MICHAEL MCGREGOR
Tuesday, October 20, 7:00 pm
Michael McGregor's
Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax
, is a biography of a poet who was an influential figure in avant-garde circles in the late 20th century and the best friend of writer and monk Thomas Merton. Lax lived a fascinating life, working for the New Yorker and Time, writing scripts in Hollywood, and traveling with a circus while restlessly searching for a place that was right. In the midst of his search, Lax pursued graduate studies in Philosophy and taught for a while at the University of North Carolina. Among the philosophies he studied at UNC was that of Thomas Aquinas, which deeply influenced his life. Lax maintained a strong love for the Raleigh-Durham area and wrote about it in several lovely poems. He finally found his place among poor fishermen and sponge divers on a remote island in Greece. The biographer, Michael McGregor met him in Greece in 1985 when Lax was 69 (and McGregor was 26) and the two kept up a friendship for the last 15 years of Lax's life.
MICHAEL McGREGOR is a Professor of English and Creative Writing and a former Director of the MFA in Creative Writing program at Portland State University. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University and a BA in Journalism from the University of Oregon. His essays, articles and short stories have appeared in a wide variety of publications. Before earning his MFA, he worked as a lecturer and guide for European tours and editor-in-chief of World Concern magazine. He has lectured at universities, conferences and community events on both Robert Lax and Thomas Merton and is a member of Biographers International Organization and the Thomas Merton Society.
IAN MILLHISER
Thursday, October 22, 7:00 pm
Since the establishment of the Supreme Court, the justices have shaped a nation of child labor in factories and mines, internment camps based on race and forced sterilization of women. The modern Court is no better, with its rulings on voting rights and its willingness to place elections for sale. In Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted Ian Millhiser explores how the Supreme Court has hurt everyday people. In Injustices, Millhiser argues that the Supreme Court usurped power for itself that rightfully belongs to elected representatives, steering American history away from justice.
IAN MILLHISER lives in Washington, DC. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Editor of ThinkProgress Justice. His writings have appeared in such publications as, the "New York Times", the "Nation", and the "Duke Law Journal".
JULIA ELLIOTT
Saturday, October 24, 7:00 p.m.
Nothing is going right for Romie Futch, a South Carolina taxidermist. His wife is gone; his mortgage overdue, and his nights lost to drunken web-surfing. But The New and Improved Romie Futch is the result of his enrollment as a research subject at the Center for Cybernetic Neuroscience. Romie and his newly enhanced brain return home to revolutionize his taxidermy and win back his wife. As he looks for specimens for his new elaborate works, he becomes obsessed with "Hogzilla," a huge wild hog. Drawn into an underworld of biotech operatives, FDA agents, and environmental activists, Romie investigates Hogzilla's origins.
JULIA ELLIOTT, winner of a Pushcart Prize and a Rona Jaffe Writer's Award, has written for Tin House, the Georgia Review, and other publications. The Wilds, her debut story collection, was chosen by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Buzzfeed, and Book Riot as one of the Best Books of 2014 and was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. She is working on a new novel about Hamadryas baboons, a species she has studied as an amateur primatologist. She teaches English and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, where she lives with her daughter and husband.
BILL SMITH, BRIDGETTE LACY, AND SANDRA GUTIERREZ
Monday, October 26, 7:00 p.m.
BILL SMITH, born and bred "down east" in coastal NC, is the chef at Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill. He will be reading Crabs and Oysters: A Savor the South Cookbook. Smith is the author of two previous cookbooks, Seasoned in the South and Food & Wine. Smith is a two-time finalist for best chef in the South from the James Beard Foundation and the Chef's Collaborative nominated him for a sustainability award.
In Sunday Dinner: A Savor the South Cookbook, BRIGETTE LACY reminisces about the classic Sunday family dinner, with stories about the grandfather whose culinary enthusiasm inspired her and 51 recipes. Lacy is a journalist who writes about food for the NC Arts Council and The Independent Weekly. She also works as a features and food writer for the Raleigh News & Observer.
SANDRA GUTIERREZ calls legumes the "culinary equalizer." In Beans and Field Peas: A Savor the South Cookbook, she explores the many roles beans and field peas have played at the Southern table, serving rich and poor, traditional and trendy, and now a favorite of nutritionists. Gutierrez is the author of two previous books, Latin American Street Food and the New Southern-Latino Table. She is a well-known culinary instructor, who lives in Cary, NC
patients, and friends to bring a thoughtful insider's view to the issues that are most important when dealing with death and the dying, including the conflicts that can result between a patient's wishes for their last days-a good quality of life and a "good death"-and the goals of medical care to extend life and insure safety. Gracefully written, Being Mortal opens a door to discussion of a subject that all too often engenders only fear and denial.