Newton Free Library


NOVEMBER, 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
November, 2 0 0 1
NAN HASS FELDMAN’S "ROOMS AND VIEWS: NEW PAINTINGS" The Gardener's House, 2001 Nan Hass Feldman’s "Rooms and Views: New Paintings" will be on display in the Gallery of the Newton Free Library, November 2 – 29, with an opening reception on Saturday, November 3, 2 – 4:00PM. Feldman’s lively, colorful paintings present an emotional landscape as well as a literal one. In bold strokes, she evokes the French countryside and living room interiors where the hills are as much alive as the vivid-hued sofas. "I try to express what I am thinking and feeling, using images to explore the beautiful and the frightening, the whimsical and the serious," she says. Her paintings contain a Van Gogh-like frenetic energy with lots of visual detail competing for attention, yet complementing each other in a rich melange of colors. Interesting perspectives above an interior or narrow road are used as is the evocation of a feeling of depth by having a cozy living room open onto a porch with a back yard visible beyond, or a village with forest-covered hills in the distance. A compelling tension is set up within her scenes by creating a sense of space filled with bright, varying colors and many objects. Although her work began as an exploration of fantasy, Feldman now focuses on four archetypes: Shelter, Civilization, Adventure and Nature symbolized in images of the house, the interior, the boat and nature. In oils, acrylics, encaustics and mixed-media works, she continues to explore the feelings inherent in these settings. The artist has exhibited at Worcester Art Museum, Danforth Museum of Art and Provincetown Art Museum and at many galleries in New York City, on Newbury Street in Boston and around New England. The recipient of many high honors and grants, she teaches at Vermont College, Framingham State College and Worcester Art Museum. Her work is held in dozens of public and private collections worldwide. You can email the artist at: nanhassfeldman@aol.com You can view more of Nan Hass Feldman's work online at www.ArtDial.com by clicking here.
M A I N H A L L
November, 2 0 0 1
DANIEL DYER’S "WATERCOLOR PORTRAITS: PEOPLE AND PLACES" The Boys Daniel Dyer’s "Watercolor Portraits: People and Places" will be on display in the Main Hall of the Newton Free Library, November 2 – 29. Dyer’s portraits tell a story, but, as he puts it, "not the entire story." In "The Boys" we see several boys’ legs dangling down the front of a "No Lifeguard on Duty" sign as they sit, we assume, on the high lifeguard bench/perch above, happily swinging their legs and looking out to sea. "Father of the Bride" only reveals the face and shoulders of an older man standing perhaps in the road, face contorted in a silent scream – a comment on his feelings about the day? Other works portray places in the hill town of Cummington in western Massachusetts. But whether the subject is a person or an empty house nestled in the trees, Dyer’s watercolors have a presence, a dynamic created by the contrasting light and shadow and use of asymmetry. "I try to capture the essential characteristics of a particular person or place through the use of light and color," he says. In some works, the contrast of light and dark define the image as in "Fading Light" where a shower of leaf shadows paints the side of a house, adding movement to the quiet, empty home. In others, the main subject is placed off-center such as a woman walking on the far side of a road or two deck chairs or a face shown unnervingly close. This unbalanced feeling brings the image to life and "gives the painting spirit," he says. Dyer is a founding member of Miller Dyer Spears Inc., an architecture, planning and interior design firm in Boston. Although he began painting 25 years ago, for much of that time he channeled his interest and talent through his architectural career and only in the last few years has begun painting in earnest again. He lives in Newton.

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.

November, 2 0 0 1

African Literatures Group
Led by Anne Serafin, this group explores the rich variety of writings from Africa. The group usually meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 7:30PM, this month in Meeting Room B. Meeting Date: November 28: The Interpreters, 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: November 5 or November 28.

Current Fiction Discussion Group
Meetings are held the first Wednesday of the month, 7:30PM in Meeting Room A. Participants should read works in advance. Group coordinator: Alice Simons. For information, call the Library at 552-7159. Meeting Dates: November 7: Diane Johnson, Le Marriage, December 5: Jim Crace, Being Dead.

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: November 13: "The Persian Wars" by Herodotus (from GBF Series 2, Volume 3). 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: November 8.

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: November 12: Slide Competition in Patterns and Open categories, judged by Mike Roman. November 26: Slide presentation by Ray Guillette, "The Long Way Home."

Playreading
Meetings are held at Newton Corner on the first Tuesday of the month at 7:00PM. Preparation is not necessary. Meeting Date: November 6. 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: November 14. 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: November 6. 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 in Meeting Room A. Group leader is Mary Lanigan. For further information, call 552-7145. Meeting Date: November 26: Thomas Hardy, "The Three Strangers," and Stephen Crane, "The Blue Hotel."

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

November, 2 0 0 1

LIBRARY COMMEMORATES VETERANS’ DAY WITH CONCERT

The Newton Free Library will commemorate Veterans’ Day with a concert by Sears and Conner, "Boston’s favorite song duo," (Boston Globe) on Sunday, November 11, 2:00PM. "Over There – Songs for Veterans’ Day" will feature songs from the WWI and WWII eras by Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, George and Ira Gershwin and others, including "Over There," "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" and "Strike Up the Band."

Performing as a duo since 1989, Sears & Conner carry on the cabaret tradition in venues across the country. Known for their research on the music and lyrics of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and Hollywood, they have premiered many rarely heard or unpublished works, created original or reconstructed shows and are often invited as guest commentators for cabaret productions and radio shows. Their discography features many previously unrecorded songs by Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, E.Y. Harburg, Cole Porter and Noel Coward. Their reputation as Gershwin performers was enhanced when their recordings were selected as part of a new exhibit on the Gershwins at the Library of Congress. They have performed at the Wang Center, Emerson Majestic Theatre, Town Hall in New York City and at many festivals and series nationwide. Sears and Conner are the Artistic Directors of Theatre in Process, founding members of the Boston Association of Cabaret Artists and are among the founders of a new concert series devoted to the music of the United States, American Classics.

PIANIST CONSTANTIN FINEHOUSE TO PERFORM

Pianist Constantin Finehouse will return to the Newton Free Library to perform a concert of works by Chopin, Beethoven and Liszt on Sunday, November 25, 2:00PM.

A Master’s candidate at Yale University and a graduate of the Juilliard School, Finehouse lived previously in Newton with his family after emigrating from Russia in 1991. He won many local awards and performed at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and at other concert halls in the New York and Boston area, including the Library. This year, he was a prize winner at the Five Towns Piano Competition in Long Island, NY. Other recent experience includes attending masterclasses in Zurich and Berlin and participating in the Hamptons’ Shakespeare Festival.

CELLO/ PIANO CONCERT OF BACH, SCHUBERT AND HAYDN

The duo of Emily Yang, cello, and Esther Ning Yau, piano, will perform works by Bach, Schubert and Haydn at the next concert in the All Newton Music School series at the Newton Free Library on Sunday, November 4, 2:00PM.

Yang performs regularly at many Boston concert halls including solo and chamber appearances at Harvard University, Boston Conservatory, Tsai Performance Center, St. Clement Shrine and a recent appearance as a member of the Boston University Symphony at Symphony Hall. She teaches at All Newton Music School, Brookline Music School and Boston Conservatory.

Yau is an active soloist and collaborative pianist who has been heard in Jordan Hall, Aspen Music Festival, Hong Kong Government House, Taipei National Concert Hall and the Museum of Arts in Puerto Rico. She teaches at the New School of Music.

COMING IN DECEMBER!

OUTSTANDING YOUNG CELLIST TO PERFORM

Gifted young cellist Alexei Romanenko will perform works by Bach and Kodaly for unaccompanied cello at the Newton Free Library on Sunday, December 2, 2:00PM. Seating is limited.

Romanenko began his performance career at an early age, winning the Far Eastern Competition for Strings in Russia at the age of 12. Many other awards followed: first prize at the international competition Classical Heritage in Moscow in 1997, first prize at the Vienna International Competition in 1999 and winner of the Web Concert Hall International Auditions in 2000 (broadcast on www.webconcerthall.com). He concertized throughout Russia and Western Europe before coming to Boston to study at the New England Conservatory which awarded him an Artist Diploma in 2000. Recent performances include Jordan Hall, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Bar Harbor Music Festival and at the Berlin Brandenburg Gates where he played in a cello ensemble conducted by Mstislav Rostropovitch.

His performance in February, 2000 with the Chameleon Arts Ensemble in Boston was enthusiastically acclaimed in the Boston Globe: "Romanenko’s lamenting harmonics seemed wrung not from steel strings but a single stretched nerve fiber that sang the sadness of the world."

November, 2 0 0 1

LAUREL THATCHER ULRICH TO SPEAK ON "THE AGE OF HOMESPUN"

The Newton Free Library and New England Mobile Book Fair present author Laurel Thatcher Ulrich speaking on her new book The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth on Wednesday, November 14, 7:30PM. The program will take place at the Newton Free Library and will be followed by a booksigning.

Using objects and stories that Americans have saved down through generations, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Midwife’s Tale chronicles the production of cloth and of history in early America in her new book. Under the brilliant lens that Ulrich brings to this study, ordinary household goods – spinning wheels, a chimneypiece, a linen tablecloth, an unfinished stocking – provide the key to a transformed understanding of cultural encounter, frontier war, Revolutionary politics, international commerce and early industrialization in America. Pulling these divergent threads together, the author demonstrates how early Americans and their descendants made, used, sold and saved textiles in order to assert identities, shape relationships and create history.

A New Hampshire resident, Ulrich teaches Early American History at Harvard University. She is the also the author of Good Wives and numerous articles and essays. During her tenure as a MacArthur Fellow, she assisted in the production of a PBS documentary based on a A Midwife’s Tale. The Library featured that film in a special Women’s History program led by the producer in March of 2000. Ulrich’s work is featured on an award-winning website called www.dohistory.org.

AUTHOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER PETER VANDERWARKER TO SPEAK
ON "THE BIG DIG: RESHAPING AN AMERICAN CITY"

Architectural photographer and author Peter Vanderwarker will present a slide lecture on his new book The Big Dig: Reshaping an American City at the Newton Free Library. The program will take place on Monday, November 5, 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning with books provided by the New England Mobile Book Fair.

In The Big Dig, Vanderwarker unravels the mind boggling complexities of the Central Artery/ Tunnel Project in Boston, taking readers behind, beneath and above the single largest construction project in American history.

"Working with a tripod in the mud of tunnels was like walking through a swamp in a pair of high heels," he confides, describing some of his more memorable experiences shooting the Big Dig. With in-depth text and color photographs, The Big Dig takes us to the current construction sites where we learn about the amazing technology that allows this project to take place as it corrects the mistakes of the past.

Join this world class photographer as he discusses how he wrote about and photographed this subject and why the Big Dig is important.

Newton resident Vanderwarker is known for his regular contributions to the Boston Globe’s "Cityscapes" column. His work is published in magazines world-wide and has been exhibited widely. A recipient of Institute Honors from the American Institute of Architects, he is the author of five books, including Cityscapes of Boston which he co-authored with Robert Campbell. As owner of Peter Vanderwarker Photographs, his collection includes more than 40,000 images of major cities in the United States and Europe. His exhibit "Out of Context" was displayed at the Library in October, 2001.

AUTHOR AMIR ACZEL TO SPEAK ON "THE RIDDLE OF THE COMPASS"

The secrets of science meet the drama of the high seas in Amir Aczel’s new book The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World. Hear him speak at the Newton Free Library on Thursday, November 8, 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning with books provided by New England Mobile Book Fair.

"The magnetic compass was the most important technological invention since the wheel," writes Aczel in his preface to the book which uncovers the mystery of the origins of this navigational tool. The technological revolution made possible by the compass, as well as the charts and pilot books it engendered, changed the world economy by promoting maritime trade and launched the Age of Exploration and the discovery of new worlds.

Beginning his odyssey in Amalfi, Aczel starts to unravel the truth about a mysterious figure named Flavio Gioia, credited with perfecting the boxed compass around 1302. His study then takes him to ancient China where the first evidence of the magnetic compass can be found, and on across the world tracing the story through the ages.

Known for his ability to write captivating books about mathematical and scientific topics, Aczel brings a wealth of personal experience to this history. Raised on an Israeli ocean liner by his father, the ship’s captain, the author was already steering ships through the Mediterranean in his teen years.

Aczel is the author of Fermat’s Last Theorem, an international bestseller. Library audiences will remember his enthusiastic talks on three previous books: Probability 1, God’s Equation and The Mystery of the Aleph. He is an associate professor of Mathematics at Bentley College.

JOSHUA RUBENSTEIN TO SPEAK ON "STALIN’S SECRET POGROM"

Editor Joshua Rubenstein will speak on his startling new book Stalin’s Secret Pogrom: The Postwar Inquisition of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee at the Newton Free Library on Tuesday, November 6, 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning.

In 1952, in the last year of Stalin’s life, 15 Soviet Jews, including five prominent Yiddish writers and poets, were secretly tried and convicted; 13 were executed soon after on what is known as the "Night of the Murdered Poets." The defendants were falsely charged with treason and espionage because of their involvement in the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee and because of their heartfelt response to Nazi atrocities on occupied Soviet territory. Stalin had created the committee to rally support for the Soviet Union during WWII, but then disbanded it after the war as his paranoia mounted about Soviet Jews.

For many years, a host of myths surrounded the case against the committee. Now this book, which presents an abridged version of the long-suppressed transcript of the trial, reveals the Kremlin’s machinery of destruction. Edited by Rubenstein and Vladimir P. Naumov and translated by Laura Esther Wolfson, Stalin’s Secret Pogrom makes available the trial transcript in English for the first time.

Rubenstein - a highly regarded authority on Soviet history, human rights and international affairs - provides annotations about the players and events surrounding the case. In a long introduction, drawing on newly released documents in Moscow archives and on interviews with relatives of the defendants, he also sets the trial in historical and political context and offers a vivid account of Stalin’s anti-Semitic campaign.

Rubenstein is the Northeast Regional Director of Amnesty International USA and a longtime associate at Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian Studies. He is also the author of Soviet Dissidents: Their Struggle for Human Rights and Tangled Loyalties: The Life and Times of Ilya Ehrenburg on which he previously spoke at the Library.

NEWTON CONSERVATORS TALK

The Newton Conservators will present a talk at the Newton Free Library by biologist and photographer Dan Perlman. The slide/talk "From Cold Spring Park to the Planet Earth: Human Impacts across the Landscape" will take place on Thursday, November 29, 7:00PM.

Newton resident Perlman will discuss the human impact on both the local environment and world wide. For the local aspect of his talk, he will describe the history of the Cold Spring Park area since Newton was settled by Europeans. This part of the program will be illustrated with maps, aerial photographs and photographs he has been taking in the park for the past 18 months. Throughout that time period he has photographed the same scene twice every month, creating a powerful teaching and learning tool that he has shared with students in many of Newton's schools.

For the discussion of man’s global impact on the environment, Perlman will use materials in "Conserving Earth's Biodiversity," a multimedia CD-ROM that he developed with Harvard biologist E. O. Wilson.

Perlman has taught Conservation Biology at Harvard for nine years, where he won the Phi Beta Kappa Excellence in Teaching Award. He recently joined the biology faculty at Brandeis University. Over the past half dozen years, he presented science programs in many of the Newton Public Schools.

Visit the Newton Conservator's website at: www.newtonconservators.org

LIBRARY POETRY READING SERIES FEATURES
SUSAN DONNELLY, MARC WIDERSHIEN AND MARGOT WIZANSKY

The Newton Free Library Poetry Reading Series continues with readings by Susan Donnelly, Marc Widershien and Margot Wizansky on Tuesday, November 13, 7:00PM.

Donnelly’s newest collection of poetry is Transit. She is also the author of Eve Names the Animals and the chapbooks Tenderly Pressed: A Memoir in Poetry and The Ether Dome. Her poetry has been published in many magazines, textbooks and anthologies in the U.S., England, Ireland and France. She has new work in The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry and forthcoming in Oxford American. Her poetry can also be found on four websites: Atlantic Unbound, The Mystic River Review, Poetry magazine’s website and Poetry Porch. The founder of the 21-year-old workshop Every Other Thursday, she lives, writes and teaches poetry in Cambridge.

Widershien is a Boston-born writer, musician and visual artist. Over the years, he has published poetry, translations, articles and visual art in many magazines, anthologies and tabloids, among them Selected Poetry and Prose of Stephane Mallarme, Exile Editions, Wormwood Review, Nimrod, Boston Monthly, Paterson Literary Review, the new renaissance and Spare Change. A memoir of his Boston childhood has recently been published by Ibbetson Street Press in conjunction with Stone Soup Poets. He serves as a board member of the new renaissance.

Wizansky has been published in Poetry Motel, Antigonish Review, Kalliope, Senior Times and an anthology of nature poems by New England poets, among other publications. She has presented the antiphonal reading The Healing Power of Poetry with poet Allen West at Brandeis University and Newbury College. Most recently her work has appeared in several issues of the new poetry journal Concrete Wolf . She is currently at work on a chapbook, Sweetie, Sweetie.

Understanding Islam

The Newton Human Rights Commission will present a talk and discussion on Understanding Islam by Imam Talal Eid, Religious Director of the Islamic Center of New England. The talk will take place on Wednesday, November 7, 7:00PM at the Library and will be followed by a question and answer period.

Imam Eid is a well-known Muslim scholar, activist and lecturer on Christian-Jewish-Muslim relations. He advances a knowledge of Islam through radio and TV programs and articles published in national magazines.

Following the events of September 11, the Human Rights Commission is offering this program in order to encourage an understanding of Islam and to promote productive co-existence in our community.

JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY PRESENTS PROGRAM

The Jane Austen Society regional chapter will present a talk by members who attended the recent Annual General Meeting in Seattle on the theme of "Pleasure, Pursuits and Passion: Entertainment and Jane Austen." This program will take place on Sunday, November 18, 2:00PM at the Newton Free Library.

Morning Programs at the Library!

Julie Smith returns for an interesting TRAVELOG on Scotland. Come see slides and hear about her steamboat trip up the West Coast of Scotland with stops at the adjacent islands. The TRAVELOG will be held at the Main Library on Thursday, November 15, 10:30AM.

At WABAN the book group will discuss Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Butler on Wednesday, November 28, 10:30AM.

NEWTON CORNER'S book group will discuss Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll on Friday, November 30, 10:30AM at Heritage at Vernon Court in Newton Corner.

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.

ANNUAL PUPPET SALE!

It's time for the Puppet Man, Fred Reidy, to come to the Library with dozens of wonderful puppets for sale as holiday gifts. Come to Druker Auditorium, Monday, November 19, 10AM - 7PM, and find puppets for every child on your holiday shopping list! Proceeds from sales benefit the Friends.

America Recycles Day!

Celebrate America/ Massachusetts/ Newton Recycles Day on Thursday, November 15, 7:00PM at the Library. Learn more about Newton's Recycling Program, Newton's new Source Reduction Plan, composting in your own backyard, recycling in the Newton schools, how to reach our 50% recycling goal and more.

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.

Literacy Tutors Needed

The Library's Legacy for Literacy program provides free tutoring services for adults of limited English proficiency. Currently, the number of student appli-cants far exceeds the number of volunteer tutors. Teaching Basic Reading and English as a Second Language is very rewarding work. No prior experience is necessary as tutoring workshops are offered at the Library. The first workshop will be held Wednesday, November 14, 7:00PM, in the Trustees Room. For more information, please call Susan Becam, ESL/Literacy Coordinator, at 617-552-7145.