Emily Corbato: SUEÑOS: Dreams, Visions of Cuba
October 2-30,
Opening Reception October 11, 6:30 pm

African Literatures Discussion Group, led by Anne Serafin, explores the rich variety of writings from Africa. The group meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 7:30 pm in room A. The October meeting has been cancelled. For further information call 617-527-1072.

This group will resume in the fall.

Children’s Book Writer’s Groups are for writers who have work in progress. Pre-registration required: Maria Gianferrari (781-891-0153) leads the group that meets on the first Monday of the month at 7:00 pm in Room A. Next meeting: October 1. Karen Day at (617-244-4830) leads the group that meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm in Room A. Next meeting: October 24.

Commonwealth Book Club focuses on books from the U. K. and former British colonies. They will meet on Tuesday, October 16, at 7:30 pm in Meeting Room B at the main library to discuss Stef Penney’s sensational novel, The Tenderness of Wolves. For more info or to request the book, contact Chris Wangler of the Auburndale Library: cwangler@minlib.net or 781-588-0149.

Contemporary Books Discussion Group

Contemporary Books Discussion Group holds meetings on the first Wednesday of the month at 7:30 in Room A. For more information please call Marilyn Miller 617-332-4225. Next meeting: Wednesday, October 3 at 7:15 pm to discuss Zoli by Colum McCann.

Contemporary Books 2007 - 2008 Reading List

Great Books Discussion Group meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:15 in Room A. Members read and discuss books or selected excerpts, some published by the Great Books Foundation. Some are available at the library. Next meeting: Tuesday, October 9 to discuss, Shakespeare’s MacBeth. For information call Ruth Greene at 617-527-4143.

News Junkies Discussion Group This discussion group, led by Reg McKeen, covers current events. The group usually meets in Meeting Room B on the first Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm. Please keep abreast of the month’s topic and come with reflections and opinions. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 3 at 7:00 pm to discuss Terrorism and Civil Liberties.

Newton Camera Club usually meets on the second and fourth Mondays of the month at 7:30 pm at the Nonantum Branch, 144 Bridge Street, Nonantum, MA to share slides. For more information visit www.newtoncameraclub.org.

Sequences: Women Tell Our Stories, a supportive, creative group has been meeting for eight years to read fiction, essays or poetry and discuss and write responses to the material. Led by Robin Mayer Stein, poet and journalist, the goal of the group is to have fun and experience literature in a congenial atmosphere. The group meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 10:00 am in room A. Next meeting: October 10.

Short Fiction Writing Group is a workshop geared for published writers and those actively pursuing publication. Pre-registration is required, call 617-332-3347. The group meets on the first Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm in Room A. Next meeting: October 2.

Short Story Discussion Group usually holds its meetings on the 2nd Monday of the month at 7:30 pm in Room A. Group co-leaders are Mary Lanigan (617-527-1505) and Barbara McGinley. Next meeting: October 15 (the 3rd Monday due to the Columbus Day Holiday). They will discuss Joan Silber’s War Buddies from the O. Henry Prize Stories 2007 and Donna Tartt’s Ambush from The Best American Short Stories 2006.

Singing Group is for singers of all levels who enjoy singing classical and popular music. It meets monthly on Saturday afternoons, Noon – 1:30 pm in the Druker Auditorium. Next meeting: October 13. Call coordinator Miriam Simen at 617-244-6705 for more information.

Women in Career Transition. Led by career counselor Joyce Picard, this group, in its third year, provides sharing and information for women in career transition. It focuses on goals, allowing time to share concerns and gain support. For more information call 617-332-7600. The group regularly meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm in room A. Next meeting: Tuesday, October 16.

Join us for an afternoon of classical music with Rob Prester, piano and Alexandre Lecarme, cello on Sunday, October 7, 2007 at 2:00 pm. The duo will perform Beethoven Sonata for Cello and Piano Opus 5, #2 in Gm and Cesar Franck Sonata for Cello and Piano in A.

Robert Prester’s natural talent became apparent when he began his classical piano studies at the age of 3. He was later awarded a scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music to earn his Masters degree in Jazz/Commercial Music. His first recording, Trillium, released on Island Records in 1988, was nominated for the Grammy Awards quarter-finals.

Alexandre Lecarme is a native of Grasse, France, and began studying the cello at age five. After graduating with the Premier Prix de Violoncelle from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, he moved to Boston at the invitation of Roman Totenberg and has since emerged as one of Boston's most versatile musicians. He has recently released two CDs for Hammond GMAC Performing Arts.

 

Miss Tess will give a concert on Sunday, October 14 at 2:00 pm. Tess will strum and pick her way through an array of rhythms, from ragtime, to jump blues and 30's swing as she sings and accompanies herself on guitar. She will be joined by Lyle Brewer, also on guitar.

Influenced by early memories of her father’s Big Band rehearsing below the bedroom where she slept as a child, Miss Tess writes songs from her own life, infused with the flavors of early jazz.

Miss Tess has relased three albums and has toured the in nation's capital and New York City.

 

Joan Garniss, nationally-certified teacher and performing artist has been selected as the Mass Music Teachers Association (MMTA) 2007 Teacher of the Year. Fern Abrams will join Ms. Garniss, for, Duo Con Anima, A Classical Primer, an interactive program to introduce the basics of classical music to the general audience. Four-hand music of Mozart, Beethoven, Bizet, Brahms, Ravel and Gershwin will be featured in the concert on Sunday, October 21 at 2:00 pm. Ms. Abrams and Ms. Garniss have been performing together since 1987 as the Duo Con Anima, both piano/four hands and two pianos. They have played in a number of area communities, in Maine and Connecticut, and participated in the Steinway Interactive Concert Series at M. Steinert & Sons. They are regular performers in the First Parish on the Green, Lexington, Concert Series, making their 22nd appearance this year, and in the Friends of the Waltham Public Library program series. In 2001 they released their first CD En blanc et noir on the HiRoc label. Both women teach locally and have numerous musical credits.

 

Winner of the 2007 Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition, Taiwanese pianist Wen-Yin Chan will give a concert on Thursday, October 25 at 7:00 pm. She has performed internationally in major cities such as Minneapolis, Moscow, New York, Philadelphia, and Taipei.

Ms. Chan began playing the piano at age four and had her solo debut when she was 13. She received her Bachelor of Music at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Ms. Chan continued her studies at Yale School of Music, where she received her Master of Musical Arts degree in 2006. Ms. Chan’s numerous competition awards have brought her national and international attention.

 

From ages 5 to 17 Helena Vesterman studied at the Moscow Conservatory for Russia's most gifted young musicians. Upon graduation, she continued her studies with renowned Russian teacher Theodore Gutman.

Her early music career was directed by Mosconcert, the principal booking agent for concert artists in Russia, where she performed in over 400 concerts throughout Russia. Ms. Vesterman frequently gives Master Classes and teaches at her studion in Newton. She will perform a program of Mozart, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, and Chopin on Sunday, October 28 at 2:00 pm.

 

Join writer/historian Roger Kolb of New England Armchair Tours, on Monday, October 1, 2007 at 7:00 pm for a fascinating look at native New Englanders who found fame and fortune in Hollywood. From Bette Davis to Meg Ryan and beyond, Rodger will take the audience on a virtual tour where participants will visit the actor’s homes, discuss their careers, and examine the path of stardom taken by notable Hollywood personalities who hail from New England.

Roger Kolb is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, where he majored in history. A columnist and radio announcer, he is the founder of New England Armchair Tours, which offers a wide array of delightful slide shows devoted to New England biography and history.

Last summer Herbert Jessup went on a 20 day spiritual journey in Tibet that led him to monasteries, temples and sacred sites. Using horse carts and led by an English speaking Tibetan with extensive knowledge of Buddhism, the group trekked around mountains, remote monasteries and saw Tibet's most sacred peaks. They also visited Mt. Everest Base Camp with its incredible views.

Hubert Jessup, long-time Newton resident, is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School. For 11 years, he covered religion for WCVB, producing the weekly program New Heaven/New Earth, on which he presented one of the first American TV interviews with the Dali Lama in 1982.

Maria Lombardo will give a book talk on, A Camp Without Walls, on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 7:30 pm.

As an international resistance fighter during World War II, Maria's father, Salvatore Lombardo risked his life to stop oppression so that others could live. During WW II he was captured by the Nazis and imprisoned in a slave labor camp. He survived because of his will to live and his love for a Greek woman who bore him a daughter he would not meet for forty years. Ms. Lombardo writes of the secrets her father held within himself, secrets of a man who was removed from the camp, but the camp walls were never removed from his psyche as he relived the enslavement for the rest of his life.

Maria Lombardo Trifiletti was born in Martone, Italy, and came to the U.S at the age of 10 where she was educated and ultimately received her doctorate from Boston University. She is the recipient of numerous awards and grants.

Cuba on the Edge presents recent short stories by twenty-one of the best writers in Cuba. The title refers both to Cubans' awareness of living on the brink of an unknown future, and to the edginess with which they negotiate their way through uncertainties. These twenty-one perspectives reveal very diverse responses to the challenges of daily life in the city or rural areas. Many stories address controversial topics: prostitution, crime, exile, disillusionment and skepticism. The predominant tone is of reaffirmation of human ties and survival, and of celebration of the complex strata of Cuban experience.

Mary G. Berg, Pamela Carmell and Anne Fountain, who have assembled this collection, are professional U.S. translators and teachers. They first met in Havana and have been translating the work of contemporary Cuban writers since 2000. The talk will be given on Monday, October 15 7:00 pm. A book signing will follow.

 

People are living longer and with chronic diseases. With improved longevity, elders increasingly need help. This trend is impacting baby boomers who are twice as likely as younger or older adults to have a parent or parents needing help. An estimated 25% of boomers are involved in some aspect of caregiving for their parent(s) on a daily basis, and many are simultaneously caring for their own families.

Discovering What’s Next™ (DWN) will address the important and timely issue of taking care of older loved ones at a Caregiving Forum – “Rewards and Challenges: The Complexity of Caregiving” -on Tuesday, October 16, 2007, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the Druker Auditorium, Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton Center. Panelists will share their personal experiences of the rewards and challenges of being a caregiver at different stages in the process. Panelists include Jeffrey Kahn, a caregiver for his mother, and Maura Capriccio, a caregiver for several family members, and Sandra Boris-Berkowitz from Springwell. They will share their rewarding, yet complex journeys in knowing what to do, how to garner support from family, friends, and community agencies, and how to maintain dignity and independence. There is no fee for this program which is co-sponsored by AARP, Dovetail Health and HouseWorks.

DWN is a non-profit organization based in Newton that connects individuals with information, inspires them and supports development of their ideas, and fosters involvement leading to action that benefits both individuals and the community.

DWN was launched in 2002 to address an unmet community need: to help midlife and older adults negotiate the transition we experience as we approach and journey through retirement.

For more information: Call 617-796-1419 or email info@discoveringwhatsnext.com

 

In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn about online and print resources available to guide a job applicant in applying for a job online. Tips and methods to master the online environment will be included. To register: call 617-796-1380 or stop by any Reference Desk, limit 10 participants.

 

Due to the degradation of our environment more and more people are developing a health condition called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) or environmental illness. MCS can be debilitating, even life threatening, but it is preventable.

Learn about this growing, but not often recognized, health problem, in a workshop on Wednesday, October 17 at 7:00 pm with facilitator Rosemary Dewees, a certified Whole Health Educator.

Boston Self Help Center is a nonprofit agency operated by people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. For more information visit their website at www.bostonselfhelp.org.

 

This year’s three part Newton History Series kicks off on Thursday, October 18, at 7:00 pm. The series entitled, Discoveries in Science: The Newton Experience, is sponsored by the Newton Free Library and the Newton History Museum and will focus on the participation of distinguished Newton residents in various aspects of science.

Bruce and John Abele’s father, Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele, his crew of 69 and the submarine Grunion were lost during WWII. Last August the sub was located almost a mile underwater at the tip of the Aleutian Islands ending the search, which touched on the frontiers of communication, geography, history, and deep sea technology, and has begun to unlock a 65 year old mystery. The focus of the lecture will be the research results in locating the submarine and ascertaining why it was lost.

Bruce Abele, a Newton resident since 1942, is a Newton-based businessman. John Abele is founder and chairman of the Boston Scientific Corporation.

The History series will continue on February 28, 2008 and April 10, 2008.

 

In his highly-anticipated new book, Boston, An Extended Family, Boston Globe photographer Bill Brett creates portraits of Bostonians from Nobel Prize–winner Eli Wiesel to New England Patriots superstar quarterback Tom Brady to beloved newsman Walter Cronkite. Bill Brett is a man with access; these photographs were taken in the offices of prominent business, political, and community leaders.

The cover alone will wow bibliophiles and photography enthusiasts alike; it is an historic tribute to the state’s six living governors.

Brett, who started working for the Boston Globe as an 18-year-old part-time photographer, eventually became director of photography. He retired in 2001 but continues to shoot as a contributor to the Party Lines and Names columns.

The talk will take place on On Tuesday, October 23 at 7:00 pm and will be followed by a booksigning with books provided by New England Mobile Book Fair.

 

New York Times bestselling author Sally Bedell Smith will give a talk on her new book, For Love of Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years on Monday, October 29, 7:00 pm. The talk will be followed by a book signing with books provided by New England Mobile Book Fair.

During their eight years in the White House, Bill and Hillary Clinton worked together more closely than the public ever knew—and their intetwined personal and political lives had far-reaching consequences. Drawing on interviews with scores of Clinton insiders and an extensive analysis of a vast written record, including previously unavailable private papers, For Love of Politics is the first book to explain the dynamics of Bill and Hillary’s relationship.

From the West Wing to the family quarters, Sally Bedell Smith offers intimate scenes from the Clinton marriage, with new details and insights into how a passion for politics sustained Bill and Hillary through one crisis after another.

This riveting book will leave readers marveling at what they never knew about Bill's intensely covered Administration--and wondering what it would be like to have two presidents, both named Clinton, living in the White House.

David L. Post will give a book talk on, Nothing to See Here, on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 7:00 pm.

Hailed as a don’t-start-this-one-at-night read, Nothing to See Here brims with intensity. Alan Sarnower is a successful and well-respected psychiatrist who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances when his wife Cassie, in the midst of a psychotic episode, suddenly leaves him and their young son. When Cassie returns unexpectedly with a new lover and announces her intention to divorce, Sarnower’s life and sanity begin to unravel. As his comfortable suburban life recedes and Sarnower, now sicker than his patients, is left with few choices.

Post says the idea for the novel came from a real-life incident which involved a doctor who was found guilty of murdering his wife and is based on the questions that the case brought up for him.

David L. Post was born in New York City and educated at the University of Chicago and Brandeis University, from which he received a Ph.D. in Psychology. He has been a practicing clinical psychologist in the Boston area for over 30 years.