The last two weeks were full of emotional highs and lows as I followed the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in the news and on the political blogs. As I posted earlier, I was proud of Denver and how this city handled acting as host to the DNC and being here and able to soak in the experience was pretty incredible.
But, alas, now I can concentrate on the final stages in preparing to move to the Island. The time has come to get back to making lists because my mind is having trouble staying focused and the paperwork on my desk is growing exponentially each day. I really do not know what happens to the days -- they seem to just slip away, then it is a week that has gone by without my realizing it.
Today, I returned a contract to the SPI Chamber for an advertisement in the 2009 Visitor Guide, since I hope I will be open by the time it is published, although I am not sure how I will list a phone number and all the other important stats that usually are displayed. I'll need to think of a clever way to say that I am not providing any information while inviting the reader to stop by to find out what Paragraphs is all about.
Even more exciting, I am enrolling in what is known as the First Steps program with Baker and Taylor (a book distributor). I have identified a number of categories of books, music, and DVDs (thanks to everyone who responded to the survey) and in return B&T will send me a list of titles based on their sales reports and knowledge of bookstore inventories. Then the fun will begin as I get to go through approximately 6,500 entries on a spreadsheet and decide which of the suggested books I want to order, which books I don't want and finally I will have the opportunity to add to this list those books I have been keeping track of for the last year.
I have been feeling an awful lot like the proverbial kid in the candy store as the boxes of publisher catalogs announcing the new fall releases arrived on my doorstep. For a person who cannot enter a bookstore without coming out with an armful of potential new experiences waiting to be shared with new friends and characters, these catalogs are a veritable treasure trove of possibilities. Deciding on which of the many fascinating books to carry is going to be the hardest part of this bookselling business.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Boomerang Billy - Sodus Point , NY
As Griff begins to realize that his wife is serious about moving to SPI and opening a bookstore he has started to discuss my plans, and hopefully his, with more of the residents of Alton and Sodus Point NY.
Even though we have been wintering on the Island for a number of years, most of our NY neighbors were still a little confused about where he disappeared to for the winter. But as word spread, we were again reminded of what a small world we actually live in.
Boomerang Billy, the legendary character of the Island was originally from Sodus Point NY and while Griff knows his brother, they never made the connection between Griff's winter destination and South Padre Island until just recently. So I am really excited because he has a wealth of information about John McMahon (Boomerang) which he is willing to share but what I am really thrilled about is the boomerang which he has given me to display in Paragraphs.
I am honored to be able to provide this little bit of historical information to what is already well known about our sandbar.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The True Cost of a Book
The Wall Street Journal had an interesting discussion in The Juggle section about how people meet their book needs. When dealing with hectic schedules while trying to meet the obligations of work, home, and family the readers related their feelings about the value of public libraries, when and where they buy books, and the relative importance of books in their lives. Below are a few of their comments.I’ve found that I don’t really save all that much money by cutting out book buying. The problem is that if I don’t have a book to read, I’ll start looking around for other types of entertainment that are usually more expensive. A book costs between 8 and 30 dollars, and generally will keep me entertained for 5 to 15 hours, depending on the length. By contrast, a movie is $12 and only keeps me entertained for two and a
half hours (rentals are a little cheaper, but still not as cost-effective as a book). (emphasis mine)
Books are like baking soda in my house - we always keep a supply on hand.Via ABA Omnibus
Yeah, I could choose to rise and go to bed with the sun, hand dip my water from a well, and read only the Bible. I’ve chosen to pay for a few luxuries instead.
For people who love buying books, I encourage you to share that love with children. I think buying books for kids is money well spent. My grandmother has frequented the same local bookstore going on 20 years now and always gave her grandchildren several well-chosen (with the help of the store-owner), hardcover books for Christmas. She made them extra special by writing a message inside each book about why she thought we would enjoy it. Many of the books exposed me to ideas and cultures I would have otherwise known nothing about. I now have a large collection of beautiful children’s and young adult books that I cherish and can’t wait to share with my own children some day!
I love libraries but rarely can make it these days due to my schedule. Therefore, though I am frugal in other areas, I buy books without guilt. If there is one thing I’d like my consumer dollars to support, it’s writers! I do wish there was an independent bookstore near me rather than B&N (I work in midtown Manhattan).
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
How To Sell a Book
How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside DownProduct #: 7084
Price: $19.95
160 pages
Hardbound
5 1/2" x 8 1/2"
Biography
50 color photos
Pub Date: May 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9790470-8-4
First Edition
A GREEN BOOK: Text printed on reycled paper with 100% post-consumer content
Get selected to be a Vice-Presidential candidate when no one has heard of you!!
From Shelf Awareness:
Senator John McCain's announcement Friday that he had picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate caused a bit of an earthquake at Epicenter Press, the Kenmore, Wash., house that has the only biography of the Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah: How a Small Town Girl Turned Alaska's Political Establishment on Its Ear by Kaylene Johnson.Epicenter was founded 20 years ago by Sturgis and Lael Morgan, who were both Alaska journalists. The press specializes in general nonfiction titles about the state as well as books about sled dog racing and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. According to the Seattle Times, Sturgis decided to publish a biography of Governor Palin after meeting her at a fundraiser in 2006. "No matter what you think about her politics, she's an interesting and an unusual politician," he told the paper.
To write the book, Sturgis recruited Kaylene Johnson, who lives near Wasilla, the town where Palin was mayor and still lives. Johnson has contributed to a variety of publications and written several books.
Johnson told the Associated Press (via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer) that while working on the biography of the Governor, she met with Palin twice and corresponded via e-mail. After the book was published, she asked Palin for her reaction, but the Governor said she hadn't read the book because it was "too strange" to read about herself.
On Friday morning, Kent Sturgis, president and co-founder of Epicenter, wrote, "The incoming phone traffic at our little office, mostly from media looking for the author, kept our two lines tied up for six hours, unable to make outgoing calls because of volume. Thank goodness for cell phones!"
By 10 a.m. that day, Epicenter sold the last 3,000 hardcover copies it had of Sarah, originally published in April. Epicenter is distributed by Graphic Arts Center Publishing, which itself is handled by Ingram Publisher Services. By the end of Friday, IPS had orders for 40,000 more copies. On Friday, Epicenter arranged with Ingram's Lightning Source POD operation to print a trade paperback edition of Sarah. By Friday evening, Lightning Source received the necessary files from Epicenter and began printing books. As of last night, some 30,000 copies had been printed and are shipping today. The Lightning Source staff reportedly worked overtime over the Labor Day weekend to make this happen.
The new edition, with a slightly different subtitle, is called Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down and is priced at $15.95 (9780980082562/0980082560). The hardcover was 159 pages.
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Sunday, August 31, 2008
Hurricane Gustav and Deja Vu
As Hurricane Gustav bears down on the Louisiana coast and northern-eastern Texas gulf regions almost to the day, three years after the devastation of Katrina, my heart goes out to those who have already suffered more than anyone should have to endure.
After the levees broke in the aftermath of Katrina and rescue efforts finally began, Denver was one of many cities that opened our doors to these poor souls who had lost everything. We quickly converted some dormitories, on the old Lowry Air Force turned community college, into temporary housing for those who were being plucked off of rooftops with no place to go.
I volunteered for the Red Cross when we began to accept these "refugees" from New Orleans and I will never forget those days and nights and the people I met. Many of those at the shelter told harrowing stories of despair and courage and of watching the water rise and having nowhere to go.
There were many empty and vacant faces, in those first days, that were enough to break ones heart and then I would meet a couple of true NO free spirits who, even after losing everything and having no idea what they were going to do next, wanted to find a place where they could cook up a big pot of jambalaya to feed us, the volunteers. In the cool of the September evenings people thrust together by circumstances would gather outside and try to make some sense of their surroundings.
I listened to their stories, tried my best to help satisfy immediate needs but most often all I could do was provide a shoulder upon which to cry or maybe give an elderly woman or man a reassuring hug. None of it was enough, and I would go home feeling the enormity of the road these people had ahead of them. Many had never been outside the city limits of NO and now here they were in a converted army barracks, turned community college dorm, now shelter, in a city they probably could not have located on a map. Some were trying to find family members who had become separated from them during the rescue effort, others had family who were willing to take them in - but they had no way to get there from Denver, which seemed a million miles away from a cousin, brother, sister or friend in Baton Rouge or Jackson.
In the days that followed, a location was set up where all the agencies providing aid could be in one place and individuals from the shelter were shuttled to and from, and where those we began to discover had ended up in Denver on their own, also could come to begin the job of putting lives back together.
To imagine what they were faced with consider what was a familiar story:
Spending a day or more on a rooftop awaiting help or finally managing to wade through the flood waters and arriving at the Superdome left to experience heaven only knows what kind of conditions, then being lined up and put on buses, taken to the airport told to board a plane to an unknown destination, arriving at Denver International Airport, put back on buses and finally reaching a converted barracks, dormitory-style shelter. Once here of course you need to be checked in, name, address etc., etc., to be assigned a room. Then, once the initial shock wears off, you are shuttled to a location and left to negotiate a maze of relief organizations and governmental agencies staffed by volunteers and professionals who talk too fast, have funny accents and are difficult to understand. While each person or family was met by a volunteer who helped guide them through the process, many were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the effort.
To be honest, I found it difficult to remember which agency offered what services and what the specific requirements were for any given program. At times there were services and goods being donated, but the information was not communicated to all the relief workers. So I cannot imagine the confusion they must have been experiencing. But, amazingly and to their credit, in my work as a case-worker for the Red Cross I did not have a single person get angry, rude or demanding - and believe me, most of us would not have exhibited such resigned patience.
But it was the individuals I talked to that will make those days some of the most meaningful in my life. The couple from Alabama who explained how to dress out a racoon or possum and gave me the recipe for stew, while the young account exec from the bank who was setting up a debit card for them listened and missed a few keystrokes in the process. The very young, alcohol or drug-addicted lesbian couple who pretended to be cousins out of fear or apprehension. I remember holding the youngest one in my arms while she cried with great racking sobs and begged to go home, while her partner tried to explain to her that they had no home to go to and no money to get there even if they could, then after turning around to get them something to eat, discovering that they had disappeared - and I wonder to this day if they made it back to NO.
There were many cases from the middle class who were also dealing with loss and trying to get things straightened out, but the faces I still see are those of the disenfranchised and forgotten, and they taught me more in those few weeks than I could possibly have given to them. As Barack Obama so eloquently said the other night, it is difficult to pull oneself up by ones bootstraps if one doesn't have boots. What bothers me the most as Gustav approaches, is I wonder how many have never recovered from Katrina and now are faced with the same catasrophic sense of displacement. And with all the money wasted through incompetence, waste, and fraud, I have this overwhelming sense of sadness that we never really ceased to abandon the people that live at the margins in this wonderful city of contrasts we know as New Orleans.
After the levees broke in the aftermath of Katrina and rescue efforts finally began, Denver was one of many cities that opened our doors to these poor souls who had lost everything. We quickly converted some dormitories, on the old Lowry Air Force turned community college, into temporary housing for those who were being plucked off of rooftops with no place to go.
I volunteered for the Red Cross when we began to accept these "refugees" from New Orleans and I will never forget those days and nights and the people I met. Many of those at the shelter told harrowing stories of despair and courage and of watching the water rise and having nowhere to go.
There were many empty and vacant faces, in those first days, that were enough to break ones heart and then I would meet a couple of true NO free spirits who, even after losing everything and having no idea what they were going to do next, wanted to find a place where they could cook up a big pot of jambalaya to feed us, the volunteers. In the cool of the September evenings people thrust together by circumstances would gather outside and try to make some sense of their surroundings.
I listened to their stories, tried my best to help satisfy immediate needs but most often all I could do was provide a shoulder upon which to cry or maybe give an elderly woman or man a reassuring hug. None of it was enough, and I would go home feeling the enormity of the road these people had ahead of them. Many had never been outside the city limits of NO and now here they were in a converted army barracks, turned community college dorm, now shelter, in a city they probably could not have located on a map. Some were trying to find family members who had become separated from them during the rescue effort, others had family who were willing to take them in - but they had no way to get there from Denver, which seemed a million miles away from a cousin, brother, sister or friend in Baton Rouge or Jackson.
In the days that followed, a location was set up where all the agencies providing aid could be in one place and individuals from the shelter were shuttled to and from, and where those we began to discover had ended up in Denver on their own, also could come to begin the job of putting lives back together.
To imagine what they were faced with consider what was a familiar story:
Spending a day or more on a rooftop awaiting help or finally managing to wade through the flood waters and arriving at the Superdome left to experience heaven only knows what kind of conditions, then being lined up and put on buses, taken to the airport told to board a plane to an unknown destination, arriving at Denver International Airport, put back on buses and finally reaching a converted barracks, dormitory-style shelter. Once here of course you need to be checked in, name, address etc., etc., to be assigned a room. Then, once the initial shock wears off, you are shuttled to a location and left to negotiate a maze of relief organizations and governmental agencies staffed by volunteers and professionals who talk too fast, have funny accents and are difficult to understand. While each person or family was met by a volunteer who helped guide them through the process, many were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the effort.
To be honest, I found it difficult to remember which agency offered what services and what the specific requirements were for any given program. At times there were services and goods being donated, but the information was not communicated to all the relief workers. So I cannot imagine the confusion they must have been experiencing. But, amazingly and to their credit, in my work as a case-worker for the Red Cross I did not have a single person get angry, rude or demanding - and believe me, most of us would not have exhibited such resigned patience.
But it was the individuals I talked to that will make those days some of the most meaningful in my life. The couple from Alabama who explained how to dress out a racoon or possum and gave me the recipe for stew, while the young account exec from the bank who was setting up a debit card for them listened and missed a few keystrokes in the process. The very young, alcohol or drug-addicted lesbian couple who pretended to be cousins out of fear or apprehension. I remember holding the youngest one in my arms while she cried with great racking sobs and begged to go home, while her partner tried to explain to her that they had no home to go to and no money to get there even if they could, then after turning around to get them something to eat, discovering that they had disappeared - and I wonder to this day if they made it back to NO.
There were many cases from the middle class who were also dealing with loss and trying to get things straightened out, but the faces I still see are those of the disenfranchised and forgotten, and they taught me more in those few weeks than I could possibly have given to them. As Barack Obama so eloquently said the other night, it is difficult to pull oneself up by ones bootstraps if one doesn't have boots. What bothers me the most as Gustav approaches, is I wonder how many have never recovered from Katrina and now are faced with the same catasrophic sense of displacement. And with all the money wasted through incompetence, waste, and fraud, I have this overwhelming sense of sadness that we never really ceased to abandon the people that live at the margins in this wonderful city of contrasts we know as New Orleans.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Bookstore and Politics - What Do You Think?
Robert Gray shares a discussion on his Fresh Eyes Now bookselling blog which examines the role of the neighborhood bookshop when it comes to political advocacy.
As those who have followed my blog may have noticed I have some trouble staying on topic and especially when it comes to politics. This may not have been an issue except that we have just been through a hard-fought primary season and are heading into what I predict to be a hotly-contested and at times vicious presidential race. The fact that Denver is hosting the Democratic National Convention and having the opportunity to experience the atmosphere and excitement around this convention which will become one of those occasions in history that becomes part of the American experience has made it hard for me to keep from "blogging the convention".
The debate in Gray's blog is a reflection on the debate I have been having with myself as I have wanted to write about the convention but was afraid of possibly offending or alienating my future customers. This is more of a problem now, because people have not had the opportunity to actually get to know me and I don't want to make the wrong first impression.
But, I am interested in the general question about the role a bookstore plays in the community. One of my core beliefs and reasons for wanting to be a bookseller is the concept that books and those places where readers congregate provide the fodder and environment for us to discover, digest, discuss and debate the ideas which shape the quality of our lives. Many of these ideas ultimately end up with politics.
So here are the questions asked by Robert Gray but rephrased to you my customer and readers. Let me know what you think.
As those who have followed my blog may have noticed I have some trouble staying on topic and especially when it comes to politics. This may not have been an issue except that we have just been through a hard-fought primary season and are heading into what I predict to be a hotly-contested and at times vicious presidential race. The fact that Denver is hosting the Democratic National Convention and having the opportunity to experience the atmosphere and excitement around this convention which will become one of those occasions in history that becomes part of the American experience has made it hard for me to keep from "blogging the convention".
The debate in Gray's blog is a reflection on the debate I have been having with myself as I have wanted to write about the convention but was afraid of possibly offending or alienating my future customers. This is more of a problem now, because people have not had the opportunity to actually get to know me and I don't want to make the wrong first impression.
But, I am interested in the general question about the role a bookstore plays in the community. One of my core beliefs and reasons for wanting to be a bookseller is the concept that books and those places where readers congregate provide the fodder and environment for us to discover, digest, discuss and debate the ideas which shape the quality of our lives. Many of these ideas ultimately end up with politics.
So here are the questions asked by Robert Gray but rephrased to you my customer and readers. Let me know what you think.
Is a community bookstore a neutral corner or an advocacy center?
Can there be a, well, "third place" between the two when it comes to politics?
What type of political sidelines or books would you find appropriate? Do the political books a bookstore carries affect your comfort level or willingness to shop in that store.
What do you expect from your bookstore? If you sensed a spirit of advocacy would you feel excluded or offended?
If the store provided a venue where there could be a free and spirited exchange of ideas, would you be offended, feel excluded or appreciate the possibility to engage in intellectual thought and discussion?
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Monday, August 25, 2008
Griff's Cousin Mimi on Book TV
YouTube - Book TV: Mimi Kennedy, Chair of Progressive Democrats of America
Book TV: Mimi Kennedy, Chair of Progressive Democrats of AmericaPowered by ScribeFire.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Denver on Display
Watching some of the television coverage about the Democratic National Convention I am struck by the beauty of my fair city.
Denver has gone through growing pains like many other metropolitan areas but I think we have handled a lot of the issues with a vision to the future. As many cities have continued their growth to the suburbs and ex-burbs Denver has made a conscious effort to move or to keep our large venues within the city center or what the locals call LoDo (lower downtown).
Specifically, Invesco Field, Pepsi Center, Coors Stadium, Elitches(Six Flags), the Convention Center, the Center for the Performing Arts, to name a few are all located within the downtown area of the city, and as I am watching an interview hosted at the C-SPAN convention studio, many of these facilities are in full view with the mountains providing a stunning backdrop.
For those people who still live in the suburbs our new light rail makes access to the downtown area fast, convenient and inexpensive. Our housing developments are beginning to become clustered around the light rail system and feature mixed use dwelling styles so small independent grocers and other necessary retail shops are incorporated as part of each condo complex and are within walking distance of a transportation hub, either light rail, bus system or some type of shuttle service. Most of our downtown areas have been revitalized with a comfortable mix of retail, residential(lofts and condos) and business interests.
I must admit I am quite proud of Colorado and Denver. Now, as long as our police and other law enforcement agencies don't get carried away while balancing the tension between security and civil liberties when dealing with protest groups - I think our many visitors will enjoy their time here and those watching should see a beautiful, modern and dynamic city.
Much as I love SPI and am looking forward to moving in October -- Denver will always be my home and I will miss much of what this city has to offer.
Tomorrow, and for the rest of the week, I plan to head downtown each day and absorb as much of the atmosphere as I can. C-SPAN will give the viewer some good insights into the city as well as convention activities.
Denver is ready for the party and I invite you to watch as much as possible -- we aren't just a cow town any more.
Denver has gone through growing pains like many other metropolitan areas but I think we have handled a lot of the issues with a vision to the future. As many cities have continued their growth to the suburbs and ex-burbs Denver has made a conscious effort to move or to keep our large venues within the city center or what the locals call LoDo (lower downtown).
Specifically, Invesco Field, Pepsi Center, Coors Stadium, Elitches(Six Flags), the Convention Center, the Center for the Performing Arts, to name a few are all located within the downtown area of the city, and as I am watching an interview hosted at the C-SPAN convention studio, many of these facilities are in full view with the mountains providing a stunning backdrop.
For those people who still live in the suburbs our new light rail makes access to the downtown area fast, convenient and inexpensive. Our housing developments are beginning to become clustered around the light rail system and feature mixed use dwelling styles so small independent grocers and other necessary retail shops are incorporated as part of each condo complex and are within walking distance of a transportation hub, either light rail, bus system or some type of shuttle service. Most of our downtown areas have been revitalized with a comfortable mix of retail, residential(lofts and condos) and business interests.
I must admit I am quite proud of Colorado and Denver. Now, as long as our police and other law enforcement agencies don't get carried away while balancing the tension between security and civil liberties when dealing with protest groups - I think our many visitors will enjoy their time here and those watching should see a beautiful, modern and dynamic city.
Much as I love SPI and am looking forward to moving in October -- Denver will always be my home and I will miss much of what this city has to offer.
Tomorrow, and for the rest of the week, I plan to head downtown each day and absorb as much of the atmosphere as I can. C-SPAN will give the viewer some good insights into the city as well as convention activities.
Denver is ready for the party and I invite you to watch as much as possible -- we aren't just a cow town any more.
Great Books Programs - Lifelong Learning
From the August 20, 2008 edition of Bookselling This Week:
A funny thing happened when R.J. Julia in Madison, Connecticut, announced its new, ongoing Great Books Seminar Program -- a monthly seminar designed to provide people with the opportunity to study and discuss the great works of literature, philosophy, and history. Very quickly, post-college adults were showing up in droves to register to study the classics
Fittingly, it was a book that inspired Coady to launch the Great Books Seminar Program in March 2008. "A friend of ours, [Yale Professor] Tony Kronman wrote a book called Education's End, Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life [Yale University Press]," said Coady.
The book discusses how the most important question one can ask in life -- What is living for? -- has been removed from university classrooms and calls for its return in humanities studies.
...how incredibly life-affirming it is to see adults participate for the pure pleasure of learning. I think this is a great opportunity for all independents. Being in a bookstore [for a class] is very exciting -- there are a lot of people who want this opportunity.
Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life By Anthony T. Kronman Published by Yale University Press, 2007 ISBN 0300122888, 9780300122886 308 pages
Anyone interested? I am a member of the Center for the Study of the Great Ideas whose founder, Mortimer Adler, was the leading proponent of a Great Books curriculum at the University of Chicago which pre-dated many of today's Great Books colleges such as St. John's College in Annapolis and Santa Fe.
A great books program for adults and the Great Books Foundation were also founded in Chicago and Adler actively promoted the idea of great books discussion groups for adults. The foundation of the Great Books Movement now serves as the basis for numerous home schooling programs and the Great Books Foundation provides teacher and book group leadership training in the shared inquiry method of discussion which is at the core of the program.
The Directed Studies Program at Yale University, discussed in Kronman's book, is another curriculum based upon similar principles, which seeks to promote the value of the Western Canon of Literature in helping students understand what it means to live a good life.
If anyone is interested in attending similar seminars I am sure Max Weisman from the Center would be pleased to help us get started.
A funny thing happened when R.J. Julia in Madison, Connecticut, announced its new, ongoing Great Books Seminar Program -- a monthly seminar designed to provide people with the opportunity to study and discuss the great works of literature, philosophy, and history. Very quickly, post-college adults were showing up in droves to register to study the classics
Fittingly, it was a book that inspired Coady to launch the Great Books Seminar Program in March 2008. "A friend of ours, [Yale Professor] Tony Kronman wrote a book called Education's End, Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life [Yale University Press]," said Coady.
The book discusses how the most important question one can ask in life -- What is living for? -- has been removed from university classrooms and calls for its return in humanities studies.
...how incredibly life-affirming it is to see adults participate for the pure pleasure of learning. I think this is a great opportunity for all independents. Being in a bookstore [for a class] is very exciting -- there are a lot of people who want this opportunity.
Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life By Anthony T. Kronman Published by Yale University Press, 2007 ISBN 0300122888, 9780300122886 308 pagesAnyone interested? I am a member of the Center for the Study of the Great Ideas whose founder, Mortimer Adler, was the leading proponent of a Great Books curriculum at the University of Chicago which pre-dated many of today's Great Books colleges such as St. John's College in Annapolis and Santa Fe.
A great books program for adults and the Great Books Foundation were also founded in Chicago and Adler actively promoted the idea of great books discussion groups for adults. The foundation of the Great Books Movement now serves as the basis for numerous home schooling programs and the Great Books Foundation provides teacher and book group leadership training in the shared inquiry method of discussion which is at the core of the program.
The Directed Studies Program at Yale University, discussed in Kronman's book, is another curriculum based upon similar principles, which seeks to promote the value of the Western Canon of Literature in helping students understand what it means to live a good life.
If anyone is interested in attending similar seminars I am sure Max Weisman from the Center would be pleased to help us get started.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project
I hope there was a good turnout for this today and that everyone had a good time while accomplishing some important work.
From mustlovespi on the SPI forum:
After a nationwide vote, America chose South Padre Island to become “barefoot friendly” this summer. This will be the last stop in the second year of the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project, a partnership between Barefoot Wine and the Surfrider Foundation to preserve America’s lake and ocean communities.More here and here from Waiting for the Next Swell.
On the morning of Saturday, Aug. 23, the project's organizers will hold a dune restoration effort which helps alleviate erosion caused by both environmental and human factors, followed by a free celebration for volunteers will be held that evening at Tequila Sunset, featuring selections from Barefoot’s wine portfolio and a performance by musician Tristan Prettyman.
www.BarefootBeachRescue.com
WHO: Barefoot Wine, flavorful and affordable wine and bubblies; South Texas Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans, waves and beaches
Tristan Prettyman, singer/songwriter, surfer and former model
WHAT: The Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project, now in its second year, aims to make beaches and lakes across America “barefoot friendly.” Surfrider Foundation and community volunteers will help to restore South Padre Island’s sand dunes that have faced erosion both before and after the recent Hurricane Dolly. Afterwards, volunteers 21+ are invited to attend a celebration featuring Barefoot wines, surf-inspired treats and a live musical performance from Tristan Prettyman.
Sand Sculpture via sandyfeet
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have a sense of place that B&n or Borders lack.
Our house is also overflowing with books.Yeah, it is in need of culling every once in a while. But it is part of who we are as a family.
Hasn’t anyone read the studies directly linking books in the home and academic success? Both our kids benefited from this “literacy-rich” environment and achieve well above their peers who do not read for pleasure. We love the library and visit regularly, especially for audiobooks. But books at home are a must. And my daughter’s perfect critical reading score on the SAT was a bonus ;-)