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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Gwinnett Public Library
embarks on second "Gwinnett Reads"
By
Jean C. Gulley, Snellville
Retired librarian and constant reader
Special to GwinnettForum.com
JULY 20, 2004 -- Mattie Rigsbee makes the best pound cake you ever
put in your mouth and the Gwinnett County Public Library wants you
to read about her in this summer's "Gwinnett Reads" program.
This year's book selection, Walking Across Egypt, by Clyde
Edgerton is a lighthearted tale with a serious side that explores
intergenerational issues. At 78 Mattie is "slowing down,"
and though too old to take in a stray dog, her religious convictions
get her involved with a teenage juvenile delinquent.
The point of "Gwinnett Reads," according to their literature,
is to spur Gwinnett citizens to read, enjoy and discuss the same
book. The GCPL is offering eleven book discussion groups at the
various libraries through August 16.
A movie based on the book will be shown on July 29 at the Collins
Hill Branch at 6:30 p.m. and at the Five Forks branch on August
14 at 2 p.m.
Clyde Edgerton, the author, is apparently a musician also. He will
appear in concert with his band, the Rank Strangers, at the Gwinnett
Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. on Friday, August 20. Tickets are
$20 and are available at any branch library.
But first you will want to read the book or listen to the audio
version. By going to www.gwinnettreads.org
you can put a copy on hold to pick up at your neighborhood library.
This website also lists individual book discussions and other events
and announces a pound cake recipe contest with a possible essay
contest to come.
Another feature of "Gwinnett Reads" is the book club
kits that are available for check out. I picked up a kit the end
of May and distributed copies of the book to my Last Tuesday Book
Club. On June 29 fourteen of us met at Kurt's Restaurant to sip
tea, discuss the book and to eat lunch.
I led the discussion with the help of the study guide enclosed
with the kit. We had an hour of lively discussion about the engaging
characters: Mattie (who feeds everyone who will sit down for a bite),
her grown children Elaine and Robert (who have not produced the
grandchildren that Mattie longs for), nosy neighbor Alora, Lamar
the dogcatcher and the boy Wesley, who leads them all on a merry
chase.
Fliers are available at the libraries with full information about
this ambitious summer project, plus biographical information and
an interview with Clyde Edgerton.
Check out that website www.gwinnettreads.org
and make Walking Across Egypt a summer read. It's a mouthwatering
experience.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Myriad
of political signs send message: All cannot win
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
JULY 20, 2004 -- All the candidates' signs along the roadway these
day imploring you to support one candidate or the other in political
races bring us to this thought: all of them can't win.
 Happily
for us.
After all, we don't need some of these candidates in office. We
know not which one we don't particularly need in office, but there
is a safeguard in the electorate, which always seems to know which
candidates to reject.
The safeguard is the people.
Election year after year, the voters (the people) somehow eliminate
some of the suspect candidates (not all), and we are left without
having to put up with them in office.
Listen to Lincoln on this: "I am a firm believer in the people.
If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national
crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts."
He's been paraphrased into: "Trust the people. Always trust
the people." But not enough of us believe it.
Yet year in and year out, one political candidate after another
cries out at the electorate, promising to be a good candidate, perhaps
even sometimes over promising. And year after year, these candidates
are like comets….blazing along being bright, but are never
accepted by the electorate.
Somehow in the collected judgment of the people, certain candidates
are turned away, usually to their consternation. This happens sometimes
when many people have thought these would-be politicians should
be the more successful candidates. But for some unexplained reason,
the voters think otherwise, the candidate never catches fire, and
is cast aside, sometimes never to seek political office again.
This spectacle is repeated time and time again, and takes place
without people realizing that it is going on. The candidate stumbles,
even in the face of his or her best effort.
Yet we very much need these lots of people to offer for office,
to give voters a choice to allow the election to be just that, a
selection from candidates, not an automatic victory for someone
because no one else wanted to run.
These candidates who will be "also-rans" the day after
the election, are worthy of our commendation, just because they
offered for the office. We feel for them, because of their hard-earned
time they have put into the process. But some things are not meant
to be. And for some, losing may be best, since they may need to
put their emphasis on other matters, at home, or work, or on entirely
new projects.
Actually, those winning may be serving with pleasure and with pride,
but often it is not good for their personal lives. The call of the
electorate is a shrill one, asking a lot of people, which they sometimes
find does not always give them the rewards they thought it would.
Some get out of office after one term, recognizing that politics
isn't always what it is chalked up to be.
Yet for the person who lost, there is always the question in their
mind, "…what if…..?"
Those sign along the roadway with the many names….are just
the beginning for some, the end for others. We thank all of the
candidates who offer for office. All cannot win; some may not deserve
to win; but all need to be thanked for providing us with choice.
Know that the people's will is a hard master to serve. Some of
you may win by losing in today's primary.
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FEEDBACK
7/20: Wants to see
re-election of president this fall
Editor, the Forum:
Your children, grandchildren and your future grandchildren are
safer now than we were prior to 9/11. And the main reason is because
President Bush was at the helm since that dark day. His superb leadership
and commitment in making very difficult decisions is ensuring our
safety and freedom for generations to come.
Look at the facts: Our economy is roaring at a 20-year high, job
numbers are increasing tremendously, home ownership is setting an
all-time record and we have a president who has restored honor and
dignity to the office upon which he holds.
Now is no time to upset the apple cart with a vote for someone
who will demolish all that has been gained. Vote FOR America by
voting for Bush-Cheney this November.
-- Craig Heighton, Buford
BOOK
RECOMMENDATION
7/20: From Troy Fore
Jesup, Ga., beekeeper, and executive director of
the American Beekeeping Federation
"The Lovely Bones by Alice Seybold is "a page-turner"
- and as unusual a novel as I've read. From the start you know who's
the victim and who's the murderer, but that doesn't lessen the tale's
hold on you. A reviewer said not to start it unless you could finish
it; good advice.
"I am now plowing through anything but a "fast read":
Closed Chambers - The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Modern Supreme
Court, by Edward Lazarus. He was a Law Clerk for Justice Harry
Blackmun during the 1988-1989 Court term. He focuses on the struggles
of the Court and its evolving stand on the death penalty, civil
rights, and the right to privacy (particularly Roe v. Wade). It
is a bit heavy, but interesting enough to make me keep at it. The
machinations of the Court are fascinating - and disturbing at times."
- An invitation: What books have you enjoyed? Send us
your best recent book along with a short paragraph as to why you
liked it, plus what you plan to read next. --eeb
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
7/20: Tragic air crash
in paris memorialized in Atlanta Arts Center
On June 3, 1962, many of Atlanta's civic and cultural leaders were
returning from a museum tour of Europe sponsored by the Atlanta
Art Association when their chartered Boeing 707 crashed upon takeoff
at Orly Field near Paris, France. Of the 122 passengers that died,
106 were Atlantans (eight crew members also died; two stewardesses
sitting in the tail section survived). In an instant the core of
Atlanta's arts community was gone. Thirty-three children and young
adults lost both parents in the crash. Mayor Ivan Allen traveled
to Paris to assist with the recovery efforts.
 Expressions
of grief and sympathy flowed into Atlanta from around the world.
Within days of the crash, memorial gifts benefiting the Atlanta
Art Association were established. $15 million were raised for the
establishment of a memorial cultural center, which was to include
a new home for the visual and performing arts in the city.
Builders broke ground for the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center on June
3, 1966. The center was opened to the public in 1968, when a casting
of Auguste Rodin's The Shade (L'Ombre) was presented by the French
government to the city of Atlanta, in memory of those who died at
Orly. The campus of the Atlanta Arts Alliance has continued to evolve,
and the Memorial Arts Building is now situated amid other buildings
at the Woodruff Arts Center campus. The building remains a vibrant
memorial to those who devoted their energies to the betterment of
humanity through art achievement in Atlanta and beyond.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
There is an inner voice
to which we all should listen
"The more faithfully you listen to the voices within you,
the better you will hear what is sounding outside."
-- Dag Hammarskjold, (1905 - 1961) Swedish diplomat and second
secretary-general, United Nations.
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