Tuesday: July 1

July 1—Marianne Novy, Reading Adoption: Family and Difference in Fiction and Drama

University of Pittsburgh professor Marianne Novy will appear at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, July 1 at noon. Novy will discuss her book, Reading Adoption - Family and Difference in Fiction and Drama. From the book description: “Reading Adoption explores the ways in which novels and plays portray adoption, and suggests how these representations have contributed to general perceptions of adoptive parents, adoptees, and birth parents. Novy reads a range of authors, including Sophocles, Shakespeare, George Eliot, Dickens, Barbara Kingsolver, Edward Albee and others, to observe how these works address the question of what makes a parent. She identifies repeated themes such as differences between adoptive parents and children, fantasies of mirroring between adoptees and their birth parents, and the relationship between nature and nurture. She meditates on how her relationships with her adoptive parents, her birth mother, and her own daughter affect her reading, and ultimately finds issues in much adoption literature relevant to parenting in any kind of family. Engagingly written from Novy's dual perspectives as critic and adult adoptee, the book combines the techniques of literary and feminist scholarship with memoir, shedding new light on familiar texts. Marianne Novy is Professor of English and Women's Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. She is author or editor of numerous books, including Imagining Adoption: Essays on Literature and Culture.” Lunch with books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call 304-232-0244 for more information.

Revisit Woodsdale's Days of Yore

Local historian Kate Quinn will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, June 17 at noon to present a program called "Woodsdale Kids."

In an era of innocence and freedom, children who grew up in the Woodsdale neighborhood enjoyed a lifestyle that today's child will never know. "Woodsdale Kids"highlights the myths that the children believed, the unique ways they entertained themselves, and the characters who were part of their lives.

With humor and wit, Quinn will recall the activities that made life in this area so different from that of today's children. "Mothers of today would not think of allowing their children the freedom that we enjoyed," said Quinn. "Imagine sending your child off to play in the woods with a beebee gun and a peanut butter sandwich and not expecting to see him or her again until the streetlights came on (the universal curfew)!. No cell phones, and no worries."

In this period of 1945 to 1960 most mothers did not work outside the home and children enjoyed a freedom unseen today. There were no "helicopter" mothers hovering over a child, so children were forced to make their own decisions and become much more responsible. Children knew every neighbor and even more important, they knew that the neighbors not only knew them, but probably went to school with their parents! They would not hesitate to call the parents of a misbehaving child.Quinn has interviewed more than 60 former or present residents of Woodsdale and collected photos from many families.

For free, fun entertainment and a walk through yesterday, join Lunch with Books as we stroll down memory lane.

Thanks to Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation.

James Alexander and Dark Rain Thom Pack the House!

Last Thursday evening, James Alexander Thom and Dark Rain Thom gave us a presentation for the ages. The eager, near capacity crowd shattered the old attendance record. It was an enjoyable, informative experience for all and one we will not soon forget. Thanks to all who attended.

Next Tuesday

Tuesday June 10 at NOON-- Father Kevin Quirk, Review of The God Delusion

Father Kevin Quirk, JCD, Rector of St. Joseph Cathedral Parish in Wheeling, will review The God Delusion by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. The book explores the historic conflict between religion and science from an atheist’s perspective. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring their own lunch and free beverages will be provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Next Thursday Evening, June 5, 6:30 pm

James Alexander Thom and Dark Rain Thom

James Alexander Thom, the national bestselling author of Follow the River and Saint Patrick's Battalion will appear at a special Thursday evening edition of LWB on June 5, 2008 at 6:30 pm. Mr. Thom will be accompanied by his wife, Dark Rain Thom, Clan Mother of the East of the River Shawnee, and the co-author of Warrior Woman: The Exceptional Life Story of Nonhelema, Shawnee Indian Woman Chief, and the author of The Shawnee: Kohkumthena's Grandchildren.A meticulously researched novel of historical fiction, Follow the River is a very popular book locally and in the entire state of West Virginia as it deals with events in the history of both the Kanawha and Ohio River Valleys. Over the years it has been read and discussed by several book discussion groups at the Ohio County Public Library and by many local high school students. In addition, the West Virginia Library Commission used the book for its inaugural One Book, One West Virginia Reading Project in 2005.

A Biography of James Alexander Thom from His Website

James Alexander Thom is Indiana's best selling author. His seven novels have sold more than 2 million copies. His bestselling novel Follow the River is now in its 37th printing and still sells 30,000-40,000 copies a year. James Alexander Thom lives with his wife, Dark Rain, a Shawnee in a 130-year-old cabin he moved and reconstructed.

In the early days, James Thom was a reporter and columnist at the Indianapolis Star. "Even then I knew that my heart and mind were in the things I wanted to say in books," says Thom.He began a journey that took him back to his native Owen County, where he built a his log cabin home with his own hands. The journey also took him through swamps and forests to research , a novel about Revolutionary War, Long Knife.

One thing that sets Thom apart is his commitment to research, something he takes very seriously. He believes that in order to talk or write about something accurately you have to experience it. Therefore, one can find him hiking old Indian trails and canoeing Mid-western rivers recreating the experience of travel.He traveled the entire route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition while writing From Sea to Shining Sea. To convey the experience of the frontier soldiers in Long Knife, his first historical novel, he mastered the use of eighteehth-century tools and weapons and waded the icy waters of the wabash. During his research for Follow the River he traced Mary Ingles' 1000 mile escape from the Shawnee Indians. He traveled the Ohio, Kanawha and New Rivers and lived off the land to accurately recreate her story.

James Thom is also often at work as an environmental spokesman. Dark Rain is always at his side in this work.

Dark Rain is the Water Panther Clan Mother of the East of the River Shawnee of Ohio.Dark Rain is a voting member of Council and is a teacher, respected by her people, in the ancient Shawnee oral and historical traditions. She has given traditional presentations on behalf of her people for over twenty-five years.Much of her family's history came from Dark Rain's grandmother, who was a healer and midwife in her community, and Dark Rain's father who was also knowledgeable in many of the Great Laws and other traditional teachings. An aunt who was related on both sides of her family was her traditional teacher.

Comments From Other Authors About JA Thom's Work

"James Alexander Thom is one of the finest historical novelist writing today....he cares passionately about getting it right, and has a gift for illuminating those forgotten but fascinating corners of the American past...." ----John Sugden Author of Tecumseh, A Life

"He puts flesh and blood on forgotten names and breathes life into the stale past. He is probably, the most important author of American historic novels written today because he helps to interpret the distant past for the mind and interest of the modern reader." -----Jack Weatherford Author of Indian Givers

Sign Talker, is a fictional account of George Drouillard, the french-Shawnee hunter and scout who led the Lewis and Clark expedition.

"Anyone who thinks there's nothing left to be said about the Lewis and Clark expedition should read this book." ----John Sugdon Author of Tecumseh, A Life

Tuesday, June 3 at NOON

June 3—Peggy Hanna, Patriotism, Peace, & VietnamPeggy Hanna, author of Patriotism, Peace, & Vietnam, will appear at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, June 3, 2008. Peggy Hanna’s Vietnam story comes from a unique angle – that of a Midwestern Catholic homemaker and “hawk” turned peace activist. Hanna gives a fascinating inside look at just how far the outposts of the peace movement stretched. Join Ms. Hanna for a discussion of the book Phil Donahue called a “beautifully rendered story…Peggy Hanna probably didn’t plan it this way, but the timing of this brutally honest memoir is better than even she could have imagined."

Tuesday, May 27: Appalachian Dialects

May 27: Dr. Kirk Hazen, WVU English Professor, Dialects in West Virginia: Fact and Fiction and How to Learn from Both.

Are you interested in West Virginia and Appalachian dialects? West Virginia University English professor, Dr. Kirk Hazen will appear at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, May 27 at noon to present a program entitled, “Dialects in West Virginia: Fact and Fiction and How to Learn from Both.” Dr. Hazen will lead this interactive presentation on the myths and realities of West Virginia dialects, present findings from recent research on dialects in West Virginia, and answer a wide range of questions about English in Appalachia. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.