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WISE Bulletin: April 2017
Created by the WISE Communications Committee
Editors: Elaine Bloom and Sandra Hakkarainen
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Spotlight: WISE Book Clubs
by Deena Madnick
If you have ever wanted to join a WISE book club, you’re not alone. Over the last 20 years, WISE has had at least four official book clubs, including the currently active one that began last fall.
When I asked Joyce Abdow-Dowd about how the current book club started, she said, “I and others in my [WISE] literature classes enjoyed discussions in Jane Gilligan’s and other classes so much that I suggested to Jane and others that we look into setting up a book club.“
As a result, Joyce Abdow-Dowd, Bobbi Corn, Jane Gilligan, Susan Perschbacher, and Zelda Schwartz met and set up a schedule so that the proposed book club meetings would not interfere with classes. The group also chose the first four books that the new book club members would read and discuss.
WISE members were invited to attend the new book group in early September 2016. The first meeting took place in October at the Emmanuel D’Alzon Library where we discussed Fates and Furies by Lauren Goff. At our next meeting, we discussed Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard, a book about Winston Churchill and his experiences in the Boer War. Millard tells how Churchill established his reputation in that conflict, letting him run for and win a seat in Parliament. In March, we discussed The Underground Railroad, a work of fiction by Colson Whitehead.
Our next book planned for discussion is King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild. We’ll meet from 2 to 4 p.m. on May 3 at the Marriott Room Taylor Dining Hall. Future book selections will come from a list recommended by our members. We welcome new members.
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An earlier book club met monthly in a Kennedy classroom. Another club gathered at the Salisbury Green Club House each month on a Thursday morning. I preferred this informal, non-classroom setting. Periodically, members suggested book titles, generally prize-winners available in paperback. The member who suggested a title would lead the discussion. Our leader at Salisbury Green was Jean Osborne and a core group of this book club held on until 2012.
Several years ago, Marvin Levy, a former high school history teacher in New York, started a history book club. After he publicized the idea in the WISE newsletter, several members joined. The club met every two months in the home of the member who recommended the book. Marvin remembers his book was Team of Rivals, a book about President Lincoln and his cabinet, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. This book club lasted for about two years.
Joining a book club has many great benefits. You might read books you ordinarily might not pick up, or see facets of a book that you might have missed. It’s just plain fun to get together with a group to discuss a good book.
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Class Assistants for Session D
We appreciate our Class Assistants for their important support to Group Leaders and classmates.
D1 Doris Tivnan - A Walking Tour, Tower Hill
D2 Bob Dyer - Genesis, Geology, & Genomes, 119 Kennedy
D3 Arlene Hanschuch - American Indians, 119 Kennedy
D4 Josette Kaplan - Gifts of a Celtic Isle, Plourde
D5 Kathy Drew - Pathway to Wellness, The Willows
D6 Zelda Schwartz - Notorious Criminals, 119 Kennedy
D7 Sandra Congdon - Women in Developing World, 119 Kennedy
D8 Dave Gilligan - Between Wars: 1918:1941, The Willows
D9 Carol Fauerbach - 3 Female Voices, Jewish Community Center
D10 Sue Harvie - Philosophical Dialogues, 119 Kennedy
D11 Ellen Cutler - Jerome Kern; American Musical, 119 Kennedy
D12 Sandra Hakkarainen - Changing World of Work, 119 Kennedy
D13 Chris Durham - Medea, Jason & Argonauts, Plourde
D14 Paul Schwartz - Jewish Ethics, Jewish Community Center
D15 Rose Anne Ferrandino - Understanding the Quran, 119 Kennedy
D16 Carol Cardo - William Wordsworth, 119 Kennedy
D17 Bob Fancy - Explore Worcester's East/West Trail, Broad Meadow Brook
D18 Bobbi Corn - Oh Canada!, 119 Kennedy
D19 Joe Corn - Vanished! Missing on Film, 119 Kennedy
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Worcester Night
At our Sixth Annual Worcester Night, we enjoyed dinner at Leo's Restaurant and a slide presentation A Window onto Worcester's Golden Age by James Welu, Director Emeritus of the Worcester Art Museum.
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East-West Trail Explorers
Pictures by Hanna Solska
During our first WISE class of Explore Worcester's East-West Trail led by Deb Cary, we hiked the middle portion of Worcester's new 14-mile trail beginning at Rural Cemetery, up and over Bancroft Hill, and ending in Newton Hill section of Elm Park.
- Here's more information about this new trail.
- You can see all Hanna's pictures of this hike in this video.
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Brown Bag Lunch with speaker Juliet Feibel, Executive Director of Arts Worcester, presenting See Where It's Art. Flyers with more information will be emailed closer to the event.
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Day trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum. Flyers with more information will be emailed closer to the event.
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WISE Annual Meeting. Flyers with more information will be emailed closer to the event.
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