News release from The History Center:
History Center announces George R. Mather Lecture Series for 2011-2012
Two lectures and book signings will kick off the 2011-2012 George R. Mather Sunday Lecture Series at the History Center in Fort Wayne.
Sponsored by the Dunsire Family Foundation, all lectures in this series are free to the public and are held at the museum, 302 East Berry Street, Fort Wayne, at 2 pm on the first Sunday of October and November as well as January through June.
On October 2, Carol Faenzi, will speak on her book “The Stonecutter’s Aria”.
This historical novel is based on the true stories of Faenzi’s Italian marble-carving, opera singing ancestors. The book started as a result of Faenzi taking a sabbatical from a busy corporate career in New York when she bought a one-way ticket to live in Tuscany, in search of her ancestral roots.Her time in Italy and writing about the courage of her immigrant grandparents inspired her to change her life. “The Stonecutter’s Aria,” published in 2006, is a universal story of remembrance, connection and belonging.
It was awarded “Book of the Year” for historical fiction by both ForeWord Magazine and the Independent Publishers Group. She is currently developing a screenplay adaptation of “The Stonecutter’s Aria”.
Faenzi is a regular contributor to “The Indianapolis Business Journal”. In addition to her creative pursuits, she has a private practice of cultivating management and leadership abilities for women. She splits her time between Indianapolis, New York City and her family farm in Italy.
November 6, 2011, Barbara Olenyik Morrow will present “Nature’s Storyteller: The Life of Gene Stratton-Porter” and will also sign copies of her book which is currently on sale in the History Center’s gift shop.
The series takes a hiatus for the annual Festival of Gingerbread and returns on New Year’s Day, 2012, with the following speakers and topics:
January 1, 2012, Sara Gabbard, “Mystic Chords of Memory:” The Opening of the West in American Memory
February 5, 2012, J.J. Foster, “Separate But Equal?”
March 4, 2012, Mark GiaQuinta, Going to “The Lake” in Northeast Indiana
April 1, 2012, Don Graham, Fort Wayne’s Historical Baseball Past
May 6, 2012, Dana Wichern, Beyond the Garden Gate: the Impact of Women on City Beautification
June 3, 2012, Don “Bud” Hall, Hall’s Restaurants: All Around Town Since 1946
The George R. Mather Lecture Series was founded by the Rev. Mather in 1993. In the early 1990s, while serving as a member of the History Center’s board of directors, Mather proposed a series of free Sunday afternoon lectures so that everyone would have the opportunity to learn more about history that played a significant role in Fort Wayne and Allen County. Those lectures have been a staple of the History Center’s programming ever since.
A blog by the History Center, “History Center Notes and Queries” is available at https://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/.
The blog supplements the Mather Lectures and the History Center’s publications such as the “Old Fort News” and provides information for those wishing to know more about our community as they explore the museum and other historical sites in the city and county. New posts to the blog can also be found via the History Center’s Facebook page.
For more information, contact the History Center at (260) 426-2882 or visit the website at www.fwhistorycenter.com.
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