Thursday, April 28, 2011

News to Me: Journalist and Minnesota Book Award-winning Author Laurie Hertzel

Former Duluth News-Tribune reporter Laurie Hertzel has just been announced as winner of the 2011 People’s Choice Award from the Minnesota Book Awards. On Saturday, May 7, at 10 a.m., Ms. Hertzel will be at the library to read from her new memoir, News to Me: Adventures of an Accidental Journalist, published by the University of Minnesota Press.

Irreverent and insightful, Ms. Hertzel’s story vividly captures the changes taking place in the male-dominated world of journalism in the early '70s and society at large. Her journalistic endeavors covered the Twin Ports area up to the Iron Range and ultimately to the Soviet Union during the Gorbachev era. In Duluth’s sister city of Petrozavodsk, she met American-born Finns who had come as children with their parents to build a worker’s paradise under Stalin. The dream became a nightmare for many Finnish-Americans as they fell under suspicion and were rounded up at night for clandestine execution under Stalin’s purges.

Despite this grim and touching subject matter in later chapters of the book, Ms. Hertzel’s authorial voice from the first page shows her overwhelmingly humorous take on life. She is heir to James Thurber in her comic vision and to Mark Twain in her ironic observations of society and people.

In addition to her journalistic writing, Ms. Hertzel has also been the recipient of the Thomas Wolfe award in short fiction.

Copies of News to Me will be available for purchase after the reading.

This program is supported by the Minnesota Book Awards through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education – State Library Services and the Minnesota Library Foundation. The Minnesota Book Awards is a project of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, in partnership with the Saint Paul Public Library and the City of Saint Paul. For more information on the Minnesota Book Awards, visit http://www.thefriends.org/.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Author of Boo Boo Bear's Mission to speak

Soldiers with the Cloquet-based Crazy Troop 1-94 Cavalry Unit of the Army National Guard are about to be deployed for a year to Kuwait and Iraq. Before they leave, the soldiers and their families, along with all interested others, are invited to a free Boo Boo Bear's Mission "Connecting Hearts" workshop at the Cloquet Library.
Mary Linda Sather, author, Boo Boo Bear's Mission The True Story of a Teddy Bear's Adventures in Iraq, will give a program at 6:30, Thurs., May 19. Sather will read the story she wrote about how her son and granddaughter stayed connected during a recent deployment. The retired educator will also discuss ways other families can stay connected when they have to be apart for a long time.
The real Boo Boo Bear, who went along on several missions while in Iraq, will be at the event. Original artwork from the book, created by the children of military families from throughout the Northland, will be on display. Books will be available for purchase. For more information, call 879-1531.

Folk Dance traditions at the library



American folk dance caller and musician Terrence Smith will be at the Cloquet Public Library at 3:30 p.m., Thurs., May 5, after performing a Maypole dance at Washington Elementary School. Smith will be available to share information on music traditions and the instruments that he uses for dances and Maypole events. For more information, call 879-1531.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Friends of Library Spring Book Sale

The Friends of the Cloquet Public Library will host their annual Spring Book Sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sat., April 30, 2011. Everyone is welcome to come and browse through our ample selection of discarded library books as well as area donations, ranging in quality from used to next-to-new. Proceeds from sales will go to library programs and new book acquisitions. Join your friends at the Cloquet Public Library’s Spring Book Sale. For more information, call 879-1531.