Friday March 4 at noon: Auschwitz Survivor Judge Thomas Buergenthal

On Friday, March 4 at noon, Judge Thomas Buergenthal will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library to discuss his memoir, A Lucky Child, in which he recounts his experiences as one of the youngest survivors of the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen. Judge Buergenthal served on the International Court of Justice from 2000 until 2010. Between 1979 and 1991, he was a judge and president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In the 1990s, he was a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the UN Truth Commission for El Salvador. After graduating from Bethany College and the New York University Law School, he received LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees from the Harvard Law School. Professor Buergenthal was the Dean of the Washington College of Law at the American University from 1980 to 1985 and is currently Lobingier Professor of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence at the George Washington University Law School. Buergenthal is the author of more than a dozen books and numerous journal articles dealing with international law and human rights. Copies of A Lucky Child will be available from Words & Music, Wheeling’s Fiercely Independent Bookstore. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

ArtsFest is Coming to Wheeling!

Wheeling's First Arts Festival was announced yesterday, and the library will play a prominent role!

Library guests will include critically acclaimed Wheeling authors Keith Maillard, George Fetherling, and Marc Harshman along with playwright Sean O'Leary and a number of additional local writers.

Be sure to mark your calendars for Aug. 19 and 20.

Stay tuned for more.

Tuesday March 1: ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Eleanor Roosevelt will visit the Lunch With Books program at the Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling on Tuesday, March 1 at noon. Portrayed by the excellent living historian Patty Cooper, Mrs. Roosevelt will be in town to drum up support for the war effort. She will hold a press conference at the library during which she will answer questions about her volunteer work for the American Red Cross among other things. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

A Tribute to Doc White, February 22, 2011

Curtis and Chu Jazz Up Lunch With Books

Curtis Johnson's amazing tribute to Leon Chu Berry today was attended by 110 people! Surely one of the best programs we have ever offered. Certainly one of my personal favorites. Thank you Curtis and thanks to all who attended. There's nothing like jazz and Chu was a true jazz pioneer.

Feb 22: Share your Memories of Doc White

In celebration of Black History Month, the community is invited to Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, February 22 at noon to share memories of James “Doc” White, the Wheeling pharmacist whose tireless work and generosity changed the lives of countless people and made Wheeling a better place to live. In 1986, Doc was elected to the Wheeling Hall of Fame “in the area of public service on the basis of a lifetime of devotion to the betterment of his community and its citizenry.” Rev. Willie Nevels will provide introductory remarks and Ann Thomas will facilitate the discussion. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Next Tuesday: REMEMBERING CHU BERRY

In celebration of Black History Month, Wheeling’s own saxophonist Curtis Johnson, will celebrate, through words and music, the tragically brief life of the great tenor saxophonist Leon “Chu” Berry on Tuesday February 15 at noon at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library. Born in Wheeling in 1908, Chu Berry performed with Cab Calloway and Count Basie, among many other legends. Had he not died in a car accident at only 33, Berry might have become the most significant jazz saxophonist of the 20th century. In addition to teaching at West Liberty and WVU, Curtis Johnson has performed with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, and Ray Charles. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Schedule Change

PLEASE NOTE: Due to a conflict, the appearance by Jaimy Gordon, author of the National Book Award winning novel Lord of Misrule originally scheduled for March 28, has been moved back one week to Monday, March 21 at noon.

For a nice overview of the program see this column by Linda Comins. But please keep in mind that the date is now MARCH 21 AT NOON.

Feb 8: Joe McCarthy's Wheeling Speech

On Feb 9, 1950, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech at the McLure Hotel during which he claimed to hold a list of known communists in the U.S. State Department. The speech grabbed national headlines and launched the era of paranoia and persecution now known as “McCarthyism.” On February 8 at noon Dr. Elizabeth Fones-Wolf, Chair of the department of history at West Virginia University (a U.S. Labor and Cold War History specialist), will talk about the significance of the speech and McCarthy’s rise and fall at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.