Blue Jeans and Gingham. Performing highlights include appearances at the 77^th Fiddler’s Grove Festival, headliner billing at the 30^th Annual Nova Scotia Bluegrass and Oldtime Festival, a tour of Berlin, Germany and concerts at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Shaker Village in Canterbury, New Hampshire.

Visit their website at: http://www.spiritfiddle.com

CHANTEUSE KATE SULLIVAN TO GIVE CONCERT AT LIBRARY

Cabaret singer Kate Sullivan will reprise excerpts from her shows "Lenya: The Love of Kurt Weill" and "Piaf: The Little Sparrow" at the Newton Free Library, Sunday, October 14, 2:00PM. Her compelling portrayals have earned rave reviews in the local press, following performances last year at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and through Opera unMet at the Somerville Theatre.

Accompanied by pianist Laurence Carson, the Library concert will feature "Mack the Knife," "Surabaya Johnny," "La Vie En Rose," "Mon Legionnaire," and many other well-known and lesser known works of Weill and Piaf.

Sullivan has been captivating Boston area theatregoers for more than a decade with several shows she has written and produced. A singer, composer and arranger as well, she draws on a wide-ranging repertoire that runs from opera to vaudeville, motets to jazz. She has produced several CDs, including "Lettres de Paris," a collection of French songs. Soon to be released is "Beaujolais Live," an intimate glimpse of her performances at Café Beaujolais in Gloucester. Currently she is writing lyrics for Claude Bolling’s "Suite for Jazz Piano and Flute" and has just completed the composition of a song cycle using Seamus Heaney’s translation of the epic Irish poem "Sweeney Astray." In addition to recording and performing, Sullivan has served as music director for several theatre programs, including teen productions at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester and the Rebel Shakespeare Company in Marblehead.

October, 2 0 0 1

AUTHOR ELIZABETH MCCRACKEN TO SPEAK

Elizabeth McCracken, award-winning author of The Giant’s House, will speak on her rollicking new novel Niagara Falls All Over Again at the Newton Free Library, Wednesday, October 10, 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning with books provided by New England Mobile Book Fair.

By turns graceful and knowing, funny and moving, Niagara Falls All Over Again spans the waning years of vaudeville and the golden age of Hollywood as it chronicles a flawed, passionate friendship over thirty years, in the knockabout comedy team of Carter and Sharp. Here McCracken introduces her most singular and affecting character: Mose Sharp, son, brother, father…and straight man to Rocky Carter, his partner, the fat guy in baggy pants who utterly transforms his life.

Critics have been raving about her style:

"Any doubts that McCracken could not equal the inventiveness, wit and quirky imagination of her first novel…will be dispelled by this relentlessly eventful, rollickingly funny and heartwarming narrative." – Publisher’s Weekly, starred review

"McCracken knows all kinds of subtle, enticing secrets of the heart and conveys them in silky, transparent language." – The San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

The author has received awards and grants from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Guggenheim Foundation and NEA and was honored as one of Granta’s 20 Best American Writers Under 40. In addition to The Giant’s House, a finalist for the National Book Award, she is the author of the short story collection Here’s Your Hat, What’s Your Hurry.

STORYTELLER CINDY MARSHALL TO APPEAR IN PERFORMANCE FOR ADULTS

Storyteller Cindy Rivka Marshall will present an entertaining program for adults "Who is Truly Wise? Stories of Wisdom and Foolishness" at the Newton Free Library, Sunday, October 7, 2:00PM. This show will include humorous and thought-provoking wisdom tales from many cultures, stories that present puzzles to solve and tests of wisdom, providing insight into human nature.

Marshall uses movement and song in a theatrical style that encourages audiences to participate and to vividly experience the stories. Her stories range from Jewish folktales to multi-cultural tales from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean. Since 1989 she has performed at venues throughout the region such as the Three Apples Storytelling Festival, Lesley College, Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring, a live performance on WGBH-FM’s "A Folk Heritage" and at numerous schools, libraries, synagogues and community groups. Her critically acclaimed recording, "Challah and Latkes: Stories for Shabbat and Hanukkah" won a Storytelling World Honor Award and a National Parenting Publications Award.

SLIDE SHOW ON FORBIDDEN KINGDOM OF MUSTANG IN HIMALAYAS

Join award-winning documentary travel photographer Don Gurewitz for a slide lecture on what anthropologists have called "the last forbidden kingdom" on Tuesday, October 30, 7:30PM at the Newton Free Library.

The kingdom of Mustang is a semi-secret, semi-independent and semi-feudal region of Nepal, nestled in the Himalayas on the border with Tibet. There are no roads or airports there. It has been closed to the outside world until very recently, and even today special permission is needed to enter. It is the only surviving Tibetan monarchy, and because of this and its near-total isolation at 13,000 feet elevation, it is the "purest" surviving Tibetan culture in the world.

Watch Gurewitz and his group hike and ride ponies through the deepest canyon in the world, with spectacular 26,000+ foot glacial peaks on either side, to reach the capital of Mustang, the medieval walled city of Lo Manthang. Witness with them the annual 3-day spring festival of Tiji that draws most of the 6,000 inhabitants of the kingdom, as well as pilgrims from across the border in Tibet. Visit the unique and striking villages and monasteries; see the colorful masked dances and religious ceremonies; meet the King of Mustang and the monks, nobles, lamas, farmers, herdsmen, and townspeople who are his subjects.

This is a travelog sure to enthrall with its images of a wild, remote and starkly beautiful region and its isolated and ancient culture.

Gurewitz’ exhibit "Images of Our World" was displayed in the Library Main Hall in September. He has won many awards for his work in national photography magazine competitions, exhibited his work in England and throughout the U.S. and has given hundreds of slide lectures throughout the country.

AUTHOR DAVID I. KERTZER TO SPEAK ON "THE POPES AGAINST THE JEWS:
THE VATICAN’S ROLE IN THE RISE OF MODERN ANTI-SEMITISM"

The Newton Free Library will host a panel discussion on issues raised in the controversial new book The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican’s Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism with its author David I. Kertzer and Dr. Philip A. Cunningham, Executive Director of the Center for Christian and Jewish Learning at Boston College. The program will take place on Thursday, October 18, 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning with books provided by the New England Mobile Book Fair.

The Popes Against the Jews is a groundbreaking historical study based on documents previously locked in the Vatican’s secret archives which graphically shows how the Catholic Church helped make the Holocaust possible. Despite its focus, it is not an anti-Catholic book, but seeks a balanced judgement and an understanding of the historical forces that led the Church along the path it took.

Pope John Paul II, as part of his effort to improve Catholic-Jewish relations, has called for a clear-eyed investigation into any possible link between the Church and the Holocaust. Kertzer, a distinguished historian specializing in Italian history was one of the first scholars who was given access to long-sealed Vatican archives. The result is a book filled with shocking revelations, tracing the Vatican’s role in the development of modern anti-Semitism as the Church laid the groundwork for the demonization of the Jews from the 19^th century up to the outbreak of WWII.

Written with devastating clarity and dispassionate authority, this important book is sure to provoke discussion.

Kertzer is Paul Dupee, Jr. University Professor of Social Science and a professor of anthropology and Italian studies at Brown University. He is the author of The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He has twice been awarded the Marraro Prize for the best work on Italian history from the Society for Italian Historical Studies.

SPORTS COLUMNIST CHARLES PIERCE TO SPEAK

Twice named one of the five best sports columnists in the country by the Associated Press sports editors, Charles Pierce has been delivering the world of big games, superstar athletes and small-town heroes to delighted fans for years. Hear him speak on his book Sports Guy: In Search of Corkball, Warroad Hockey, Hooters Golf, Tiger Woods and the Big, Big Game at the Newton Free Library, Monday, October 29, 7:30PM. The talk will be followed by a booksigning with books provided by the New England Mobile Book Fair.

Sports Guy presents the best of Pierce’s writing culled from publications such as Esquire, GQ and the New York Times Magazine which reveal him as a devoted and often hilarious sports writer with a nose for a great story. Whether whipping up controversy over Tiger Woods, illuminating America’s race issue in his coverage of a basketball star or paying homage to the genuine "big game," Pierce’s trademark humor and poignant insight have long set his writing apart. Always present is his concern with the current state of American sports: how big money has changed the games and celebrity has affected the players. More important is his insight into the way sports reflect the larger cultural picture, how it reveals peculiar bits of American character in genuine ways. Pierce, Writer At Large for Esquire magazine, is a weekly commentator on National Public Radio’s "Only a Game" and a frequent guest on NPR’s "Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me." Together with Roger Angell, he holds the honor of having been featured in the Best American Sportswriting annuals more often than any other writer. In addition to his sportswriting, he is the author of Hard to Forget: An Alzheimer’s Story. His work has appeared in many publications such as The Nation, The Boston Herald, The Boston Phoenix, Atlantic Monthly, Boston Globe and The Village Voice.

LIBRARY POETRY READING SERIES FEATURES
PAM BERNARD, FRED FRANKEL AND RICHARD MOORE

The Newton Free Library Poetry Reading Series will present Richard Moore, Pam Bernard and Fred Frankel reading their poems on Tuesday, October 9, 7:00PM.

Moore has published a novel, a book of literary criticism, translations of Greek and Latin plays and ten books of poetry, one of which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and another was a T.S. Eliot Prize finalist. His fiction, essays and poems have been published in The New Yorker, The American Poetry Review, The Nation and many other magazines. He gives frequent readings, lectures and dramatic performances in Boston, Washington, DC and other cities. His poetry shows great variety of form, tone and content and is known to be "unfailingly entertaining."

Bernard is a poet and painter whose collection of poems is entitled My Own Hundred Doors. Her most recent awards are a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Poetry, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing and a MacDowell Fellowship.

Frankel has published poems in The Larcom Review, Concho River Review, Ibbetson Street Press, The Cape Codder and other publications; several new works will be published this fall. A retired psychiatrist and professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School, he immigrated to the United States from South Africa in 1962. He is a member of Barbara Helfgott-Hyett’s Poetry Workshop.

Upcoming in the series is a reading on Tuesday, November 13.

Morning Programs at the Library!

The Waban Book Group will discuss Too Close to the Falls by Catherine Gildiner on Wednesday, October 31, 10:30AM. Feel free to drop by.

Newton Corner's group will discuss Kent Huruf's Plainsong on Friday, October 26, 10:30AM. The group meets at Heritage at Vernon Court in Newton Corner and meetings are open to the public.

Former Library Director Virginia Tashjian will recommend a potpourri of new fiction and non-fiction books in her lively, inimitable style at the Main Library on Thursday, October 18, 10:30AM. Stop by for some great ideas for books to read.

New Assisted Hearing Device for Druker Auditorium Programs

The Library now has available assisted hearing devices to be used for amplified programs in Druker Auditorium. If you would like to use one during a lecture in the auditorium, stop by the Circulation Desk with your Library card and check one out. Then turn the unit on, place the headset on your head and adjust the volume to your preference. Directly after the program, please turn off the headset to save the battery and return it to the Circulation Desk (before closing) so that someone else may borrow it. And please let us know how you like them.

Library Legal Series

\The Library Legal Series will present attorney Fern Frolin, a partner at Sooho & Frolin of Newton, speaking on "The Evolving Rights of Parents and Grandparents" on Wed-nesday, October 24, 7:15PM. Bring questions about parents' rights regarding visitation by grandparents

Friends' Annual Meeting

You're invited to the Friends of the Newton Free Library's Annual Meeting on Thursday, October 25, 7:30PM in Druker Auditorium. They'll elect a new slate of officers and Library Director Kathy Glick-Weil will speak on The Library: Past, Present and Future. It's a great time to meet the Friends and find out how you can get involved

The Career Workshop has been Rescheduled!

The Sept. 11, 2001 Career Workshop has been rescheduled to Monday, November 26, 7:00PM in Druker Auditorium. For more information, please contact the Reference Department of the Newton Free Library at 617-552-7152

Are you looking for more meaning from your work? Has your definition of "success" changed? If so, come to an interactive workshop on Career Change on Monday, November 26, 7:00pm in Druker Auditorium. Led by Harriet Hofheinz, a Career Moves counselor, the workshop will help you clarify whether you are seeking a job, industry, career or life change, identify proven strategies for making a successful change and outline the next steps in your transition.