Monday, April 23, 2018

Event: Meg Wolitzer, Carl Swanson, Katherine Reynolds Lewis, Ken Leinbach, Cutter Wood, Jenny Benjamin, Independent Bookstore, Fox and Branch, Scott Prill, Arno Michaelis and Pardeep Singh Kaleka, Jeffrey Yoskowitz and Liz Alpern, and Kurt Dietrich and the Manty Ellis trio

Monday, April 23, 7:00 pm, at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, 1111 E Brown Deer Rd:
A ticketed event with Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion, in conversation with Jane Hamilton

Last chance to attend our event with Meg Wolitzer in conversation with Jane Hamilton.

From the recent Slate article by Lydia Kiesling, who noted "If we try too hard to parse the precise kind of feminism embodied by Meg Wolitzer’s new book, we risk missing its genuinely smart satire."

She continues: "A novel that more or less opens with an act of uninvited groping at a college frat party is probably fated to be received as a #MeToo book, or a “timely” book about 'our moment.' Some readers will be tempted to comb through the book to assess the correctness of its politics or the precise wave of its feminism. As one white woman who feels overrepresented in popular culture put it, 'a novel sifting through the small failures (and huge successes) of a prominent young white feminist hardly feels like a major statement about the movement. In 2018, aren’t there more vital, surprising and layered stories to tell?'" Read the rest here.

Tickets are $30 and include admission, parking, and a copy of The Female Persuasion. Tickets are available at wolitzer.bpt.me until 2 pm. A portion of all ticket sales will be donated back to Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. While there is no gift card option for this event, don’t forget that The Female Persuasion makes a great gift, and it also would be a welcome donation to your favorite school, library, or nonprofit. We cannot guarantee that walk-up sales will be available at this time.

Tuesday, April 24, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:
Carl Swanson, author of Lost Milwaukee

From City Hall to the Pabst Theater, reminders of the past are part of the fabric of Milwaukee. Yet many historic treasures have been lost to time.

An overgrown stretch of the Milwaukee River was once a famous beer garden. Blocks of homes and apartments replaced the Wonderland Amusement Park. A quiet bike path now stretches where some of fastest trains in the world previously thundered. Today’s Estabrook Park was a vast mining operation, and Marquette University covers the old fairgrounds where Abraham Lincoln spoke.

From beer barons to chocolate makers, from a courthouse statue locals said resembled a drunken dancing girl to an ice cream run that led to the founding of Evinrude outboard engines, Lost Milwaukee is a fascinating glimpse into the city’s past.

Milwaukee’s Carl Swanson enjoys exploring and writing about his adopted hometown. A magazine editor and author of Faces of Railroading from Kalmbach Publishing Company, Carl studied journalism at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and photography at the Woodland School of Photography.

Tuesday, April 24, 7:00 pm, at University School of Milwaukee, 2100 W Fairy Chasm Rd:
Katherine Reynolds Lewis, author of The Good News about Bad Behavior: Why Kids Are Less Disciplined Than Ever - And What to Do about It

REDgen and USM present a talk from Katherine Reynolds Lewis, cosponsored by Boswell. In her talk, Lewis argues that the current model of parental discipline is as outdated as a rotary phone. This talk is free but registration is required. Visit eventbrite.com/e/43534780701 for more. If you are a teacher, consider the afternoon educators talk at eventbrite.com/e/43534805776.

Today's parents live with an exhausting reality: persistent defiance from children. About half of the current generation of children will develop a mood or behavioral disorder or a substance addiction by age eighteen. And many parents feel increasingly unable to exert any influence over their children. In our highly connected age, the all-powerful parent is largely a thing of the past.

Lewis proposes a radical solution: empathy. As she journeys from parenting seminars to neuroscience labs to schools to the homes of modern parents, Lewis documents a crisis of self-regulation, and shows how children rise to the occasion when their parents learn to trust them. You'll recognize your own family in Lewis's sensitive, realistic stories, and you'll find a path to making everyone in your home more capable, kinder, and happier, including yourself.

Katherine Reynolds Lewis is an award-winning independent journalist based in the Washington, DC, area who regularly writes for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Working Mother magazine. Her work has won awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and the Society of Professional Journalists. She is a certified parent educator with the Parent Encouragement Program in Kensington, Maryland.

Wednesday, April 25, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:
Ken Leinbach, author of Urban Ecology: A Natural Way to Transform Kids, Parks, Cities, and the World

In 2017, Ken Leinbach’s book that explains the history and philosophy of the Urban Ecology Center was published, exclusively available through the Center. But now, in celebration of its general distribution, Boswell presents a talk from Ken Leinbach, the Urban Ecology Center’s Executive Director.

Urban Ecology is an easy guide to creating a safe neighborhood and park right where people live. This Milwaukee experiment, the story of a group of ordinary people who created something extraordinary, starts with the simplicity of getting a city kid exploring their neighborhood park. How is it that so much life, community, and opportunity can grow from this unlikely soil? It's been called a miracle. It's contagious. It's spreading. It's exciting. And it works!

The Urban Ecology Center started in 1991 with neighborhood cleanups. In 2004, their community and classroom center in Riverside Park opened, replacing a double-wide trailer. Today, the Urban Ecology Center, through its three campuses, protects and restores urban green spaces in Milwaukee while serving 77,000+ people each year.

Ken Leinbach, Executive Director of the Urban Ecology Center, is a nationally recognized science educator and leader in community-based environmental education. He is a certified high school teacher and has over 30 years of experience teaching and developing environmental science programs in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Virginia. He holds a biology degree from Antioch College, a master's degree in environmental education from Prescott College, and an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.

Thursday, April 26, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:
Cutter Wood, author of Love and Death in the Sunshine State: The Story of a Crime

When a stolen car is recovered on the Gulf Coast of Florida, it sets off a search for a missing woman, local motel owner Sabine Musil-Buehler. Three men are named persons of interest, her husband, her boyfriend, and the man who stole the car, and the residents of Anna Maria Island, with few facts to fuel their speculation, begin to fear the worst. Then, with the days passing quickly, her motel is set on fire, her boyfriend flees the county, and detectives begin digging on the beach.

Here's a recommendation from Boswell's Chris Lee for Love and Death in the Sunshine State: "Part true crime investigation, part self-interrogating memoir, this is about a man who wants to know just how deep he can go into the mind of a killer. By chance, Wood stayed overnight in a Gulf Coast hotel shortly after its owner was murdered. Listening to locals spin theories from rumors, Wood became obsessed with the case. Then the hotel burned to the ground. Wood goes beyond the evidence and spins his own theory from the truth, going beyond the evidence to examine how a relationship can go from romance to murder in this creeping, atmospheric labyrinth of literary achievement."

Cutter Wood was born in Central Pennsylvania and received his BA from Brown University, where he was awarded prizes for nonfiction and poetry. Wood completed an MFA in creative nonfiction at the University of Iowa in 2010, during which he was awarded numerous fellowships and had essays published in Harper's and other magazines.

Friday, April 27, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:
Jenny Benjamin, author of More than A Box of Crayons and Midway

More Than a Box of Crayons irradiates the colors of a life spent in community with nature, art, and family. Through resounding images and sonorous tones, the poems capture the simplicity of childhood, the joys and sorrows of every-day life with loved ones, and the complexities of being a woman or girl in the world.

Marquette University’s Angela Sorby writes: “Jenny Benjamin’s chapbook, More Than a Box of Crayons, blazes with color and energy. These poems fold visual images… into verbal forms. The effect is synesthetic, dazzling, emotionally charged, and ultimately deeply life-affirming.”

Midway is a haunting collection of poems that traces the seasons of loss in one woman’s life, with distinct lyrical touch and a deft ear for nuanced language. The poems are salve and song, beautifully constructed and ultimately enduring. This collection received second prize in the No Chair poetry contest.

Milwaukee-based Jenny Benjamin is the owner of her freelance writing and editing business JB Communications, LLC. Her poems have appeared in DIAGRAM, South Carolina Review, and Fulcrum. She also author of the novel This Most Amazing.

Saturday, April 28, 10:00 opening, 11:00 am concert, at Boswell:
Independent Bookstore Day, featuring a concert with Fox and Branch

Independent Bookstore Day is a one-day national party that takes place at indie bookstores across the country on the last Saturday in April. Every store is unique and independent, and every party is different. We’ll have exclusive books and literary items that you can only get on that day. Not before. Not after. Not online. No phone or web orders, no holdsies. One of each item limit per person before Noon.

Limited editions for sale include a special signed edition of Dave Eggers’s Ungrateful Mammals, a Bad Citizen graffiti stencil, Julia Child and Anthony Bourdain tea towels, a literary map of the universe print, Dragons Love Books onesie, Read with Me plush featuring Maisie and Horton the Elephant, and a special book club journal featuring inspiring-ish messages from David Sedaris, Stephen King, and more.

At 11 am, we’ll be hosting a free concert for kids with local favorites Fox and Branch, whose latest album is Wings on My Feet. It’s really true that everyone has fun at a Fox and Branch show!

Dave Fox and Will Branch have been touring with their music for two decades. In 2017, Fox and Branch toured overseas for the first time, playing to audiences in Ireland, England and Scotland. They have been honored with four Parents Choice Recommended awards.

Saturday, April 28, 4:00 pm, at Boswell:
Scott Douglas Prill, author of From the Realm of Time

From the Realm of Time continues the saga of Roman General Marcus Augustus Valerias nine years after his climactic war with the Huns, and five years after the Romans’ catastrophic defeat at Adrianople. Valerias has retired to an estate near Milan with his wife, Claire, a former queen of the kingdom in Britannia, and their two daughters. They face religious strife in the Christian community, unrest in Claire’s former kingdom due to a usurper queen, and the pending massive invasion of Britannia by the Saxons. This is an epic story of treachery, courage, war, and love, set against an important period in world history.

From Arnold Gutkowski, former Director of Menomonee Falls Public Library, USS Liberty Public Library in Grafton, and Brown Deer Public Library: “This is a strong novel full of the strength of the Roman Army, the strength of the family, and ultimately the sacrifices made to preserve the strength of civilization… You will be thrust into this gritty, powerful, also loving, and caring ancient universe in which to live by your strength and wit can be a deadly necessity.”

Saturday, April 28, 5:30 pm, at First Unitarian Society, 1342 N Astor St in Milwaukee:
Arno Michaelis and Pardeep Singh Kaleka, authors of The Gift of Our Wounds: A Sikh and a Former White Supremacist Find Forgiveness After Hate

The First Unitarian Society presents a lecture and workshop cosponsored by Boswell about The Gift of Our Wounds, a powerful story of a friendship between two men, one Sikh and one skinhead, that resulted in an outpouring of love and a mission to fight against hate.

After the Oak Creek tragedy, Arno and Pardeep worked together to start an organization called Serve 2 Unite, which works with students to create inclusive, compassionate and nonviolent climates in their schools and communities. With New York Times bestseller Robin Gaby Fisher telling Arno and Pardeep’s story, The Gift of Our Wounds is a timely reminder of the strength of the human spirit, and the courage and compassion that reside within us all.

Arno Michaelis is the author of My Life After Hate and works with Serve 2 Unite. He has appeared on media outlets including the BBC, The New York Times, and The View. Pardeep Sigh Kaleka is a first generation immigrant, a native of Punjab, India, who grew up in Milwaukee. A former police officer and educator in Milwaukee’s inner city schools, Kaleka is a therapist specializing in holistic, trauma-informed treatment.

Registration is required for participation, at eventbrite.com/e/44935563480. Please note there is also a registration-requested workshop after this talk.

Sunday, April 29, 3:00 pm schmooze, 4:00 pm demonstration, at City Lights Brewery, 2210 W Mount Vernon Ave:
Jeffrey Yoskowitz and Liz Alpern, author of The Gefilte Manifesto: New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foods

The Tapestry program of the Harry and Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center and YJAM present a special program with Elizabeth Alpern and Jeff Yoskowitz, cofounders of Gefilteria. Their cooking demo will highlight their attempts to revive Ashkenazi cuisine. Their first cookbook includes 100-plus recipes pulled deep from the culinary histories of Eastern Europe and the diaspora community of North America, drawing inspiration from the legacies of Jewish pickle shops, bakeries, appetizing shops, dairy restaurants, delicatessens, and holiday kitchens.

Drawing inspiration from aromatic Jewish bakeries (Classic Challah with a Marble Rye Twist, Seeded Honey Rye Pull-Apart Rolls), neighborhood delis (Home-Cured Corned Beef and Pastrami, Rustic Matzo Balls, and Old World Stuffed Gefilte Fish), old-fashioned pickle shops (Crisp Garlic Dilly Beans, Ashkenazi Kimchi), and, of course, their own childhood kitchens, Yoskowitz and Alpern rediscover old-world food traditions, helping you bring simple and comforting recipes into your home.

Tickets are $15, and include admission, appetizers, a beer, and a take-home jar of pickled goodies. Register at jccmilwaukee.org/the-gefilte-manifesto.

Liz Alpern got her start in the Jewish food world working with acclaimed cookbook author Joan Nathan. She curates and cooks for pop-up events and boutique shops. Jeffrey Yoskowitz, trained as a pickler at Adamah Foods, where he fell in love with the art of lacto-fermentation, and has worked in the food world as an entrepreneur and a consultant for small businesses. He has written on food culture for The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Slate.

Monday, April 30, 7:00 pm, at The Jazz Estate, 2423 N Murray Ave:
Kurt Dietrich, author of Wisconsin Riffs: Jazz Profiles from the Heartland, with special guests The Manty Ellis Trio

The Jazz Estate and Boswell present a talk from Ripon College music professor Kurt Dietrich, followed by music from the Manty Ellis Trio. Admission is $5 at the door.

Although New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago are often considered the epicenters of American jazz, this extensive, upbeat compilation of jazz musician biographies details Wisconsin’s rich association with the genre since its inception in the early 1900s. Iconic musicians Bunny Berigan, Woody Herman, Les Paul, and Al Jarreau all hailed from Wisconsin, as have many other influential players, composers, and teachers. Wisconsin Riffs features these musicians side-by-side to portray a comprehensive history of jazz in Wisconsin.

Kurt Dietrich is a professor of music and the Barbara Baldwin DeFrees Chair in the Performing Arts at Ripon College. He is the author of Duke’s Bones: Ellington’s Great Trombonists, as well as numerous articles for publications including Annual Review of Jazz Studies and Black Music Research Journal. As a musician, he has performed on numerous recordings.

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