Wednesday, March 26, 2008

First Wednedays return on April 2 with Marjorie Ryerson, Companions for the Passage: Stories of the Intimate Privilege of Accompanying the Dying


Being present through the final days, and then through the moment of death of a beloved friend, spouse, or child is possibly the most profound journey we ever take. Marjorie Ryerson, author of Companions for the Passage: Stories of the Intimate Privilege of Accompanying the Dying, will share stories she collected for her book in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on April 2 at 7:00 PM. and is part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series and takes place at 7:00 p.m.



Ryerson is an award-winning professor, photographer, poet and journalist. She taught writing and photography at Castleton State College from 1991 until 2005, and was selected as the Vermont State Colleges Faculty Fellow for the academic year 2000-2001—the highest honor awarded to a professor in the Vermont State College system. Ryerson currently teaches nonfiction writing for Johnson State College, poetry and creative non-fiction for Middlebury College at the annual New England Young Writers' Conference at Bread Loaf, and creative nonfiction at the Young Vermonters' Writing Conference at Champlain College.



She is the executive director of the Vermont-based nonprofit Water Music, Inc. Her books include Water Music and Companions for the Passage: Stories of the Intimate Privilege of Accompanying the Dying. Her nonfiction articles and photographs have been published widely throughout New England. She is currently at work on two more books.



The Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays Brattleboro series is held on the first Wednesday of every month from October through May, featuring speakers of national and regional renown. Talks are held at Brooks Memorial Library, and the 2007-8 Brattleboro series concludes with “Don Quixote: The Greatest Novel Ever,” with Amherst College Professor Ilan Stavans on May 7.



First Wednesdays is supported in part by the Institute of Museum & Library Services through the Vermont Department of Libraries. Brooks Memorial Library is sponsored by Brattleboro Savings & Loan, Entergy-Vermont, Friends of Brooks Memorial Library, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., and Trustees of Brooks Memorial Library.



For more information, contact Brooks Memorial Library at 802.254.5290 or brattlib@brooks.lib.vt.us. For all library events, see the library’s calendar at www.brooks.lib.vt.us.

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Monday, March 10, 2008

Merchant of Venice (Abridged) comes to Brooks


Shakespeare comes to Brooks Memorial Library on Friday, March 14, at 7 PM, with New Hampshire's Hourglass Readers.

The production is directed by Catherine Behrens and Ben Wise. In the cast are Wendy Almeida, Catherine & Frank Behrens, Peter Eisenstadter, Sarah Ellsworth, Ariana Ellsworth-Heller, Perin Ellsworth-Heller, Martin Hanft, PeggyRae Johnson, Hank Parkhurst, Peter Schofield, Ruth Siegel, Marilyn Simons, Don Wilmeth, and Ben Wise.


The Hourglass Readers is a group of men and women who love the classics and love performing. It is dedicated to presenting readings of classical works in abridged versions. All performances are free and open to the public.

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Friday, March 07, 2008

Winner of Seven-Days Best Political Blog at Brooks Memorial Library, Friday, March 7 @ 7 PM


Brooks Memorial Library presents Vermont blogger Philip Baruth , on Friday, March 7, at 7 p.m.

Baruth is a novelist, and a regular commentator for Vermont Public Radio. His award-winning commentary series, "Notes from the New Vermont," has focused since 1998 on both the national and the local, the deeply political and the undeniably absurd. His political blog, Vermont Daily Briefing, has been in operation since September 2005. It was voted "Best Vermont Blog (Political)" in 2006 and 2007.

Baruth 's most recent novel, "The X President," took this penchant for satire to new lengths: the book follows the desperate attempts of a 109-year-old Bill Clinton to re-write his historical legacy. The New York Times selected "The X President" as a "Notable Book of 2003."

Philip lives in Burlington and has taught at the University of Vermont since 1993. Before that time, he earned a B.A. at Brown University, and his Ph.D at the University of California, Irvine. In addition to fiction, he publishes non-fiction essays, and scholarship on 18th-century British literature.

Contact Jerry at 254-5290 ext 101

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