4/18/07

Maize Wednesday, UI's Judith Runstad Lecture Series is pleased to present Phil Cousineau at 7 p.m. in the Agricultural Science Building Room 106. Cousineau is an award-winning author, lecturer and movie-maker who is fascinated with storytelling, the mythic tradition, and the human tendency to find meaning in the mundane. His lecture, also the title of a recent book, will be THE ART OF PILGRIMAGE: THE SEEKER'S GUIDE TO MAKING TRAVEL SACRED. As the title suggests, the book explores making meaning of travels great and small. Whether making a pilgrimage to Mecca or the megamart, Cousineau has suggestions for making more of of any journey, The lecture is free and open to the public.

Congratulations to Amanda Priest for presenting a paper at a conference in Portland. Amanda presented "The Doctor is Out: The Systematic Exclusion of Women in Medicine" to the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society. The presentation was strong, to all accounts, and the paper was well received. Bravo!

This Thursday, April 19, stop by between 4:00 and 6:00 PM to meet Robert Michael Pyle, author of SKY TIME IN GRAY'S RIVER. This memoir distills more than two decades of living in and examining a secluded part of the Northwest. SKY TIME is a quiet book--never forced, never louder than a fierce storm--and divided into chapters to reflect each month and the wild lives that come through the annual cycles. Stop by to say hello and collect an autograph!

Wednesday, April 25, writer Karen Karbo will read in the UI Administration Auditorium at 7:30 PM. Karbo writes both literary and journalistic nonfiction, and has recently moved into writing mysteries for young adults. Interestingly, her writings reflect the progression of her life, but not in the usual, internal reflections characteristic of memoir. Instead, her writing pertains to external events and those around her. Rather than engaging herself in the business of living, she finds place and space to engage those around her by sharing her research, reflection, interest. And she is interesting and engaging as she does so, no matter the specific genre in which she works.

April 29th, celebrate the return of Dr. Jill Seaman, one of Time Magazine's Heroes of Medicine. In 1989, Dr. Seaman, who has roots in Moscow, began working with the Nuer people in the West Upper Nile region of Sudan. She helped establish a TB treatment clinic that Doctors Without Borders had to abandon under threat of war. Dr. Seaman returned in 2000 and, in addition to visiting home, she will present a PowerPoint after a fundraising dinner at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse.

>From the Greene shelf, author Vikram Chandra: SACRED GAMES: To win everything is to lose everything and the same always won. What can you say about a c. 900 page book on crime in India? Only that it's wonderful! SACRED GAMES, the number two pick for Booksense Crime List is a fast, fluid read with beautiful sentences and jazzy colloquial speech from vivid characters that represent India's multiplicity. And what an India it is--computers jostle through ancient religious ceremonies while characters are cleaved and maimed by communal hatreds. In this India, religion falls prey to extremists determined to inflict mass damage on other people and the beliefs they have. A bright note besides the colorful writing and intriguing characters: it's harder than you think to build a dirty bomb.

"Enduring Spirits--dance of two Nations" will be performed Saturday April 28th at 8pm at WSU Daggy Hall, Jones Theatre and Sunday April 29 at 2pm at Lewiston High School. The show is "cross-cultural dance work featuring Native American artists and guest speakers." Tickets are available at Bookpeople, Lewiston Civic Theatre and online at www.LCTheatre.org.

-Book People of Moscow

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