Tuesday, September 4th 2007

Dr. David Javersak

Celebrate Labor Day at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, September 4, 2007. Dr. David Javersak, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts at West Liberty State College, will be at the library’s Lunch With Books program to explain how and why Wheeling workers united to keep a Carnegie library out of town in 1904. Dr. Javersak will discuss his article, "One Place on the Great Green Planet Where Andrew Carnegie can't get a Monument with His Money”. Dr. Javersak will also touch on the career of Wheeling born labor leader Walter Reuther. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

New Programs Announced!

New Lunch With Books Programs for November 2007

Nov 6th Edwin Sharp, The Spirit of America

Meet author Edwin J. Sharp on Tuesday November 6th at noon at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program. Sharp’s new book, The Spirit of America, features a group of young people in their rendezvous with destiny as they experience the turbulent times of the Great Depression and World War II while growing up in Wheeling. Mr. Sharp has had an ongoing interest in history and possesses an intense interest in the American ideals that prompted the writing of this book. He has maintained close relationships with his classmates and will share their memories dating back to 1940. Mr. Sharp served three years in the U. S. Army with a tour of duty in Korea. He is a graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University, and served as a Special Agent of the FBI, focusing on Organized Crime investigations. Mr. Sharp is married and has four grown children and resides in Winchester, Virginia. Copies of The Sprirt of America will be available for sale and siging. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Nov 13th 2007, Greg Sabo, The Courier

On Tuesday, November 13th at noon, Filmmaker Greg Sabo of Sabo Studios (www.gregsabo.com) will discuss his recent digital motion picture, The Courier, which was filmed on location in Wheeling. The action film features Wheeling’s own Frank O’Brien as a mob boss. Greg Sabo is an award-winning cinematographer whose primary work is filming commercials. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Nov 20th, 2007, Kate Quinn, Buffalo Bill

On Tuesday, November 20th at noon, Kate Quinn will discuss the life of the legendary scout, hunter, and Pony Express rider Buffalo Bill Cody, who brought his famous Wild West Show to Wheeling on August 31st, 1895. The Wheeling show featured a reenactment of Custer’s Last Stand at Little Big Horn, as well as a performance by sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Nov 27th, 2007, Dr. Jean Edward Smith, FDR

On Tuesday, November 27th at noon, join renowned historian and biographer, Dr. Jean Edward Smith of Marshall University at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library. The author will discuss his latest book, FDR, a meticulously researched biography of the thirty-second President hailed by Publisher’s Weekly as an “eloquent synthesis of FDR's complex and compelling life...remarkably executed and a joy to read.” The Lunch With Books program is free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch. Free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Dr. Scott Hahn Offers Reasons to Believe

Dr. Scott Hahn Visits Lunch With Books

Franciscan University Professor Dr. Scott Hahn appeared at the Ohio County Public Library's Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, August 21st. The author of more than a dozen books on theology and Christianity, Dr. Hahn discussed ideas from his latest book, Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, & Defend the Catholic Faith.

Before a record LWB audience of 126 people, Dr. Hahn explained why he wrote a book dealing with the difficult subject of apologetics, the defense of faith in God in general, and Christianity and Catholicism in particular. Dr. Hahn based his defense on the natural world, reason, Biblical evidence, and theological evidence.

He discussed the current popularity of various atheist books on the bestseller list, and recommended Alister and Joanna McGrath's The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine as a counterpoint.

Dr. Hahn concluded by answering audience questions and spent more than an hour signing books after the event. He expressed some pleasant surprise regarding the local interest in his work and said he very much enjoyed his visit to Wheeling.

BLOOD DRIVE AT THE LIBRARY

The American Red Cross Blood Services will be holding a blood drive on Wednesday September 5th at Ohio County Public Library’s Auditorium from 10 am to 4pm. Our blood inventory levels are at or below a one day supply for most of the blood types. We are encouraging all eligible donors to come out and help save lives by donating blood. All presenting donors will receive a free cooler while supplies last and will be entered into 3 drawings: one drawing for 2 NASCAR tickets to the 2008 Daytona Race which includes round trip airfare and hotel; another drawing for a Gas Grill; and the final drawing for 4 tickets to the Brad Paisley concert at the Post Gazette Pavilion in Burgettstown PA.
To be a blood donor, individuals must be at least 17 years old, weigh 110 pounds or more, be in good general health, and not have donated blood within the past 56 days. The Greater Alleghenies Region recently increased the minimum weight limit to be consistent with other Red Cross Regions nationwide. For further donation information, or to check on other bloodmobile locations, individuals may call toll free 1-800-GIVE LIFE (1-800-448-3543) or go online at http://www.redcrosslife.org/. For information about the library, please call 304-232-0244.

eBay Day at the Library!

Would you like to learn how sell your Extra stuff on eBay? You are invited to a free class at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 beginning at noon and ending at 2:30 pm. Sponsored by the United States Postal Service and the OCPL’s Lunch With Books program, the class will be taught by Dina Lord, SBS, eBay Ambassador for the Pittsburgh District United States Postal Service. The class will include an introduction to buying and selling on eBay, the world’s largest and best known internet auction web site. Attendees will learn how to: register and get started; develop listings; use shipping labels through eBay/Paypal; pay for postage online; and use smart U.S. Postal Service shipping solutions, like free carrier pick-up at your home or office. Free educational materials designed to help you with your listings will also be available. For more information, please call the library at 304-232-0244.

DR. SCOTT HAHN, REASONS TO BELIEVE

DR. SCOTT HAHN

Popular speaker and teacher Dr. Scott Hahn will be at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, August 21st at noon. Dr. Hahn has delivered numerous talks nationally and internationally on a wide variety of topics related to Scripture and the Catholic faith. Over 500 of these talks have been produced on audio and videotapes by St. Joseph Communications.

Dr. Hahn is currently a Professor of Theology and Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he has taught since 1990, and is the founder and director of the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology. In 2005, he was appointed as the inaugural Chair of Biblical Theology and Liturgical Proclamation at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Dr. Hahn has written numerous books and articles, including, most recently, Letter and Spirit (Doubleday: New York, 2005), Understanding the Scriptures (Midwest Theological Forum: Chicago, 2005), and Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Dei (Doubleday Religion: New York, 2006). At Lunch With Books, he will discuss his latest book, Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith (Doubleday: New York, 2007).

Scott Hahn has ten years of youth and pastoral ministry experience in Protestant congregations (in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Kansas and Virginia) and is a former Professor of Theology at Chesapeake Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1982 at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, Virginia. He entered the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, 1986.

Copies of Reasons to Believe as well as other books will be available for purchase and signing.

Note: Ticketed Event. Very few seats remain. Those interested may be placed on a waiting list. Call the library at 304-232-0244 for more info.

American Pragmatism

Aug 14th, 2007, Dr. Richard Mullin

On Tuesday, August 14th at noon, Dr. Richard P. Mullin, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Wheeling Jesuit University, will discuss his new book: The Soul of Classical American Philosophy: The Ethical and Spiritual Insights of William James, Josiah Royce, and Charles Sanders Peirce.

The books presents the thought of three Americans whose deep and rich insights can reawaken the best that the human spirit has to offer. William James, Josiah Royce, and Charles Sanders Peirce lived and wrote at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, but their message rings true for us today.

Genuine philosophy signifies a way of life. William James pointed out that philosophy throws far-flashing beams of light without which we could not get along. James, Royce, and Peirce emphasized the primacy of ethics and the integration of rigorous scientific thinking with openness to religious faith.

The defining character of American philosophy is pragmatism. Erroneous notions of pragmatism abound, but its true meaning is this: the things that we really believe are those that we put into practice. In our present culture, many intellectual currents deny free will, dismiss the idea of community as nothing but a network of economic relations, and reduce the meaning of human existence to acquisitive materialism. The classical pragmatists, by contrast, offer a worldview that is scientific without being materialistic and which shows reverence for the communal and spiritual aspects of human existence.

The Soul of Classical American Philosophy serves to introduce the thought of James, Royce, and Peirce to non-specialists while offering a fresh interpretation to hold the interest of readers familiar with this area. Philosophy, and American life in general, can be rejuvenated by a drink from the spring of Classical American Philosophy.

Richard Mullin earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in philosophy from Duquesne University. After teaching philosophy for seven years at St. Bernard College in Alabama, Mullin joined the faculty at Wheeling Jesuit University where he taught for thirty years. He has lectured on American Philosophy in Slovenia and Slovakia, and has presented numerous papers to the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy throughout the United States and once in Poland.

Since retiring from full-time teaching his main occupation is writing. He and his wife, Marian, reside in Wheeling. The couple has three sons. Matthew, his wife, Dana, and their two daughters, reside in Fishers, Indiana; Marcus and his wife, Lisa, live in Wheeling; and Richard is a resident of Morgantown, West Virginia.

Copies of The Soul of Classical American Philosophy will be available for purchase and signing. For more information, please call the library at 304-232-0244.

New Programs Announced

A series of exciting new programs have been booked for the Ohio County Public Library's Lunch With Books Program for the fall of 2007. They include:

September 11th: Dr. D.W. Cummings

On Tuesday, September 11th at noon, Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library will welcome Dr. D.W. Cummings, the Pastor of the Bethlehem Apostolic Temple in Wheeling. Dr. Cummings is the current President of the Ohio Valley Pastor’s Association, and is a well-known and respected voice on radio, television, and in print. Dr. Cummings will discuss his recent travels in Africa and Israel and share his thoughts on Biblical prophecy and the End Times.

September 18th, 2007, Constitution Day: Dr. Joe Laker, Book Review

On Tuesday, September 18th at noon, the Ohio County Public Library will celebrate Constitution Day with Dr. Joe Laker, Professor of History at Wheeling Jesuit University. Dr. Laker will review Jan Crawford Greenburg's new book, Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle to Control the United States Supreme Court. The book is written for everyday readers, and includes an insider’s look at the personalities and political leanings of the justices who have been appointed to the nation’s highest Court in recent decades.

October 2nd—The Daughters of the American Revolution on the History of the Madonna of the Trails Statues

On Tuesday, October 2nd at noon, members of the Wheeling Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will be at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program to discuss the history and purpose behind the twelve “Madonna of the Trail” monuments, which were erected along National Road by the D.A. R. in the late 1920’s. The statues, one of which stands near Wheeling Park, were designed to commemorate the spirit of the woman pioneer.

October 9th 2007: Robert Tinnell, Feast of the Seven Fishes

On Tuesday, October 9th at noon, author Robert Tinnell will appear at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program. A Fairmont West Virginia native, Tinell will discuss his book, Feast of the Seven Fishes, a celebration of the Italian American Christmas Eve tradition of eating seven different kinds of seafood. The book began life in 2004 as an online comic strip drawn by artists Ed Piskor and Alex Saviuk. Now a graphic novel complete with recipes, Tinnell’s book chronicles a love story set against the backdrop of a 1983 feast. Although fictional, the events depicted in the book are based on the author’s real life experiences and composites of people he knew. Robert Tinnell is also a filmmaker and has written two other graphic novels. Production of the film version of Feast of the Seven Fishes begins in November 2007. For more on the book, visit www.feastofthesevenfishes.com. Copies of the book will be available for sale.

October 16th, Tea Time Traditions

On Tuesday, October 16th at noon, Judi Hendrickson and Jeanne Finstein will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library to share pictures and stories on the history and traditions of tea. The program will cover the first recorded use of tea through Victorian traditions related to tea etiquette.

photo by Miya

October 23: A Reunion to Die For with Author Lauren Carr

West Virginia author Lauren Carr will discuss her new murder mystery, A Reunion to Die For. A follow up to her first book, A Small Case of Murder, the new book follows prosecuting attorney Joshua Thornton to his high school reunion in Chester West Virginia in the midst of a series of murders.

Stalingrad

If you have an interest in World War II history, join Charleston writer A. V. Gallagher at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on August 7th at noon. A former journalist with both United Press International and the Associated Press as well as the Charleston Gazette, Gallagher will discuss his meticulously researched book, The Ghost Army. A work of historical fiction several years in the making, The Ghost Army chronicles the defeat of the German 6th Army by the Russians at the battle of Stalingrad. In the book, Gallagher explores the mysteriously bad decision making by one of Hitler’s best officers that led to the destruction of nearly 300,000 soldiers through starvation, exhaustion, disease, and enemy bullets. Copies of the books will be available for purchase and signing. For more information please visit www.theghostarmy.com or call the library at 304-232-0244.