Nancy Astor, the Viscountess Lady Astor, served in Parliament from 1919 to 1945. When asked about her political success, she said that she took into public life the lessons she learned from her mother.
Marie Tassone had an interesting and colorful life, culminating in her designation by the board of selectmen as Great Barrington's "photographer laureate" in 1989, a year before her death at age 86.
Music In Common's annual Raise the MIC gala will honor founding board member Elaine Mack for her tireless efforts to combat the hate responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl with a focus on fundraising and fiscal sustainability.
Now another movement to rename a different school building in Berkshire Hills is taking shape. Supporters of Du Bois are ramping up an effort to rename Monument Valley Regional Middle School in memory of Du Bois.
Scavenger hunt clues will be hidden throughout Berkshire HorseWorks’ seven acres of easily navigated nature trails, paddocks, natural pond and gardens.
Special guests the Urban Choral Arts Society from Baltimore, Maryland, will make a return appearance at the Cantilena Chamber Choir concert, and Martin Luther King Jr. will be remembered in poems and speeches.
Philosophy isn't generally considered a laughing matter. But to these practitioners, joking is serious business, not only because laughter eases suffering, but also because the deepest meaning of esoteric ideas is often inaccessible without the aid of a few chuckles.
Last month, the board of trustees of the town's libraries endorsed the idea of putting a statue of the scholar, civil rights leader and Great Barrington native in front of the Mason Library on Main Street in the center of town. The project can only move forward if sufficient funds are raised and the Historic District Commission and the selectboard approve.
Not only are supporters of the legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois trying to name one of the local public schools after him, but they want to commission a sculptor to come up with a life-sized likeness of him that would be placed on the front lawn of the Mason Library.
Monument Valley Regional Middle School was selected for the renaming rather than a second try at Muddy Brook Elementary due, in part, to the fact that Du Bois' life is actually taught in the middle school curriculum.
"Dubois was clearly the most celebrated resident in our history. His teachings and writings still resonate today. To honor and memorialize him seems absolutely appropriate."
-- Author and Great Barrington resident Daniel Klein
In a letter to the editor, Daniel Klein writes: “Du Bois was clearly the most celebrated resident in our history. To honor and memorialize him seems absolutely appropriate.”
Corfu-born George Cami, chef at the Aegean Breeze, cooks up the marvelously piquant fish dish, Bourthetto, a Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) staple for Sephardic Jews.
In his letter to the edtior, Daniel Klein writes: "The time has come for all of us to take the next courageous step of declaring our houses of worship in Great Barrington as safe havens."
