The Poetry of Marc Harshman (Oct 4)

 

Oct. 4 (Thurs.) The Poetry of Marc Harshman

West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman will read from his work courtesy the distinguished Hughes Lecture Series at West Liberty University.

 

Sept. 25: Dr. Michael Strada

Dr. Michael Strada, an award-winning professor of international studies at West Liberty College/University for many years, will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday September 25 at noon discuss his book, Behind West Liberty’s Sports Renaissance. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please call 304-232-0244 for more information.

Local Historic Landscape Preservation Sites

Landscape architects Andy Barger of the Wheeling Park Commission, and Wm. Gabriel Hays of Hays Landscape Architecture Studios, will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday September 18 at noon. The two experts will showcase local parks, estates, roads and points of interest designated as historic sites and the importance of their preservation. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please call 304-232-0244 for more information.

A Constitution Day Celebration

Happy 225th Birthday: U.S. Constitution

In celebration of the 225th birthday of the U.S. Constitution (September 17, 1787), the Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling, in partnership with the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation, is offering a full day of free programming on Monday, September 17, 2012 beginning at 11 am in the library’s auditorium.
The theme of the event will be “federalism,” defining the power relationship between the state and federal governments that has always challenged the nation’s founders, leaders and lawmakers. First up at 11 am, Patrick Henry will visit the library to explain why, despite being invited as one of Virginia’s most prominent leaders, he declined to attend the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Portrayed by the veteran living historian Tony Steer of Cincinnati, Mr. Henry will also field questions from the audience.
At noon, the highly regarded and nationally known Constitutional historian and legal scholar Dr. Michael Les Benedict will deliver the keynote address, “Abraham Lincoln and the Constitution.” The talk will explore the constitutional issues President Lincoln faced, his contribution to American constitutionalism, how he defended his actions to the American people and how his decisions were made through constitutional politics.
Dr. Benedict (Ph.D., Rice University) is Emeritus Professor of History at The Ohio State University, where he also served as Adjunct Professor of Law. The author of The Blessings of Liberty, a leading textbook on American constitutional history, he has also written numerous books and articles on the constitutional history of the Civil War era, including The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson (1973), A Compromise of Principle (1974), and Preserving the Constitution: Essays on Politics and the Constitution in the Reconstruction Era (2006). He is a regular presenter and commenter at national historical conventions and specialized conferences and symposia. Professor Benedict has held many prestigious research and teaching fellowships and has been visiting professor at universities and law schools in the United States, and in Japan and the United Kingdom. He is an elected member of the Society of American Historians and a member of the presidentially appointed Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise committee. He has served as president of the Society of Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, on the board of directors of the American Society for Legal History, and is the long-time parliamentarian of the American Historical Association.
Following the keynote address at approximately 1 pm, community leaders from various fields will read aloud the text of the Constitution. Each reader will then sign an enlarged facsimile of the original document symbolically reaffirming the enduring contract between the government and the people. The event will also feature free snacks and beverages and display items.

Later that evening at 7 pm, Dr. David Javersak will lead another installment in the library’s Making Sense of the Civil War book discussion series. Appropriately, the discussion will focus on the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, which was fought 150 years ago on September 17, 1862. Made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association, the reading and discussion program is a part of the library’s Civil War sesquicentennial observance. The primary texts for the discussion will be Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam by James McPherson, and America’s War: Talking About the Civil War and Emancipation on Their 150th Anniversaries, edited by Edward L. Ayers.
All of the library’s Constitution Day programs are free and open to the public. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Sept 11: Tim Luke on Antique Toys

Tim Luke of Cash in the Attic fame will return to Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday September 11 to talk about antique toys, courtesy Oglebay Institute and their “Toys from Wheeling Childhood” exhibit. Tim will be reviewing the following two books that he has authored: Toys From American Childhood 1845-1945 published in 2011,and Miller's American Insider's Guide to Toys & Games published in 2006. He will also touch on the Antiques Roadshow Guide to 20th-Century Collectibles published in 2003, for which he was a contributing editor. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please call 304-232-0244 for more information.

Thursday Sept 6 at noon: VJ-Day Memories

Special Thursday Lunch With Books

John S. Marshall will discuss his father’s memoir, Civilian in Uniform: Wartime Experiences at a special Thursday edition of Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on September 6 at noon. Following the presentation, the audience will be invited to share their own memories of the end of the Second World War, particularly of the surrender of the Empire of Japan (V-J Day). Dr. Jeffrey Rutherford, professor of history at Wheeling Jesuit University, will host. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please call 304-232-0244 for more information.

The Unbroken Circle

Wheeling native and teaching artist Tom Breiding will be at the Lunch With Books program at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, September 4, 2012 at noon. In honor of Labor Day, Breiding will deliver unique musical stories of life in American towns that span the last century. From the coalfields of West Virginia to Pittsburgh's steel mills, Tom shares his original compositions and traditional folk tales, featuring guitar, banjo, and harmonica. Tom teaches about early life in the coalfields, the struggles of the labor force to organize, and specific events surrounding the mine wars of 1921. He also delivers songs depicting generations of workers in the steel, coal, and glass industries of Pittsburgh. This entertaining program pays homage to the laborers of our region who made great sacrifices to build our country. Tom will also bring a small traveling museum with early mining artifacts, gear, scrip, etc. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please call 304-232-0244 for more information.

The Quiet Man: A Great Event!

Be sure to check out our photos of The Quiet Man pub reading on the Lunch With Books Facebook page at facebook.com/lunchwithbooks.

Many thanks to Frank Mahon for writing a great play and allowing and supporting our humble production. Special thanks to Tim Thompson of our partner Oglebay Institute's Towngate Theater, who did a fantastic job organizing, directing, acting--we could not have done it without him. Thanks also to our other fine actors (Arlene Merryman, Tom Stobart, P.D. Gregg, Greg Sberna, Michael Ramsay, Rachel Thompson and Vince Marshall), our gracious volunteers from Harmony House, Ye Olde Alpha (esp Charlie Schlegel), Besty Bethel-McFarland and her pipes, Matt Smith and Erin Huffman, Bishop Whelan Div. 1 AOH, celticattitudes.com, Linda Comins, Phyllis Sigal, Steve Novotney, and Howard Monroe. And many many thanks to you, our guests and audience. Because of your generosity and patronage, we were able to raise a lot of money for a great and courageous organization: Harmony House Children's Advocacy Center. And finally thanks to the great Irish writer Maurice Walsh for starting it all.

 

So fill to me the parting glass. Good night and joy be with you all!