Scarsdale Adult School E-News
September 2022
Author Visits
More authors than ever before are flocking to Scarsdale Adult School for special in-person or online visits for our students. First up this fall will be an online double feature on Thursday, September 29, 2022. The afternoon headliner is Ann Leary, The Foundling (2022) (11435), speaking at 1 pm about her new historical fiction. Set in 1927 in a public asylum founded to sequester "feebleminded women of childbearing age," The Foundling portrays the moral dilemma faced by a young secretary whose loyalty to her brilliant employer, a psychiatrist who had been at the forefront of the women's suffrage movement, is tested by a friend from the past, an inmate seeking to escape from the institution. In the evening at 7 pm, meet Ellen Jovin, Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian (2022) (11510) for an entertaining recounting of her favorite grammar adventures and answers to all pressing questions on proper sentence structure.
On Thursday, October 13, 2022, SAS proudly presents a day/night double-header over Zoom with Jason Mott, author of last year's National Book Award Winner, Hell of a Book (2021). The novel's narrator is an unnamed Black author who is on a cross-country publicity tour to promote his bestselling debut novel, also titled Hell of a Book. He converses with an imaginary ever-present youngster he refers to as "The Kid." Interwoven in this plotline, is the heart-wrenching tale of a rural Southern boy called "Soot" because of his dark complexion. With magical realism, sardonic humor, and a converging narrative, this masterful fiction addresses themes of racism, police violence, love, money, and the experience of growing up Black in America. At 1 pm, Mott himself will moderate a book group in Author-Led Book Discussion: Jason Mott, Hell of a Book (2021) (11520). Class size is limited for this bespoke event. At 7 pm, Mott returns for a community-wide program, Author Visit: Jason Mott, Hell of a Book (2021) (11521). In conversation with cultural historian Lori Rotskoff, Mott will discuss his career as a writer of fiction and poetry with time reserved for audience Q&A. The evening program will be recorded and available to all registered students.
On Friday, October 21, 2022 at 11 am at Westchester Reform Temple, we present Author-Led Book Discussion: S.W. Leicher, Acts of Atonement (2022) (11515). The sequel to her debut novel, Acts of Assumption (2018), her latest book again features protagonists and partners Serach Gottesman, a soft-spoken renegade from Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Brooklyn, and Paloma Rodriguez, a headstrong, trailblazer from the Latina South Bronx, who sacrificed their families, communal ties, and faiths in pursuing their forbidden romance. An unexpected death, a seductive offer, and an arrest bring their estranged relatives and insular cultures back into their lives with devastating results.
On Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 12:30 pm at JCC of Mid-Westchester, the co-founder of Ms. magazine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, returns to SAS to discuss her newly published memoir in conversation with Lori Rotskoff. Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy (2022) presents a wise yet funny self-examination of the author's numerous family secrets across three generations. Time will be reserved for Q&A and Pogrebin will be signing books after the talk. Students may register for either General Admission plus Book Purchase (11453) or General Admission Only (11452).
Just rescheduled for Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 7:15 pm at Scarsdale High School, Bobbi Rebell, personal finance expert and author of Launching Financial Grownups (2022), offers tips and tools for parents of teens and young adults who want their children to grow into fiscally responsible and financially independent adults. Students again have the choice between General Admission plus Book Purchase (11498) or General Admission Only (11529).
On Monday, November 7, 2022 at 1 pm, SAS welcomes Bonnie Garmus, who will discuss her debut bestselling novel, Lessons in Chemistry (2022), in conversation with cultural historian Lori Rotskoff. Set in the 1960s, Elizabeth Zott, the book's formidable feminist and idiosyncratic heroine, begins as a brilliant research chemist in a male-dominated field and becomes a single mother and reluctant star of a beloved cooking show. Deftly blending sharp social satire with heartwarming humor, Garmus delivers a self-assured page-turner that tackles the sexism of postwar America from a fresh perspective. Author Visit: Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry (2022) (11436) will be recorded and available for later viewing by all registered students.
To close out the year, on Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 11 am, the bestselling author of Wench and Balm, Dolen Perkins-Valdez will engage in conversation with cultural historian Lori Rotskoff to discuss her latest unforgettable historical epic in Author Visit: Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Take My Hand (2022) (11526). Inspired by true events involving Black women’s involuntary sterilization in Alabama during the 1970s, Take My Hand is a profoundly moving novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible wrong done to her patients. The book sheds a timely light on issues of voice, choice, and agency over one's body. Time will be reserved for Q&A.
Catalog Additions and Scheduling Changes
The following Cooking & Baking classes have just been added to the schedule:
  • Preserving the Season (11545) -- Friday, 9/30/22
  • Tastes of Fall (11546) -- Wednesday, 10/19/22

The start dates for the following classes have been postponed. New dates are listed below:
  • MELT Method® Hand and Foot Treatment (11426) -- Thursday, 9/22/22
  • iPhone Photography (11474) -- Thursday, 9/29/22
  • Walking Tour and Taste of Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY (11528) -- Wednesday, 10/26/22
  • Zumba (11511) -- Wednesday, 10/26/22
  • Author Visit: Bobbi Rebell, Launching Financial Grownups (2022) (General Admission plus Book Purchase: 11498), General Admission Only: 11529) -- Tuesday, 11/1/22
  • Walking Tour: Renaissance Paintings Gallery at the Met (11336) -- Friday, 12/9/22
Classes Starting in the Next Two Weeks
All class listings are for the Eastern Time Zone. Course numbers appear in parentheses.
Week of September 18, 2022
Architecture
  • Great World's Fairs: London 1851, New York 1853, and Paris 1855 (11348)
  • Walking Tour: Hotels, Churches, and Mansions of Midtown Fifth Avenue (11341)
Art Appreciation
  • Masterpieces of Western Art: Sculpture of the Parthenon and Beyond (11327)
  • Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents at the Met (11400)
  • George Eastman, the Name Behind Kodak (11431)
  • Walking Tour: Greek and Roman Galleries at the Met (11334)

Arts & Crafts
  • Drawing: An Invaluable Skill and a Fascinating Medium (11399)
  • Watercolor Painting (11398)

Fitness and Dance
  • Essential Yoga (11428)
  • Gentle Yoga (11429)
  • MELT Method® Hand and Foot Treatment (11426)

Games
  • Bridge: Supervised Play (11543)
History and Culture
  • Walking Tour: Historic Irvington and Tarrytown (11539)

Home and Garden
  • Floral Design with Fresh Flowers (11530)

Literature and Film
  • Artistry Behind the Film: Schindler's List (1993), Part One (11367)
  • Book Discussion: Under the Skin: Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives (2022) by Linda Villarosa (11468)
Week of September 25, 2022
Architecture
  • Great World's Fairs: Paris 1867 and 1878 (11349)
Art Appreciation
  • Walking Tour: Tribeca Galleries (11404)
  • Masterpieces of Western Art: Notre Dame, Cathedral of Amiens, and the Form, Function, and Experience of Gothic Architecture (11328)
  • Walking Tour: Keeler Tavern Museum and Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT (11338)

Cooking & Baking
  • Preserving the Season (11545)
Fitness and Dance

Games
  • Advanced Beginner Bridge (11443)
Literature and Film
  • Book Discussion: Love Marriage (2022) by Monica Ali (11516)
  • Artistry Behind the Film: Schindler's List (1993), Part Two (11368)
  • Author Visit: Ann Leary, The Foundling (2022) (11435)
  • Author Visit: Ellen Jovin, Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian (2022) (11510)
  • Catching Up with the Classics: Persuasion (1817) by Jane Austen (11384)
  • Short Stories Live (11418)

Performing Arts
  • Group Piano Lessons for Beginner & Intermediate Students (11445)
  • Learn to Play the Guitar (11446)
  • Learn to Play the Violin (11449)
  • Ring Your Bell! (beginners: 11450; experienced to advanced players: 11542)

Photography
  • iPhone Photography (11474)

Writing
  • Children’s Picture Book Essentials (11466)
Printer-Friendly Interactive Flipbook
Catalog of Fall Classes
All upcoming classes are listed in our Printer-Friendly, Interactive Version of our Fall 2022 Catalog. New classes are added regularly.

Class times are for the Eastern Time Zone. Please check regularly for additional options to keep you engaged and learning, whether from the comforts of home or through our expanding number of in-person options.
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