Filmmaker Alice Stone Returns to "The South End Writes" With an Update on Her Documentary, "Angelo Unwritten" Tuesday June 11 at 6:30 PM

South End filmmaker Alice Stone will present what may be the final installment of her feature-length documentary, "Angelo Unwritten," on Tuesday, June 11 at 6:30 PM at the South End Library. Examining the complicated path of a Latino youngster, Angelo, who is placed in foster care with a Caucasian couple at age 12 , the film puts a compelling spotlight on what goes into the making of a family in the context of foster care. The focus has been on his biological family who couldn't care for him,  the social workers who defended Angelo's interests as they saw it, and the fiercely loyal foster parents who often groped in the dark for the right answers on how to raise Angelo. In that, most parents viewing the movie will find kinship with those who loved, cared for and were exasperated by Angelo.

Stone's 2012 video clips told the tale of of Angelo having been removed from his foster home at age 17, after the teen had started getting into trouble. The foster parents asked for a routine five-day respite, but it turned into a seven-month separation, against their wishes. Angelo since rejoined his foster parents but, at age 18, is no longer technically in their custody. Nevertheless, they are trying to become a family again. The documentary will follow the family as Angelo makes his way toward high school graduation this year. A Boston Globe's reviewer of  last year's video clip of  Angelo Unwritten  described it as "a not uncommon tale of a child adopted out of foster care who runs into a host of difficulties growing up. The film so far is crisply edited and deeply felt, but this is just a nine-minute snippet of what looks like an epic tale that will no doubt be challenging to put together." Filmmaker Stone recently raised funds through Kickstart for this documentary.

Alice and Angelo

Alice Stone graduated from Harvard College and made the 1994 short film about women motorcyclists, She Lives to Ride. She created a reality television series, Ding Dong Feng Shui, and has written and directed four comedy shorts, two of which continue to screen at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA. The author of four screenplays, Stone co-wrote and edited the documentary feature, Goodbye Baby (New Day Films), about international adoption from the Guatemalan perspective, and edited the feature, No Turning Back, about a human rights activist. She began her career editing political music videos for Peter Gabriel, Jackson Browne and others, and was an assistant editor on The Silence of the Lambs and The Crucible, among other projects.

The next and final reading of the 2012/2013 South End Writes season is Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m. when Philip Gambone,  the South End author of Travels in a Gay Nation; Beijng: a Novel;  and The Language We Use Up Here, will present his most recent work-in-progress, As Far As I Can Tell:  Tracing the World War II Route of My Father Across Europe. Gambone has just returned from his third trip to Europe shadowing the footsteps of his father who never spoke about his war experience.

South End Writes Speakers Dennis Lehane (5/14) and Alice Hoffman (5/21) Say Having Access to Public Libraries as Children Was Critical to Their Development as Writers

In closely timed appearances at the South End Library this month, two very different but equally successful Boston-based authors singled out community libraries as institutions that gave them the unique chance to find themselves as readers, thinkers and writers."I'm here because of the library," was the unequivocal statement Dennis Lehanemade before a standing-room only crowd in mid-May. "It's like A plus B is C. If you remove B, I wouldn't be here."

Alice Hoffman seconded he motion a week later before another standing-room only crowd at the South End branch when she said, "It gave me a special feeling when I could take out as many books as I wanted from my library in Melbourne on Long Island. That's how I was able to choose other worlds. I was an escapist reader, as I am an escapist writer."

Dennis Lehane and fans at the South End Library

Dennis Lehane choose not to read from his recent novel, Live by Night, but instead talked about what it took to turn himself into a writer. "Ten thousand hours," he said. "That's what it takes to become good." Lehane said he came from a literary family. "They were storytellers," he explained. "We'd visit relatives on weekends, and they'd tell stories. Eight weeks later, they'd tell the same stories, except they'd be different. They had tweaked them." At a local bar where his father would take him for a ginger ale with a straw, storytelling was a blood sport with little tolerance for a slow-moving tale. "Turn the set back on Jimmy," customers would shout when they heard an inauthentic or unfocused account. What would carry the day was the authentic tragedies of the working class he came from, leavened by humor: "I got screwed. But I keyed his car. And I slept with his sister. And told her brother about it." Finally, Lehane said, there was nothing else he could do except make up stories and get people to believe them. "My fear was I’d end up serving beers at Vaughn’s and someone’d say, ‘Hey Hemingway, pour me another Bud.’"  Reading urban novels by writers like Richard Price --The Wanderers, Clocker-- changed his life. The characters were a revelation, he said. "I knew those people, what was in their kitchens," Lehane said. "I'd found my subject."

"Many authors talk about themselves but I like to escape from my life," commented Alice Hoffman when describing her writing life a week later. She added she realizes "increasingly how autobiographical my work actually is." By way of explaining both the escape attempt and the discovery her work may be about her life after all, Hoffman took as an example an earlier novel, The Ice Queen. "It's about a girl struck by lightning who survived it. I may have been writing about myself, as a survivor, of cancer. But I removed myself from the circumstances of it,” she said. "Often the writer is the last to know what the book is about.”

Alice Hoffman signing books at the library

The genus of The Dovekeepers was hearing from a guide while visiting her son, an archeologist working in Israel, that there might have been women survivors from the siege in Massada.“That’s when I knew I had a novel,” she said. “These were my themes: love, loss, survival, and women in war who need to protect their children." Visiting Massada in the summer when it was 105 degrees and no one else was there, she found the experience "so mystical, it was as if I could almost hear the women,” she said. A nearby museum with many artifacts from those times further brought the people who lived there to life.“There’s a lack of women’s voices in history,” Hoffman observed: in The Dovekeepers the four female narrators describe their lives at Massada, and the intertwining arts of magic, herbs, medicine, and even witchcraft which, though outlawed, was the territory of women. It took Hoffman five years to write this book. “Had I known how much research I’d needed to do for The Dovekeepers, I never would have done it,” she said. She found a mentor in Richard Elliott Friedman, a biblical scholar at the University of Georgia who happened to be a visiting scholar at Brandeis where Hoffman teaches. “It was a huge gift to have a mentor. It changed my life and my career,” she said. “Whenever I had a question, he’d say, ‘don’t worry, I’ll call my rabbi.’”

Hoffman's next book is a “really little non-fiction book,” she said, which talks about ten things to do when you’re diagnosed with breast cancer. The author helped found the Hoffman Breast Center at Mount Auburn Hospital. The five favorite books of Dennis Lehane and Alice Hoffman can be found under The South End Reads tab.

The Boston Public Library Has Purchased More Than 2,400 Books on Grieving and Anxiety to Help Adults and Children Cope With the Trauma and Loss After the Marathon Bombings

Books on Grieving for Children

At a budget hearing before the Boston City Council earlier this month, BPL president Amy Ryan told the councilors that the library purchased more than 2,000 books on coping with anxiety, grieving and loss after the Marathon bombings. In addition, even though the main library at Copley Square was forced to close for a week due to its close proximity to the bombing site, all the 25 branches were open the next day. "They were crowded," reported Ryan. "People were busy checking in with one another. Libraries are community spaces." According to Catherine Willis, Chief of Technical and Digital Services at the BPL, a total of 2,410 books were ordered on the subject of loss and anxiety. The cost for the books would have been more than $30,000 but the vendor gave the BPL a 'sizeable' discount to bring the final amount down to around $15,000. The books have begun to arrive at libraries throughout the system, including the South End Library.

South End Library's children's librarian Margaret Gardner collected several links for library patrons, including:

1. Tips for parents and teachers on how to deal with children's fear of war and terrorism from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)

2. Talking to children about violence, also by NASP

3. Talking with kids about news, sponsored by PBS Parents

4. Times of Grief and Sadness, a list of 19 books for children from the BPL web site's Boston PL Kids Lists.

Gardner told FOSEL that kids and teens who have been at the South End branch since the bombings have expressed themselves through art, which she plans to continue to do. Two teens created  "the dove of peace" in the front window facing Tremont Street the first week after the bombing, and another teen artist made the two doves of peace by the circulation counter, with hand prints and words from younger children.

Below is the full list of the BPL's books that are, or will soon be arriving at a library near you, and the number of copies available.

ADULT:

Aikman, Becky. Saturday night widows : the adventures of six friends remaking their lives

Albano, Anne Marie. You and your anxious child : free your child from fears and worries and create a joyful family life

Amend, Allison. A nearly perfect copy : a novel

Askew, Rilla. Kind of kin

Backhaus, Jeff. Hikikomori and the rental sister : a novel

Bacon, Armen. Griefland : an intimate portrait of love, loss, and unlikely friendship

Bateman, Tracey Victoria. The widow of Saunders Creek : a novel

Baudrillard, Jean The Spirit of Terrorism : And Other Essays

Beattie, Melody. The grief club : the secret to getting through all kinds of change

Bedford, Lisa. Survival mom : how to prepare your family for everyday disasters and worst-case scenarios

Berger, Susan A. The five ways we grieve : finding your personal path to healing after the loss of a loved one

Bessette, Alicia. A pinch of love

Bien, Thomas. The Buddha's Way of Happiness : healing sorrow, transforming negative emotion & finding well-being in the present moment

Blaustein, Margaret. Treating traumatic stress in children and adolescents : how to foster resilience through attachment, self-regulation, and competency

Brach, Tara. True refuge : finding peace and freedom in your own awakened heart

Brantley, Jeffrey. Calming your anxious mind : how mindfulness & compassion can free you from anxiety, fear, & panic

Brown, Erica, 1966- Happier endings : overcoming the fear of death

Bstan-Êdzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV, 1935- The wisdom of compassion : stories of remarkable encounters and timeless insights

Burns, Donna M. When kids are grieving : addressing grief and loss in school

Chansky, Tamar Ellsas. Freeing your child from anxiety : powerful, practical strategies to overcome your child's fears, phobias, and worries

Chödrön, Pema. Comfortable with uncertainty : 108 teachings on cultivating fearlessness and compassion

Chödrön, Pema. The places that scare you : a guide to fearlessness in difficult times

Chödrön, Pema. When things fall apart : heart advice for difficult times

Chopra, Deepak. God : a story of Revelation

Cloyed, Deborah. The summer we came to life

Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Slow man

Cohen, Judith A. Treating trauma and traumatic grief in children and adolescents / A Clinician's Guide

Cohen, Leah Hager. The grief of others

Cooper, Gwen, 1971- Love saves the day : a novel

Cope, Pam. Jantsen's gift : a true story of grief, rescue, and grace

Dahlie, Michael. The best of youth : a novel

De Becker, Gavin. The gift of fear : survival signals that protect us from violence

De Feo, Ronald. Solo pass

Deits, Bob, 1933- Life after loss : a practical guide to renewing your life after experiencing major loss

Deraniyagala, Sonali. Wave

Didion, Joan. The year of magical thinking

Dreher, Rod. The little way of Ruthie Leming : a Southern girl, a small town, and the secret of a good life

Dunn, Bill. Through a season of grief : devotions for your journey from mourning to joy

Ellmann, Lucy, 1956- Mimi : a novel

Emerson, David, 1969- Overcoming trauma through yoga : reclaiming your body

Ericsson, Stephanie, 1953- Companion through the darkness : inner dialogues on grief

Evans, Richard Paul. The road to grace

Frankl, Viktor E. (Viktor Emil), 1905-1997. Man's search for meaning

Frazier, Ian. The cursing mommy's book of days

Friedman, Russell. Moving beyond loss : real answers to real questions from real people

Gaiman, Neil. Fragile things : short fictions and wonders

Gewirtz, Matthew D. The gift of grief : finding peace, transformation, and renewed life after great sorrow

Gil, Eliana Working with children to heal interpersonal trauma : the power of play

Gilbert, Kellie Coates. Mother of Pearl

Goldman, Linda, 1946- Great answers to difficult questions about death : what children need to know

Gonzales, Laurence, 1947- Surviving survival : the art and science of resilience

Gordon, Terry A. No storm lasts forever : transforming suffering into insight

Greenspan, Miriam. Healing through the dark emotions : the wisdom of grief, fear, and despair

Greenwood, T. (Tammy) The hungry season

Guthrie, Nancy O love that will not let me go : facing death with courageous confidence in God

Hall, Louisa, 1982- The carriage house : a novel

Hance, Jackie. I'll see you again : a memoir

Henkin, Joshua. The world without you

Hickman, Martha Whitmore, 1925- Healing after loss : daily meditations for working through grief

Higgins, Lisa Verge. The proper care and maintenance of friendship

Hinton, J. Lynne. Welcome back to Pie Town

Hodges, Samuel J Grieving with hope : finding comfort as you journey through loss

Holland, Debra. The essential guide to grief and grieving

Hunter, John, 1954- author. World peace and other 4th-grade achievements

Isaacs, Florence. My deepest sympathies : meaningful sentiments for condolence notes, plus a guide to eulogies

Jacobson, Don When God makes lemonade : true stories that amaze and encourage

James, John W. The grief recovery handbook : the action program for moving beyond death, divorce, and other losses including health career, and faith

James, John W. When children grieve : for adults to help children deal with death, divorce, pet loss, moving, and other losses

Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Wherever you go, there you are : mindfulness meditation in everyday life

Kimball, Michael, 1967- Big Ray : a novel

King, Claire, 1980- The Night Rainbow

Kinkade, Thomas, 1958-2012. A wandering heart

Klein, Daniel M. Nothing serious : a novel

Kolf, June Cerza. When will I stop hurting? : dealing with a recent death

Kornfield, Jack The Art Of Forgiveness, Lovingkindess, And Peace

Krueger, William Kent. Ordinary grace : a novel

Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On death and dying : what the dying have to teach doctors, nurses, clergy, and their own families

Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On grief and grieving : finding the meaning of grief through the five stages of loss

Kultgen, Chad, 1976- The average American marriage : a novel

Kumar, Sameet M. Grieving mindfully : a compassionate and spiritual guide to coping with loss

Kushner, Harold S. The book of Job : when bad things happened to a good person

Kushner, Harold S. When bad things happen to good people

Lankford, Adam, 1979- The myth of martyrdom : what really drives suicide bombers, rampage shooters, and other self-destructive killers

Latiolais, Michelle. Widow : stories

Lavigne, Michael. The wanting

Lee, Ashton. The Cherry Cola Book Club

Lee, Deborah. The compassionate-mind guide to recovering from trauma and PTSD : using compassion-focused therapy to overcome flashbacks, shame, guilt, and fear

Lee, Linda Francis. Emily and Einstein / A Novel of Second Chances

Levine, Peter A. Trauma-proofing your kids : a parents' guide for instilling confidence, joy and resilience

Levine, Peter A. Waking the tiger : healing trauma : the innate capacity to transform overwhelming experiences

Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. A grief observed

Malchiodi, Cathy A. The art therapy sourcebook

Marasco, Ron. About grief : insights, setbacks, grace notes, taboos

Martin, John D. I can't stop crying : it's so hard when someone you love dies

Martinez, J. Michael (James Michael) Terrorist attacks on American soil : from the Civil War era to the present

Matta, Christy. The stress response : how dialectical behavior therapy can free you from needless anxiety, worry, anger, & other symptoms of stress

Miller, Serena, 1950- Hidden mercies : a novel

Milliken, Maureen. The afterlife survey : a Rabbi, a CEO, a dog walker, and others on the universal question - what comes next?

Nhá̂t H?anh, Thích Anger : wisdom for cooling the flames

Nhá̂t H?anh, Thích. Fear : essential wisdom for getting through the storm

Nugent, Benjamin. Good kids : a novel

Odell, Jonathan, 1951- The healing : a novel

Orange, Cynthia. Shock waves : a practical guide to living with a loved one's PTSD

Paisley, Michelle Yoga for a Broken Heart : A Spiritual Guide to Healing from Break-Up, Loss, Death or Divorce

Peretti, Frank E. Illusion : a novel

Podrug, Junius. The disaster survival bible

Punnett, Ian, 1960- How to pray when you're pissed at God / Or Anyone Else for That Matter

Quick, Matthew, 1973- The silver linings playbook

Rando, Therese A. How to go on living when someone you love dies

Raney, Deborah. After all

Rapp, Emily. The still point of the turning world

Rathkey, Julia Wilcox. What children need when they grieve : the four essentials : routine, love, honesty, and security

Ratner, Austin. In the land of the living : a novel

Ritchie, Cinthia. Dolls behaving badly : a novel

Rogers, Michael Allen, 1949- What happens after I die?

Rothbaum, Barbara Olasov. Reclaiming your life from a traumatic experience : workbook

Rothschild, Babette. Trauma essentials : the go-to guide

Rupp, Joyce. My soul feels lean : poems of loss and restoration

Scheunemann, Frauke. Puppy love

Schonfeld, David J., 1959- The grieving student : a teacher's guide

Schrank, Ben. Love is a canoe

Schuster, Marc, 1973- The grievers

Simons, Paullina, 1963- Children of liberty

Smith, Haywood, 1949- Out of warranty

Smolinski, Jill. Objects of my affection

Sorensen, Julia. Overcoming loss : activities and stories to help transform children's grief and loss

Spencer, Elizabeth DuPont, 1966- The anxiety cure for kids : a guide for parents

Spencer, Katherine, 1955- The Way Home : Thomas Kinkade's Angel Island

Stahl, Bob. Calming the rush of panic : a mindfulness-based stress reduction guide to freeing yourself from panic attacks & living a vital life

Stavlund, Mike. A force of will : the reshaping of faith in a year of grief

Stearns, Ann Kaiser. Living through personal crisis

Stern, Robin. Project rebirth : survival and the strength of the human spirit from 9/11 survivors

Stewart, Carla. Broken wings : a novel

Stothard, Anna. The pink hotel

Sussman, Ellen, 1954- The Paradise Guest House : a novel

Tappouni, Therese Amrhein The Gifts of Grief : Finding Light in the Darkness of Loss

Thoene, Bodie, 1951- When Jesus wept

Tipping, Colin C Radical forgiveness : a revolutionary five-stage process to : heal relationships, let go of anger and blame, find peace in any situation

Tirch, Dennis D., 1968- The compassionate-mind guide to overcoming anxiety : using compassion-focused therapy to calm worry, panic, and fear

Trout, Nick. The patron saint of lost dogs

Welshons, John E. Awakening from grief : finding the way back to joy

West, Spencer, 1981- Standing tall : my journey

Westberg, Granger E Good Grief

Westfall, John. Getting past what you'll never get over : help for dealing with life's hurts

Whitson, Stephanie Grace. The message on the quilt

Wilde, Samantha. I'll take what she has : a novel

Wilder, Thornton, 1897-1975. The bridge of San Luis Rey

Williams, Mark. Mindfulness : an eight-week plan for finding peace in a frantic world

Williams, Mary Beth. The PTSD workbook / Simple, Effective Techniques for Overcoming Traumatic Stress Symptoms

Wiseman, John "Lofty" SAS Urban Survival Handbook : How to Protect Yourself Against Terrorism, Natural Disasters, Fires, Home Invasions, and Everyday Health and Safety Hazards

Wolf, Elaine. Danny's mom : a novel

Wolfelt, Alan D. The Mourner's Book of Faith : 30 Days of Enlightenment

Wolfelt, Alan D., Ph.D. The Mourner's Book of Courage : 30 Days of Encouragemen

Wolfelt, Alan. Healing your grieving heart : 100 practical ideas

Wolfelt, Alan. The wilderness of grief : finding your way

Wong, David, 1975 Jan. 10- This book is full of spiders : seriously, dude, don't touch it

Yancey, Philip Where Is God When It Hurts?

Yancey, Philip. Disappointment with God : three questions no one asks aloud

Yang, Jeffrey Time of grief : mourning poems

Chicken soup for the soul : grieving and recovery : 101 inspirational and comforting stories about surviving the loss of a loved one

Life after trauma : a workbook for healing

Poems of mourning

Alcorn, Randy C. Heaven for kids

CHILD/TEEN

Aliki Feelings

Annunziata, Jane Sometimes I'm scared

Applegate, Katherine. The one and only Ivan

Arnold, Elana K. Sacred

Bergren, Lisa Tawn. God gave us heaven

Blos, Joan W. A gathering of days : a novel

Bodeen, S. A. (Stephanie A.), 1965- The raft

Brody, Jessica. Unremembered

Brown, Laurene Krasny. When dinosaurs die : a guide to understanding deat

Bunting, Eve, 1928- Rudi's pond

Burpo, Todd. Heaven is for real for kids

Buscaglia, Leo F. The fall of Freddie the leaf : a story of life for all ages

Cassidy, Sara. Windfall

Coker, Rachel. Interrupted : a life beyond words

Cook, Julia Grief is Like a Snowflake

Cormier, Robert. After the first death

Crist, James J. What to do when you're scared & worried : a guide for kids

Crowe, Carole. Waiting for dolphins

Emberley, Ed. Glad monster, sad monster : a book about feelings

Eubanks, Sonja Death and dying

Fitzgerald, Helen. The grieving teen : a guide for teenagers and their friends

Fritts, Mary Bahr, 1946- If Nathan were here

Geithner, Carole. If only

Goldman, Linda, 1946- Children also grieve : talking about death and healing

Gootman, Marilyn E., 1944- When a friend dies : a book for teens about grieving & healing

Graff, Lisa (Lisa Colleen), 1981- Umbrella summer

Guanci, Anne Marie. David and the worry beast : helping children cope with anxiety

Hainsworth, Emily. Through to you

Hanson, Warren. The next place

Heegaard, Marge When Someone Very Special Dies : Children Can Learn to Cope With Grief

Heegaard, Marge When Something Terrible Happens : Children Learn to Cope With Grief

Holmes, Margaret M., 1944 A terrible thing happened

Huebner, Dawn. What to do when you worry too much : a kid's guide to overcoming anxiety

Kaplow, Julie B., 1974- Samantha Jane's missing smile : a story about coping with the loss of a parent

Klise, Kate. Little Rabbit and the Night Mare

LaFleur, Suzanne M. Love, Aubrey

Laybourne, Emmy. Monument 14

Lewis, Beverly, 1949- What is God like?

Lewis, Stewart. You have seven messages

Loewen, Nancy, 1964- Saying good-bye to Uncle Joe : what to expect when someone you love dies

Loth, Sebastian. Remembering Crystal

Lowry, Lois. A summer to die

Martin, Ann M., 1955- Welcome to Camden Falls

Mayfield, Sue. Living with bereavement

Meiners, Cheri J., 1957- When I feel afraid

Mellonie, Bryan. Lifetimes : the beautiful way to explain death to children

Mills, Joyce C., 1944- Gentle Willow : a story for children about dying

Myers, Edward, 1950- Teens, loss, and grief : the ultimate teen guide

O'Brien, Anne Sibley. A path of stars

Palmer, Pat, 1928- I wish I could hold your hand-- : a child's guide to grief and loss

Payne, Lauren Murphy, 1956- Just because I am : a child's book of affirmation

Penn, Audrey, 1947- The kissing hand

Penn, Audrey, 1947- Chester Raccoon and the acorn full of memories

Pennypacker, Sara, 1951- Stuart goes to school

Posesorski, Sherie. Shadow boxing

Rock, Lois, 1953- When good-bye is forever

Romain, Trevor. What on earth do you do when someone dies?

Romain, Trevor. Stress can really get on your nerves!

Rosen, Michael, 1946- Michael Rosen's sad book

Seuss, Dr. My many colored days

Shaw, Susan, 1951- One of the survivors

Spelman, Cornelia. When I miss you

Tangvald, Christine Harder, 1941- Someone I love died

Vail, Rachel. Sometimes I'm Bombaloo

Varley, Susan. Badger's parting gifts

Verdick, Elizabeth. How to take the grrrr out of anger

Vigna, Judith. Saying goodbye to Daddy

Violi, Jen. Putting makeup on dead people

Wagenbach, Debbie. The grouchies

Wild, Margaret, 1948- Harry & Hopper

Wilhelm, Hans, 1945- I'll always love you

Winsch, Jane Loretta. After the funeral

Wolfelt, Alan. Healing your grieving heart for teens : 100 practical ideas

Wolff, Ferida, 1946- Is a worry worrying you?

The Annual South End Library Book Sale to Be Held Saturday, May 18, from 10 AM to 1 PM at Library Park; Gently-used Book Drop Off Till Thursday Night at the Branch

SE library book sale

FOSEL volunteers have been sorting through the many books that were deposited at the South End branch for months: textbooks and encyclopedias will be chucked but children's books, cookbooks, collections of essays, short stories, novels, science and garden books will get the nod. They will be on display for perusal and sale at Library Park this coming Saturday, May 18 from 10 AM till 1 PM when rain clouds will disappear and a special-order bright and sunny day is supposed to be delivered. All proceeds will go directly to the library staff for programming use and supplies.

No early birds, please.

If you need a book bag for your purchases, FOSEL's  beautiful and sturdy library bags made will be available for sale at $10. Check those book shelves in your home for any books you loved but no longer need: someone else will likely love them, too.

Children's Programming for May, June and July at South End Library in Full Swing

Leave room in your summer schedule for these exciting programs at the South End Library.

Special events to note:

Tween & Teen Dance Workshop, with Jerusha Aman

June 4, 6:30-7:30

Join Jerusha, from Urbanity Dance, in trying the latest contemporary and hip-hop moves!

The View from Anne Frank's Window

June 6, 4:00 -5:00

Explore what Anne Frank could see from her window in the Secret Annex, and combine it all in a special "views and visions" collage.

Mixed-Media Collage for Tween/Teens: Make a Summer Journal

July 2, 6:30-8:00

Learn how to create your own collage journal to preserve summer fun and memories.

Ongoing weekly programming includes:

Toddler Story Time: Mondays at 10:30

Preschool Story Time: Wednesdays at 10:30

Lego Club: every third Wednesday from 4:00 to 5:00

Art Journal Making (for 4th through 10th graders,) with artist and graphic designer Mary Owens: the last Thursday of every month, from 4:00 to 5:00

For more programming see the South End Library calendar on the Boston Public Library web site, link below:

http://www.bpl.org/branches/se_calendar.htm

Never Mind the Global Perspective: Locals Flock to the South End Branch Library to Listen to Authors Who Write About Their Town

Barbara Shapiro Signing Books

When the day begins with the New York Times, the Boston Globe and the South End News, invariably I go for the neighborhood paper first. I am not alone in my skewed judgment: local wins. At the South End Library's most recent readings, local won again when, small and large, but always enthusiastic audiences listened intently to two authors talking about their very different books, both playing in Boston. April 23 saw Joe Gallo present a slideshow about his outstanding illustrated guide to local public sculptures and reliefs, Boston Bronze and Stone Speak to Us;  a week later, South End author Barbara Shapiro talked to a standing-room only audience about her 2012 suspense thriller The Art Forger, set in Boston and based on the theft of half a billion dollars worth of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.

Joe Gallo, Next to the Women's Memorial Pedestal

Joe Gallo researched, wrote and published his book after walking through the city made him curious about its public art.  He'd had a successful career as an educator and entrepreneur and wanted "to give back to the public." The self-published  Boston Bronze and Stone Speak to Us is an excellent guide to the city's sculptures and statues, with beautiful photographs, informative maps showing numbered stars linking sculptures to page numbers for easy exploration. The impassioned author likes to point out that the three women depicted in the Boston Women's Memorial on Commonwealth Avenue --Lucy Stone, Abigail Adams and Phyllis Wheatley--  lean on and stand against their pedestals but none stand ON them...Gallo hopes to publish another edition of his book, in which he hopes to include at least some of the many works of public art he could not put in the current version.

Barbara Shapiro's sixth novel, The Art Forger, was picked up by a publisher other than herself, "after 26 years in the trenches," as she put it. Standing in front of a spellbound  audience, she debunked Virginia Woolf's belief that women need "a room of their own" to write in: "All I needed was a working husband with benefits," she said. She is now returning the favor to him, she added. While she was at it, she sent another notion sailing, too, namely  "to only write what you know." "After my 11th novel I ran out of things I knew. I wanted to write what I could learn about, " she told the amused audience. Thus, she immersed herself in the life of "Belle," as she came to call Isabelle Stewart Gardner, and the mind-numbing theft of 13 works of her collected art, none of which found, none of which insured (could there be a connection?). Moving to the South End eight years ago where she  became involved with the local art community, plus an accidental Google link to the words "art forgery," finally allowed Shapiro to combine the four story strands that had been playing in her head.  She wrote an enthralling tale of wealthy Bostonians, struggling artists, the art forgery world and art theft, all set in our town. Her next novel is in an editor's hands so..stay tuned. Shapiro's five favorite books are listed under the South End Reads tab on this web site.

NEXT SOUTH END WRITES READINGS:

Tuesday, May 14, 6:30 p.m.

Dennis Lehane

The spectacularly successful author who grew up in Dorchester and is ALSO one of the nine BPL trustees, last week won the 2013 Edgar Award for his latest novel, Live by Night. Set in Boston in the 1920s, the New York Times’ reviewer called the book a “sentence-by-sentence pleasure.” The Edgars are named for the poet Edgar Allen Poe, and given to the best writers of mystery fiction, non-fiction and television. Previous novels include, among others, Gone Baby Gone, Shutter Island and Mystic River --all made into fabulous movies-- and  The Given Day.

Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m.

Alice Hoffman

Alice Hoffman has published a total of twenty-one novels, three books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults. Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Hoffman’s work has been published in more than twenty translations and some one hundred foreign editions. Her novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. The distinguished author wrote the original screenplay “Independence Day,” a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her teen novel. Aquamarine, was made into a film starring Emma Roberts. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Harvard Review, Ploughshares and other magazines. Her latest,  The Dovekeepers, a historical novel describing the AD70 massacre at Masada from the point of view of four women at the fortress before it fell during the Jewish-Roman war, is the most recent of the nearly two dozen novels by Hoffman and just came out in paperback. She will be introduced at this talk by another distinguished writer, Sue Miller.

Tuesday, June 11, 6:30 p.m.

Alice Stone,

the local filmmaker whose mesmerizing documentary, Angelo Unwritten, has followed the life of a teenager adopted out of foster care when he was twelve, will return with an update of new material gathered since December 2011.

Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m.

Philip Gambone

will return to read from his current work-in-progress, retracing the steps of his father who, as a soldier, was sent to Europe during the Second World War.

After a Sad Week in Boston, FOSEL Resumes its Author Series Tuesday, April 30, with Barbara Shapiro (The Art Forger), Followed by Dennis Lehane (Live by Night), May 14 and Other Speakers

Barbara Shapiro

Nothing will be as it was before April 15's disastrous events, although it may seem that way: The gardens in front of the library are in bloom as they were last year; so are the trees in Library Park. The Hubway bikes have been reinstalled at the corner of West Newton Street and the trash bins on the block still overflow from time to time, just as always.

FOSEL is preparing for next Tuesday's reading and is looking for a date to have Doug Bauer return, the author who was scheduled to read on April 16 from What Happens Next?: Matters of Life and Death. It is a title that could not have been more appropriate for the occasion. But we needed to pause.

We resume the The South End Writes series on Tuesday, April 30 with a reading by Barbara Shapiro from her suspense novel, The Art Forger. She will be followed on May 14 by Dennis Lehane (Live by Night) and Alice Hoffman (The Dovekeepers) on May 21.  Shapiro, a South End resident, based her book on the theft twenty-five years ago at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum when it (and the world) was robbed of thirteen works of art. They included four by Rembrandt:  Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633), a Lady and Gentleman in Black (1633), a self portrait (1634), and an etching on paper; Vermeer’sThe Concert (1658–1660);  Govaert Flinck’s Landscape with an Obelisk (1638);  an ancient Chinese vase; five works on paper by Edgar Degas; a finial from the top of a pole support for a Napoleonic silk flag; and Manet’s painting, Chez Tortoni (1878–1880).

Shapiro is intimately familiar with these works, and virtually every other aspect of this unsolved art heist, as a result of the research she did to transform the givens of the case into the literary thriller that was published last year. She wrote five previous suspense novels, including The Safe Room, Blind Spot, See No Evil, Blameless and Shattered Echoes, and four screenplays, Blind Spot, The Lost Coven, Borderline and Shattered Echoes. She teaches Creative Writing at Northeastern University. The author will be introduced by local filmmaker Alice Stone, who is scheduled to talk about her work-in-progress, the documentary, Angelo Unwritten, on June 11.

Tuesday's event starts at 6:30 PM. Books will be available for borrowing and sale at the reading. Shapiro's five favorite books are listed under The South End Reads, with the selections of this season's previous authors.

Next readings:

Tuesday, May 14, 6:30 p.m.

Dennis Lehane,

the spectacularly successful author who grew up in Dorchester and is ALSO a BPL trustee, published his latest novel, Live by Night, in 2012. Set in Boston in the 1920s, the New York Times’ reviewer called the book a “sentence-by-sentence pleasure.” Previous novels include, among others, Gone Baby Gone,Shutter Islandand Mystic River, all made into fabulous movies.

Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m.

Alice Hoffman

The Dovekeepers, a historical novel describing the AD70 massacre at Masada from the point of view of four women at the fortress before it fell during the Jewish-Roman war, is the most recent of the nearly two dozen novels by Hoffman and just came out in paperback. To be introduced by Sue Miller.

Tuesday, June 11, 6:30 p.m.

Alice Stone,

the local filmmaker whose mesmerizing documentary, Angelo Unwritten, has followed the life of a teenager adopted out of foster care when he was twelve, will return with an update of new material gathered since December 2011.

Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m.

Philip Gambone

will return to read from his current work-in-progress, retracing the steps of his father who, as a soldier, was sent to Europe during the Second World War.

Tonight's Reading at the South End Library by Doug Bauer ("What Happens Next?: Matters of Life and Death") Has Been Cancelled Due to the Boston Marathon Bombings

Doug Bauer poster

Due to the bombings at yesterday's Boston Marathon, FOSEL's board and author Doug Bauer have cancelled tonight's scheduled reading from What Happens Next?: Matters of Life and Death.The board members extend their condolences to the loved ones of the victims and their empathy and sympathy to the many injured survivors, their families and their friends.

We treasure the vitality of this city, as do all our supporters. We will do all we can to restore and repair it with the passion we have for safe public spaces, civic life, books and films that help us understand the lives we live, art that makes us see the world better, and music to console and revive us. We thank the South End library staff in helping us accomplish these goals.

The next scheduled authors in The South End Writes series are:

Tuesday, April 30, 6:30 p.m.

Barbara Shapiro

wrote The Art Forger  as a fictionalized suspense thriller based on the heartbreaking heist of 13 irreplacable paintings from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. The author of five other suspense novels, and the non-fiction The Big Squeeze, the South End resident  teaches creative writing at Northeastern University.

=====

Tuesday, May 14, 6:30 p.m.

Dennis Lehane,

the spectacularly successful author who grew up in Dorchester and is ALSO a BPL trustee, published his latest novel, Live by Night, in 2012. Set in Boston in the 1920s, the New York Times’ reviewer called the book a “sentence-by-sentence pleasure.” Previous novels include, among others, Gone Baby Gone,Shutter Islandand Mystic River, all made into fabulous movies.

=====

Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m.

Alice Hoffman

The Dovekeepers, a historical novel describing the AD70 massacre at Masada from the point of view of four women at the fortress before it fell during the Jewish-Roman war, is the most recent of the nearly two dozen novels by Hoffman and just came out in paperback. To be introduced by Sue Miller.

=====

Tuesday, June 11, 6:30 p.m.

Alice Stone,

the local filmmaker whose mesmerizing documentary, Angelo Unwritten, has followed the life of a teenager adopted out of foster care when he was twelve, will return with an update of new material gathered since December 2011.

=====

Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m.

Philip Gambone

will return to read from his current work-in-progress, retracing the steps of his father who, as a soldier, was sent to Europe during the Second World War.

=====

Visitors to BPL's Johnson Building Judge Library's Services and Physical Condition Harshly but Offer Many Suggestions for Planned Improvements

Get rid of mice

Two display panels describing the Johnson Building Improvement Project and asking for public comment seem to have hit a raw nerve last week. On Monday, paper-covered panels were filled with hundreds of observations and criticisms, handwritten and on post-it notes, mostly negative, but with many suggestions for improvements. On Wednesday,  they were replaced with fresh sheets of paper which, by the end of the day, had covered half of the available space again.

Years of budget cutbacks to the public library system; a weak and disorganized constellation of BPL lobbyists at the local, state and federal level; and a poisonous relationship between the previous library president and the current mayor have left the 1970s addition to the McKim Building in a state of disrepair. And an easy target for the frustrated public which left the following messages: "Fix glitches in the on-line catalogue." "What happened to the arm chairs?" "Turn down the heat in the Johnson Building: it's always too hot." "More books, fewer computers." "Fix and clean the bathrooms." "A friendlier staff: I'm surprised when someone is helpful." "Better toilet paper." "Friendlier security guards." "An area where I can use my laptop when it's plugged in."  "Add more local papers and archives to data base." "From the atrium, graphics to show where the call numbers are."  "Be more informed and welcoming to visitors." "Staff none too friendly." "AP tutors."  "Bring back newspapers." "Magazines that circulate please." "Bring back the reading room." "Scrap paper at catalogue tables." "Install bike racks at the entrance...lots of them." "Fix the sidewalk so it's not a tripping hazard." "Create an outdoor plaza with benches and planters." "Open the library to the street." "Get better books, not just bestsellers." "Bathrooms are disgusting." "More light." "A targeted quiet space." "A store to sell library books." "Pay fines on-line." "Hang a huge sparkling mobile in the central atrium." "Phone-charging stations." " More windows." "Take down the barriers." "Kiosk for entrepreneurs and local artists to promote, sell, give work and info." "Meeting space for small non-profits." "Boards like these should be up all the time." "Take down the barriers." "Resources for the homeless." "Bring back the periodicals room."  "Clean, clean clean." "Keep the restaurant open Saturdays." "Keep the restaurant open until after lectures at night." A second-floor bathroom." "Coffee shop" "More selection in teen room." "Teen room should be hip." "Teen room should be easy to find." "Teen room should have computers." "Humanize." Have people who can alphabetize books."   "Remove dirty carpet."  "Have employees who want to be here: others would love their jobs."  "Why do staff seem so unfriendly: are you treating them well?"  "Get on the ball stocking shelves with terrific new writers." "More color." "Get the maps of Boston off the ground." "Make cards, souvenirs, bags, history of library books available."  "Mice." "No multi-language signage but multi-language children's books: disgraceful." "More selection in teen room." "Teen room should be hip." "Teen room should be easy to find." "Teen room should have computers." "Humanize." Have people who can alphabetize books."

One of the two comment display panels

And then there was this one: "Boards like this should be up all the time."

The current effort to revamp the down-trodden Johnson Building into a modern, exciting, light-filled space that welcomes library users and visitors instead of aggravating them is led by an outside six-member local Community Advisory Committee, BPL staff headed by president Amy Ryan, and the architectural firm of Rawn Associates, designers of the Mattapan, East Boston and Cambridge Public Library, among other places. Part of the project includes the consideration of leasing some of the one-million-square-feet building to "library-mission-compatible commercial space." A consulting group, Byrne/McKinney, is working on that aspect.

The CAC meetings for the Johnson Improvement Project are open to the public. The next one will be held on Wednesday, May 8 at 8:30 AM in the Johnson Building's Lower Level Conference Room 5. Check the BPL web site under News and Events. Scroll down to Strategic Planning for further information and dates, OR go to the FOSEL web site under Community News, which carries several previous posts about this exciting but challenging project. 

FOSEL's Sixth Annual Easter Egg Hunt Drew a Large Crowd with Many Volunteers, a City Council Candidate and Kids Young and Old on the First Mild Day after a Long Cold Snap..

Reported by Ann Lloyd

Warm sunshine, a tall bunny, and a hundred or so eager egg hunters made the Sixth Annual Easter Egg Hunt, Sunday, March 31, in Library Park another big success. Many thanks to all the volunteers who made it happen: the steadfast bunny, otherwise known as Jean-Jacques Dubreuil, who had to be sweltering inside that furry suit during the many photo ops requested by the crowd; the FOSEL folks who laboriously stuffed more than 1200 plastic eggs with chocolates and poems;  Nathalie Dubreuil, who collated a new crop of poems; other library supporters like at-large city council candidate Suzanne Lee who hid countless eggs; and the many Friends who showed up at 9:30 AM to set up snack tables and blow up balloons. Thanks most of all to the South End neighbors for turning out and creating such a festive, friendly event.

Marcia Lloyd and Suzanne Lee with an egg huntress

People seemed to linger and chat long after eggs were snatched up and the delicious snacks --including the annual contribution of Liane Crawford's amazing cupcakes-- were eaten. The donation jar was generously filled and parents thanked the volunteers over and over. One dad said, “This is the most well-executed egg hunt we’ve been to.” Several parents expressed gratitude for the roped-off area for small children. The egg hunt is one of the most fun neighborhood things FOSEL does, and it seems to be more appreciated every year. Many thanks, too, to Area D4 for their assistance and to the wonderful staff of the South End Library for, among other things, their beautiful painting of the Easter bunny. Last but not least, big a big thank-you to Mary Owens for designing yet another poster for her beloved library.

Bunny Jean-Jacques Dubreuil greeting his delighted parents

Mike Lloyd took many pictures, some featured on this page. Others are now on display in the library’s window.

The Sixth Annual South End Library Easter Egg Hunt Will Start Sunday, March 31, at 11:00 a.m. (and End at 11:02 a.m. So Be On Time)

The Annual SE Library Easter Egg Hunt

Some 1,200 Easter eggs filled with chocolate eggs, knock-knock jokes and a new crop of children's poems will be laid out by the Easter Bunny early next Sunday, March 31st. The gates to Library Park will be closed until the countdown begins, 30 seconds before 11:00 a.m. Once they open, the guess is a few minutes are all that's needed to clear the field. That is, except for the tiny-tot area, where it may take a little longer. The Parks Department will clean beforehand (that's what a permit entitles us to) and an officer from Area D4 will help parents and children cross the street. There will be balloons, refreshments and South End Library tote bags for sale. Good weather has been ordered. Bring your own baskets or use ours: we have plenty. See you there....

Whither the Plinths: Success of Retail Addition and Library Upgrades to BPL's Johnson Building May Hinge on Landmarks' Approval to Remove Visual Barricades on Boylston and Exeter Streets

Exeter St plinths

There are many reasons why the Boylston Street entrance to the Copley Library --known as the Johnson building-- can't hold a candle to the grace and appeal of the McKim building to which it is --awkwardly-- connected, according to participants in the so-called Johnson Improvements project, now underway at the BPL. But the  focal point of their wrath has become the 93 plinths that encase the Johnson building on three sides. The seven-foot granite barriers were placed there in the 1970s after architect Philip Johnson, who had designed the addition without any windows fronting the streets, compromised with then-BPL trustees who insisted on having windows. "He put them in but then covered them up," explained Bill Rawn, who was hired by the BPL as the lead architect to help rejuvenate the Johnson building and create viable retail space to go with it. The plinths obstruct natural light, cut off the library from the street, and create a dead zone on what should be a prominent block on Boylston Street, say the eight members of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC). The success of the project,  which has for its goals revitalizing the library's Deferrari Hall, a new and expanded Children's Room on the second floor as well as revenue-producing retail space on the first floor and concourse level below, may well hinge on the removal of the vertical barriers.

There will be little opposition from the Library Board:  "I just want to make sure the plan is for the plinths to come down," said Rep. Byron Rushing, one of the eight trustees on the nine-member board, after an in-depth presentation last Tuesday by Rawn, the eminent architect of a number of local libraries, Mattapan, East Boston and the Cambridge downtown library among them. "If all we do here is remove the plinths," Rushing continued, "this project will be a success as far as I am concerned." "If necessary, I'll loan you my gavel for it," joked Library Board chair, Jeff Rudman.

What is no joke, however, is that the plinths, as well as the facade of the Johnson building and Deferrari Hall on the inside, have landmark status. Boston's Landmark Commission will have to approve the changes, without which creating attractive commercial space and long-overdue major upgrades to the Central Library are unlikely. But opening up the library to the street and reconnecting it to the community is an important goal for architect Rawn, as it is to the CAC members and BPL executives. Which means convincing the Boston Landmarks Commission to approve removing the plinths will be key.

Boylston Street plinths of the BPL

Monetizing some of the one million square feet that makes up the Central Library may seem incompatible with an institution that has the words  FREE TO ALL carved above its entrance. A baby step in the process of capturing revenue for the BPL occurred in 2009 when the City moved the Kirstein Business Library, then located in its own building behind the Old City Hall downtown, to the lower level of the Central Library on Boylston Street. Revenue from the Kirstein trusts that paid for operations at the previous location has since been used by the Central Library to offset  its operating costs, after court approval in 2010.

Merging commercial enterprise with the library's mission to capture income poses thornier issues, however, including whether the revenue generated by public library space will be applied directly to the BPL or to the City's coffers for general use. The hours needed for successful retail operations, especially innovation/high-tech spaces that are open 24/7 --proposed for the lower-level concourse where Rabb Hall is located-- don't match limited library hours either. A spokeswoman for the librarian's union stated, moreover, that for increased hours of operations at the BPL to mesh with the hours demanded by successful retail space "should not be negotiated on the backs of library staff" and that preference should be given to retailers who provide good wages and benefits. Finally, maintaining  security for both the library's collection and retail establishments while promoting easy access and a welcoming environment at the same time, will require additional sophisticated, and expensive, solutions. CAC member Gary Saunders wondered whether it would make sense for any retail space at the Johnson building to have a completely separate entrance from the library. But first....the plinths...Stay tuned.

The CAC meetings are open to the public. The next one will be held April 10, although the date still has to be confirmed. Check the BPL web site under News and Events. Scroll down to Strategic Planning for further information and dates.

South End Author Mari Passananti Returns to the South End Library to Read from her New Suspense Thriller, "The K Street Affair," Tuesday, March 19, 6:30 PM

]Mari Passananti poster

Mari Passananti once took her father's advice and went to law school instead of journalism school. She practiced law for a while, became a legal headhunter, but finally quit to write. Her first novel, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken, was published in 2011; her second, The K Street Affair, just came out this year. Her background as an attorney and legal headhunter came in handy for this suspense thriller, since it plays out in our nation's capital and involves the FBI, Saudi and Russian oil interests and a roster of high-profile legal clients. She will read from her latest on Tuesday, March 19, at 6:30 PM at the South End branch.

Passananti is currently working on her third novel. Her books will be for sale and for borrowing at the South End Library. The event is free.

The next scheduled authors in The South End Writes series are:

=====

Tuesday, April 16, 6:30 p.m.

Doug Bauer

Editor, writer of numerous books of fiction and non-fiction, and revered professor of Literature at Bennington College (to where he commutes from the South End), Bauer will read from his most recent collection of essays, What Happens Next?: Matters of Life and Death. It willbe published in the fall of 2013  by the University of Iowa Press. His previous work includes three novels --Dexterity, followed by The Very Air, and The Book of Famous Iowans, both New York Times Notable Books; and two non-fiction books, Prairie City, Iowa and The Stuff of Fiction. He has edited anthologies, such as Prime Times: Writers on their favorite television shows; and Death by Pad Thai and Other Unforgettable Meals. He has received grants in fiction and creative non-fiction from the National Endowment for the Arts.

=====

Tuesday, April 30, 6:30 p.m.

Barbara Shapiro

wrote The Art Forger  as a fictionalized suspense thriller based on the heartbreaking heist of 13 irreplacable paintings from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. The author of five other suspense novels, and the non-fiction The Big Squeeze, the South End resident  teaches creative writing at Northeastern University.

=====

Tuesday, May 14, 6:30 p.m.

Dennis Lehane,

the spectacularly successful author who grew up in Dorchester and is ALSO a BPL trustee, published his latest novel, Live by Night, in 2012. Set in Boston in the 1920s, the New York Times’ reviewer called the book a “sentence-by-sentence pleasure.” Previous novels include, among others, Gone Baby Gone,Shutter Islandand Mystic River, all made into fabulous movies.

=====

Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m.

Alice Hoffman

The Dovekeepers, a historical novel describing the AD70 massacre at Masada from the point of view of four women at the fortress before it fell during the Jewish-Roman war, is the most recent of the nearly two dozen novels by Hoffman and just came out in paperback. To be introduced by Sue Miller.

=====

Tuesday, June 11, 6:30 p.m.

Alice Stone,

the local filmmaker whose mesmerizing documentary, Angelo Unwritten, has followed the life of a teenager adopted out of foster care when he was twelve, will return with an update of new material gathered since December 2011.

=====

Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m.

Philip Gambone

will return to read from his current work-in-progress, retracing the steps of his father who, as a soldier, was sent to Europe during the Second World War.

=====

.

Andre Dubus III, Author of "Townie," Describes the Bones of his Memoir as "I Know What Happened, But What the Hell Happened?"

Standing before a tightly packed audience upstairs at the South End Library, novelist Andre Dubus III  talked about the genesis of  Townie, and the pitfalls of writing memoirs in general.Townie was an "accidental memoir," he told the mesmerized listeners. He had written several novels (House of Sand and Fog, The Garden of Last Days, Bluesman), but started on what became Townie as an exploration of why he never learned to play baseball the way his sons had. Watching their  coaches yell things at them like "Bobby, I want nothing but strikes outta you, you hear that, nothing but strikes,"  Dubus III always assumed he never got into baseball because it was "too competitive" and therefore just "didn't give a damn." Four years and five hundred pages later he had produced a heart-rending memoir detailing his family's life after his "charismatic father," one of America's best short-story writers, Andre Dubus, "dumped" his mother, a former  Louisiana beauty pagaent winner. She was 27, uneducated, with four young children and no income. She found a job and went back to school but her social-work career left the fridge bare and the rent often unpaid.

Andre Dubus III signing books

Author Doug Bauer, who introduced Dubus III, said Townie's "raw prose" told two tales: of growing up amid the economic despair of the mill towns of the Merrimack River valley with a mother "long on love and short on cash," and of Dubus III 's "generous acceptance" of his father as a man for whom writing was "essential." Dubus III, now reconciled and resolved about who his father was, told the audience he finds he has to defend him to reviewers and readers. A priest who had once been a stockbroker, asked him if his father, who wrote so "insightfully,"  had been "a fraud." "All I could say," Dubus III commented, "was that the writer was larger than the man. He was gifted, but AWOL as a father."  He worried that perhaps he had not "nailed" his father in his memoir but realized one of the pitfalls of memoir-writing is that it is your truth at a particular moment in time, not someone else's. "It is easy to confuse the writer with the man," he told the crowd. "But I couldn't idealize him. My father was a deeply flawed man who, as a writer, illuminated the truth."

Dubus III's new novel, "Dirty Love," will appear in October. The author has promised to return to the South End Library for a repeat performance. His five favorite books are listed under The South End Reads.

The next South End Writes reading will be on Tuesday, March 19, when South End writer Mari Passananti will talk about her latest suspense thriller, The K Street Affair.

Tuesday, March 19, 6:30 p.m.

Mari Passananti

will read from her second novel, The K Street Affair.

Tuesday, April 16, 6:30 p.m.

Doug Bauer

Editor, writer of numerous books of fiction and non-fiction, and revered professor of English at Bennington College (to where he commutes from the South End), Bauer will read from his most recent collection of essays, What Happens Next?: Matters of Life and Death, to be published in the fall of 2013  by the University of Iowa Press. His previous work includes several novels, including Dexterity, The Very Air, and The Book of Famous Iowans; and two non-fiction books, Prairie City, Iowa and The Stuff of Fiction. He has edited anthologies, such as Prime Times: Writers on their favorite television shows; and Death by Pad Thai and Other Unforgettable Meals. 

Tuesday, April 30, 6:30 p.m.

Barbara Shapiro

wrote The Art Forger  as a fictionalized suspense thriller based on the heartbreaking heist of 13 irreplacable paintings from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. The author of five other suspense novels, and the non-fiction The Big Squeeze, the South End resident  teaches creative writing at Northeastern University.

Tuesday, May 14, 6:30 p.m.

Dennis Lehane,

the spectacularly successful author who grew up in Dorchester and is ALSO a BPL trustee, published his latest novel, Live by Night, in 2012. Set in Boston in the 1920s, the New York Times’ reviewer called the book a “sentence-by-sentence pleasure.” Previous novels include, among others, Gone Baby Gone,Shutter Islandand Mystic River, all made into fabulous movies.

Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m.

Alice Hoffman

The Dovekeepers, a historical novel describing the AD70 massacre at Masada from the point of view of four women at the fortress before it fell during the Jewish-Roman war, is the most recent of the nearly two dozen novels by Hoffman and just came out in paperback. To be introduced by Sue Miller.

Tuesday, June 11, 6:30 p.m.

Alice Stone,

the local filmmaker whose mesmerizing documentary, Angelo Unwritten, has followed the life of a teenager adopted out of foster care when he was twelve, will return with an update of new material gathered since December 2011.

Tuesday, June 18, 6:30 p.m.

Philip Gambone

will return to read from his current work-in-progress, retracing the steps of his father who, as a soldier, was sent to Europe during the Second World War.

Looking for Good Reads? Visiting "South End Writes" Authors List Their Five Favorite Books...

reading books

Susan Naimark (09/20/12 "The Education of a White Parent:  Wrestling with Race and Opportunity in the Boston Public Schools"): 1. The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson

2. The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander

3. Country of My Skull, by Antjie Krog

4. The Education of a WASP, by Lois M. Stalvey

5. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman

L. Annette Binder (09/25/12, "Rise")

1. No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy

2. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

3. Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon

4. Play It as It Lays, by Joan Didion

5. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace

Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (10/09/12: "The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years after Fifty")

1. Still Alice by Lisa Genova

2. The Known World by Edward P. Jones

3. Plainsong by Kent Haruf

4. Brown Girl Brownstones by Paule Marshall

5. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

Margaret Sullivan and Sgt. Detective Dr. Kim L. Gaddy (10/16/12:“Boston’s Fairest,”  an exhibit and lecture about the first 50 years of women in the Boston Police Department by the  BPD’s archivist, documenting the careers of wives and mothers who took on gangsters and bootleggers.)

1.Sarah's Long Walk: The free Blacks of Boston and How Their Struggle for Equality Changed America,  by Stephen Kendrick and Paul Kendrick

2. THE SISTERS: The Saga of the Mitford Family, by Mary S. Lovell

3.  DARK TIDE: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, by Stephen Puleo

4.  A City in Terror : The 1919 Boston Police Strike,  by Francis Russell. Digitized by the Boston Public Library at <http://archive.org/details/officersmenstati00tapp>http://archive.org/details/officersmenstati00tapp

Maryanne O'Hara (10/2//5/12, "Cascade")

1. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte 

2. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

3. Immortality, Milan Kundera

4. The Master, Colm Toibin

5. Selected Stories, Alice Munro

6. Collected Stories, William Trevor

Margot Livesey (10/30/12, "The Flight of Gemma Hardy")

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

2. The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West

3. The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford

4. Middlemarch by George Elliot

5. The Leopard by Lampedusa

Stephen Davis(11/1/12, "More Room in a Broken Heart: the True Adventures of Carly Simon")

1. The Aleph,  by Jorge Luis Borges

2. Collected Stories, by Paul Bowles

3. Offshore, by Penelope Fitzgerald

4. For Your Eyes Only, by Ian Fleming

5. Spies of the Balkans, by Alan Furst

Leah Hager Cohen (1/15/13, "The Grief of Others")

1. How Green Was My Valley, by Richard Llewellyn

2. Dime Store Alchemy, by Charles Simic

3. The Keeping Days, by Norma Johnston

4. Binocular Vision, by Edith Pearlman

5. Middlemarch, by George Eliot

Lynne Potts(1/29,  "A Block in Time: a History of the South End from a Window on Holyoke Street")

1. The Baron in the Trees by  Italo Calvino  (fiction)

2. Pale Fire  by Vladimir Nabokov  (fiction)

3. Omenos, by  Derek Walcott (poetry)

4. To the Lighthouse , by Virginia Woolf (fiction)

5. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: a Journey through Yugoslavia," by Rebecca  West (non-fiction)

April Bernard (2/5, "Miss Fuller")

1. Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes

2. Geography IIIby Elizabeth Bishop

3. Virgil's Eclogues, translation by David Ferry

4. Villette by Charlotte Bronte

5. Desire by Frank Bidart

Andre Dubus III(2/26, "Townie")

1. Ironweed, by William Kennedy

2. Let the Great World Spin, by Column McCann

3. Any short story collection by Alice Munro

4. Bastard Out of Carolina, by Dorothy Alison

5. Dalva, by Jim Harrison

Mari Passananti (3/19, "The K Street Affair")

1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

2. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

3. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

4. The God of Small Things by Arundati Roy

5. A Time to Kill by John Grisham

Doug Bauer (4/16, "What Happens Next: Matters of Life and Death")

1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. The Collected Stories of John Cheever;

3. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

4. The Professor's House by Willa Cather

5. Ragtime, by E. L. Doctorow

Barbara Shapiro (4/30, "The Art Forger")

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

2. The Poisonwood Bible, by  Barbara Kingsolver

3. The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien

4. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

5. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides

Dennis Lehane (5/14, "Live by Night")

1.  The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2.  Clockers, by Richard Price

3. Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy

4. The Last Good Kiss, by James Crumley

5. The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas

Alice Hoffman (5/21, "The Dovekeepers")

1. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

2. Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury

3. Andrew Lang's Books of Fairytales (any color)

4. Beloved, Toni Morrrison

5.  The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Local History and Dynamic Poetry Draw Big Crowds for Lynne Potts (A Block in Time) and Poet April Bernard (Miss Fuller, and New Poems)

It's a good thing that the South End Library offers elevator access to its second-floor community room: It allowed a harried-looking mother with three young children and a squeaky-wheeled stroller to come up and listen to a reading underway by poet April Bernard on a recent Tuesday night. "It made my day," the grateful mother said afterwards.

She was not alone. A large crowd had taken every seat in the room, spellbound first by Bernard's forceful reading from her 2012 fictionalized history of Boston-based feminist Margaret Fuller, followed by five new poems received with appreciative laughter and applause. A week earlier, a standing-room audience listened intently to Lynne Potts describe her 35 years living on Holyoke Street and the research she has done to tie the colorful fortunes of that single block to the larger tale of the South End's many cycles of rise and decline.

Poet April Bernard signing books

While "Miss Fuller" is fictionalized history, it is based on years of research and "coincides with facts as known," said Bernard, who teaches creative writing at Skidmore College. The story of how Henry Thoreau traveled to the shores of Long Island hoping to find a manuscript that might have survived the shipwreck in which Fuller drowned with her husband and young son in 1850, "planted a seed in my tooth" when she first heard of it, said Bernard. "What if he found something else?" That conceit is at the root of the novel's fiction, and allowed Bernard to weave a new and complex picture of Fuller's character and beliefs, set in tumultuous times when the changes she advocated caused great discomfort not just to close friends and others but also to herself. After a few audience questions, Bernard read five new poems, titled, When I was Thirteen I Saw Uncle Vanya; Werner Herzog in the Amazon; Tis Late; Lids; and Thunder-Mountain-Mesa-Valley-Ridge, all likely to be included in Bernard's next collection. Both Lynne Potts's and April Bernard's five favorite books can be found on this web site under the tab The South End Reads.

Local author Lynne Potts signing books

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On Tuesday, February 26, acclaimed author Andre Dubus III (House of Sand and Fog, The Garden of Last Days) will read from his riveting memoir, Townie, in which he describes the violence, bullying and loneliness of his childhoodafter his father, short-story writer Andre Dubus, leaves the family. He will be introduced by his colleague, Doug Bauer. The reading starts at 6:30 PM.

Those who missed Lynne Potts's reading have another chance to hear her when she will read from her book on Thursday, February 21 at the South End Historical Society, 532 Massachusetts Ave, at 6:30 PM. Reservations are required: 617 536-4445 or by email at admin@southendhistoricalsociety.org.

Nemo the Nor'easter Forces the Closing of the Entire Boston Public Library System --Including the South End Library-- Friday, February 8, Saturday, February 9 and Sunday, February 10.

Nemo the Nor'easter

On a day filled with headlines like "Potential Historic Blizzard Looms" and "Historic Crippling Blizzard Ahead" the Boston Public Library wisely decided to shut down all its branches Friday and Saturday February 8 and 9. And yes, that includes the South End library. In addition, the Central Library at Copley Square, the only facility in the library system open on Sundays,  will be closed on Sunday, February 10, as well.

If you can't make it through the snowy weekend without that book or DVD you meant to pick up, hop on a train, bus or bike and  get to the Copley Library now: it's open tonight till nine o'clock. Otherwise, dust off the sled and the trash-can lids, flatten out the cardboard box that new 80-inch television screen came in, and go sledding in Titus Sparrow Park. It will be the hot spot in the South End.

Poet April Bernard to Read from "Miss Fuller," a Fictionalized History of Feminist Margaret Fuller, Once "the Most Famous Woman in America," Tuesday, February 5, 6:30 PM at the SE Library

The cover of  Miss Fuller shows a stormy sea seen from the coast, ostensibly New York's Fire Island, where, in 1850, Margaret Fuller perished in a shipwreck with her Italian husband and two-year-old son. The tragic dimensions of Fuller's life and death are narrated from the points of view of various characters belonging to the Concord Transcendentalists, who had awaited her return. Henry David Thoreau, traveling to Fire Island hoping to find manuscripts among the soaked debris that washed ashore after the hurricane passed, finds something else instead, which forms the fictionalized framework of Bernard's 2012 work.

April Bernard is a novelist, poet, and essayist whose most recent book of poems is Romanticism (2009).  Previous poetry collections are Blackbird Bye Bye, Psalms, and Swan Electric.  Her work has appeared in The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The New Republic, The Nation, and Slate. She has taught widely and was for many years a magazine and book editor in New York City. Her honors include a Guggenheim award, the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets, a Whitney Humanities Fellowship at Yale University, a Sidney Harman Fellowship, and the Stover Prize. As Director of Creative Writing, she is a member of the English Department faculty at Skidmore College, and is also on the faculty of the Bennington MFA Writing Seminars. Her five favorite novels are listed under The South End Reads tab of the FOSEL web site.

Ms. Bernard will read from Miss Fuller as well as from her poetry collection, Romanticism. Both books will be available for sale, signing and borrowing from the library. The writer will be introduced by author Doug Bauer, also on the faculty of Bennington College, whose next collection of essays --What Happens Next?--will be published this fall.

On February 26, the South End Writes will host nationally known writer Andre Dubus III, who will read from Townie, a Memoir.

New Art Journaling (for the Young) and Writing Workshops (for the Young at Heart) to Start Thursdays at the South End Branch

art journaling

Two new art and writing workshop will be offered at the South End branch on Thursday afternoons, starting next week for one and a week later for the other. The first, "Art Journaling for Fifth-graders and Up" has been organized by children's librarian Margaret Gardner and will be held under the guidance of graphic designer Mary Owens, a long-time library supporter who also designs the snappy posters for The South End Writes series. The first  art-journaling workshop will be held next Thursday from 4:00 -5:00 PM, followed by additional ones each last Thursday of the month. In case you wondered what this might be about, here's a link to an art-journaling web site for kids, teens and beginners. Participants will create their own keepsake art journals in which to draw, write and make collages. The first session will be devoted to making the journals from materials provided for free at the library.

Ernest Hemmingway

"Writing in the World: a  Creative Writing Workshop for Adults" will beginThursday, February 7 at 3:00 PM and run weekly through April 11.  Led by writer and teacher, Debka Colson, the workshop is aimed at beginning writers age 55 and up to experiment with short fiction and poetry. Students will develop their skills through writing prompts, discussing examples by major writers, peer review and a public reading/reception at the end of the course. Fun exercises will help writing students reflect on life in their communities, and their roles in it, from a fresh perspective.   The class is limited to 10 participants who must commit to attending all sessions. Registration is required: call Anne Smart at 617 536-8241.

The writing workshop was funded by the MetLife Foundation in partnership with the Boston Public Library, Lifetime Arts Inc., and the American Library Association's Public Programming Office. In addition, The Friends of the South End Library are paying for materials and refreshments. 

Looking Back 45 Years and Longer, Lynne Potts Will Read from her Memoir, "A Block in Time: a History of the South End from a Window on Holyoke Street" Tuesday, January 29, 6:30 PM

Lynne Potts

"Holyoke Street, a single block of row houses in the South End of Boston, was built in the 1860s as housing for upper- and middle-class families," is how Lynne Potts begins the memoir of her time in what is now the largest Victorian neighborhood in the United States. In a carefully documented paperback illustrated with photographs and drawings, the author weaves a history of the beginnings of the South End in the early 1800s, when it was still mostly underwater, to its nascent form  as a neighborhood for wealthy Bostonians decades later, and its subsequent decline toward the end of the 19th century. How it reemerged in the 20th and 21st centuries as one of the most sought-after and diverse neighborhoods in Boston is the tale  with which she intertwines her own, arriving first in 1968 from New York City as a student and ten years later as a single mother with two young children, Sam and Emmy, to whom the book is dedicated.

Many names of local characters who helped shape the history of the neighborhood can be found in the pages of this delightful book, some still around, others not, including Eleanor Strong, Allan Crite, Ann Hershfang, Marcie Curry and Mel King. The movement to preserve open space in the neighborhood by means of establishing community garden plots,  the opening of first Bread and Circus store  (now Whole Foods), the creation of Southwest Corridor Park and historic fights to keep the South End branch of the Boston Public Library open are covered as well. In the 1980s, Potts began to write about it all for The South End News, then just founded as a 24-page local newspaper by Alison Barnet and Skip Rosenthal.

Lynne Potts is a poet who currently lives both in the South End and in New York City, where she received an MFA from Columbia University. Her poems have appeared in the Paris Review and other literary journals, and she was the Poetry Editor of the Columbia Journal of Literature and Art. Her five favorite books are listed under The South End Reads on this web site.