Cars and Roads, Getting to Less
Katie Alvord
Wednesday, August 16, 6:00 pm

Cars clog highways. Roads fragment forests. The climate is warming. Demand for oil exacerbates international tensions. In town and out of town, locally and globally, our transportation system needs healing. What can we do? At this event author Katie Alvord will read from her two books and lead a discussion on how cutting car use and road building can offer a range of solutions.

One featured book, A Road Runs Through It: Reviving Wild Places, is a new anthology about the effects of roads on wild landscapes. In addition to an essay by Alvord, this collection includes pieces by Edward Abbey, Barry Lopez, Peter Matthiessen, Stephanie Mills, David Quammen, and others. Brokeback Mountain author Annie Proulx wrote the book’s Foreword. Alvord will also read from Divorce Your Car! Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile, a book she authored in 2000 which explores a variety of strategies for reducing car travel.

The reading and discussion will last from 6 to 7 p.m., and will be followed by a book signing.

Related Link:

• Katie Alvord A short introduction from EcoSpeakers.com.
• Divorce Your Car The web site for the book by Katie Alvord from its publisher, New Society Publishers.
• A Road Runs Through It The web site for the book edited by Thomas Reed Petersen from its publisher, Johnson Books.
• Wildlands CPR A conservation group seeking to mitigate off road vehicle abuse on public lands.

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The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Discussion to coincide the Sun Valley Shakespeare Festival
Wednesday, August 23, 6:00 pm

In its 7th year in the Wood River Valley, The Sun Valley Shakespeare Festival has come into its own — gifted actors, creative direction, set in the out of doors — experience Shakespeare Sun Valley style!

Please join director Bruce Wallace Hostetler, of Ashland, Oregon and producer Kathy Wygle of the nexStage Theatre for a discussion of The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare then and now, and its future in the Wood River Valley.

• Complete Works of William Shakespeare The web's first edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare presented by the Massachusetts Institue of Technology.
• The Comedy of Errors The Wikipedia entry describing this work of William Shakespeare.

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A Cultural History of Tibet
Lobsang Sangay
Thursday, August 24, 6:00 pm

In addition to being the first Tibetan to earn a Doctorate in Law from Harvard University, Lobsang Sangay was also one of the only two graduates receiving the prestigious special award for excellence. A specialist in international law and human rights, Sangay's thesis was on the Tibetan exile community's four decades of experiment with democracy.

Sangay has contributed articles to many renowned journals, including the Journal of Democracy, The Boston Globe, and Harvard Asia Quarterly. He was also a researcher for the book-length report titled "Tibet: Human Rights and the Rule of Law," published in 1998 by the International Commission of Jurist in Geneva, Switzerland.

Sangay said he owes his success to the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the love of his parents "who never understood why their son needed to spend more years in university than in school", and to the Tibetan Government-in-Exile who selected him for Fulbright scholarship to study in the United States. His abiding interest is in reaching out to mainland Chinese scholars and engaging in discussions on issues relating to the resolution of the Tibet question.

• Peace Broker An article about Lobsang Sangay and his efforts from Harvard Law Today.
• Tibetan Government in Exile Information on Tibetan culture, news, and political status from the exiled government headed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
• Conservancy for Tibetan Art and Culture Arts, traditions, people, and religion of Tibet.
• Tibet Internet Resources Links to sites on Tibetan culture, literature, language, and society compiled by the Asian Division of the Library of Congress.

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The Great Books Book Club
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Wednesday, August 30, 7:00 pm

Melville's classic novel Moby Dick is the selection for August's meeting of The Great Books Book Club. In addition to being simply a good story, Moby Dick also can be interpreted in many ways philosophically, socially, and morally.

The Great Books Book Club meets monthly, generally on the fourth Wednesday, at the Community Library and is free and open to all.

• Moby Dick Online The complete text of Moby Dick presented by Princeton University.
• Sperm Whales: The Real Moby Dick Online, print, and multimedia resources about sperm whales from PBS.
• Mashentucket Pequot Museum The whaler Pequod was named after the Pequot Indians who inhabited southeastern New England before the arrival of Europeans.

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Updated 15 August 2006

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