Lincoln scholar to pen Daniel Chester French bio
Stockbridge – Chesterwood – the former summer home, studio, and gardens of sculptor Daniel Chester French (1850-1931) – has announced that it has commissioned Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer to write a biography about French. French is best known for his sculptures of the Minute Man (1871-75) and Abraham Lincoln (1911-1922) for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Holzer is one of the country’s leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era. He has authored, co-authored, or edited 52 books, including the award-winning “Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion.” He currently serves as the Jonathan F. Fanton Director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. Previously Holzer served as senior vice president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and chairman of the Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation. President George W. Bush awarded Holzer the National Humanities Medal in 2008. In 2013, Holzer wrote an essay on Lincoln for the official program at the re-inauguration of President Barack Obama. In addition to books, Holzer has written some 560 articles and reviews for both popular magazines and scholarly journals, including Smithsonian, Life magazine, American Heritage (where he served as a contributing editor), the Washington Post, and the New York Times Book Review.
–E.E.
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American Horticultural Society award for Lee Buttala
Stockbridge – Edge columnist Lee Buttala has received a 2016 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Book Award for the book “The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Seed Saving,” which he co-edited.
The book, a collaborative effort between Seed Savers Exchange and Organic Seed Alliance, details seed-saving practices for more than 70 crop types and was written with the backyard gardener in mind. It was named by AHS as one of the top five gardening books published in North America in 2015. AHS’ 2016 Book Awards will be presented on Thursday, June 2, during the Great American Gardeners Awards Ceremony and Banquet at AHS’s national headquarters of River Farm in Alexandria, Va.
Buttala will sign copies of the book at Berkshire Botanical Garden’s booth at Trade Secrets in Sharon, Conn., on Saturday, May 14, at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
–E.E.
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HospiceCare in the Berkshires to hold annual gala
Pittsfield — HospiceCare in the Berkshires will hold its annual gala on Saturday, May 7, at 5:30 p.m. at the Country Club of Pittsfield. The event will include dancers Carolyn Valenti and Grey Masko, cabaret from Dr. Marcella Bradway and Samantha Talora, dancing to live music, and raffles and auctions.
Proceeds from the event will be used to expand and continue community programs of bereavement services; the Little Things Fund, which provides extra needs for hospice families; and the Pediatric Palliative Care Family Resource Fund, which assists families with expenses associated with caring for a child who is facing a life-limiting illness.
Tickets are $125 per person and may be ordered by calling the HospiceCare office at (413) 443-2994 by Monday, April 25.
–E.E.
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Columbia County Community Services Board’s annual dinner
Ghent, N.Y. — The Columbia County Community Services Board (CSB) will posthumously honor Dennis Marcus, MD at its 16th annual dinner on Wednesday, April 27, at 5 p.m. at Kozel’s Restaurant.
The event will recognize the many community volunteers who assist in identifying mental health, substance abuse, and developmental disability service needs, as well as the local service providers who meet those needs. This year’s honoree is Dennis Marcus, M.D., who promoted and developed comprehensive and integrated psychiatric services for Columbia County residents from 1987 until his passing last year. Marcus attended the University Of Louisville School Of Medicine and went on to a two-year pediatric residency at Albany Medical Center. He moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., where he completed a two-year residency in adult psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, followed by a two-year residency in child psychiatry at the Boston Children’s Hospital Medical Center/Judge Baker Guidance Center of Harvard Medical School. Following his education, he moved to the Berkshires. He represented the Berkshires as a participating member of the Governor’s Commission on Mental Health State Advisory Council for five years and worked at Main Street Human Resources in Great Barrington. Denny began a private practice and, in 1987, he incorporated South County Psychiatric and Psychotherapy Center, also in Great Barrington.
The cost of the dinner is $30 and members of the public are encouraged to attend. For more information about the dinner or CSB, contact Jeanne Stupplebeen at (518) 828-9446 x2278.
–E.E.
