PALAC . . . where people and ideas meet

S T U D Y D I S C U S S I O N P R O G R A M S W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 New leaders and hosts are the life blood of PALAC offers continuing liberal arts PALAC. Please call the office to volunteer. education to adults of the San Gabriel 626 797-2380

Valley. If you enjoy the excitement and stimulation of discussing ideas DATES TO REMEMBER Annual Meeting Saturday January 26 in a new learning situation, whatever Program Brunch Saturday March 16 your educational background, Spring Party Sunday June 2 you’re welcome in any of PALAC’s WINTER SESSION 2019 programs. ______

101 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by JOIN US PALAC offers additional advantages and activities to members. Membership subscription is just $30 Yuval Noah Harari per person or $50 per couple per calendar year. Call 626 This is Harari’s third book after his internationally acclaimed Sapiens and Homo Deus , which assessed the past and the 797-2380 for details or mail your registration and check to future. He has put together a strategy to deal with most of the PALAC, 1015 N. Lake #108, Pasadena, CA 91104-4574. critical “isms” that confront our society today. The book was recently reviewed inFULL the “NY Times Book Review” by Bill REGISTER To register, submit a completed registration Gates as a powerful book that he generally agrees with but not form and a check to the PALAC office. every part and that should give the group a good opportunity Most groups are limited to 13-15 participants. This provides to discuss the pros and cons for this very important book. a comfortable, intimate atmosphere for discussion. Early ISBN-13: 978-0525512172 Mondays, 2 - 4 p.m., January 7, 14, 21, 28 registration will help assure you a place in your selected Leader David Whitcomb Members $27 group. If you register close to the time the group begins, Host Coralie Whitcomb Non-Members $37 please contact the office to verify group openings. Place Glendale You will receive confirmation of your selected group(s) by email if you have email. ______102 Writing Salon: Your Personal Stories Get your registration form in ASAP. Please! Once again we will try a lottery system to allow those living outside Pasadena on Paper a chance to get in their chosen groups. For those discussion Inspiration and guidance to record and share memorable groups and safaris that are over-subscribed, the office will moments from your life – adventures, reflections, family hold a lottery one week after a designated “outlier” receives history or the lives of those whose memory you want to honor. her program. Be sure to get your registration form to the office In addition to reading and commenting on the writing of before the lottery! And don’t forget, dues-paying members others, now you will create your own. This is an opportunity receive priority. Call the office if you are unsure if you have to delve into the experiences you’ve had before the details are paid your 2019 dues. forgotten. We all have something special to share. Tuesdays 7 - 9 p.m., January 8, 15, 22 We will order books three weeks before each group begins. If Leader Jo Nelsen Members $10 you plan to drop a group, please let us know before then, or Host Fran Blackwell Non-Members $20 we will not be able to refund you for the cost of the book. Place Pasadena

______103 Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust 107 Unthinkable: An Extraordinary Swann’s Way is the first of the seven volume 20th century Journey Through the World's masterpiece In Search of Lost Time . It’s a novel of childhood Strangest Brains by Helen Thomson – a sensitive boy’s impressions of his family and neighbors – How does our mind, our individual sense of self, emerge from all brought back years later by the famous taste of a the physical matter of the brain? What happens when the madeleine. ISBN-13: 978-1726778039 mind misbehaves: distance is distorted, memory plays tricks, Thursdays 2 – 4 p.m., January 10, 17, 24, 31, February people hear in color, or see in music. By studying disruptions 7 to typical brain functioning,FULL we will deepen our understanding

Leader Julio-Cesar Marin Members $21 of thought, feeling, behavior, memory, and creativity – the Host Peggy Schiffman Non-Members $31 very nature of what it means to be human. ISBN-13: 978- Place San Marino 0062391162 ______Tuesdays 2 – 4 p.m., January 15, 22, 29 104 The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Leader Bob Diller Members $30 Host Clara Richards Non-Members $40

Hat by Oliver Sacks Place South Pasadena Oliver Sacks, “one of the great clinical writers of the 20th ______century” ( The New York Times ) recounts the case histories of 108 How Democracies Die by Steven patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of brain disorders. These brilliant tales, in Dr. Sacks’ Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt sympathetic and humane telling, lead him and his readers to Donald Trump’s presidency has raised a question: Is our reflect on modern cognitive science and its attempts to democracy in danger? Harvard professors Levitsky and understand the mind, and perhaps the soul, by reflecting on Ziblatt spent twenty years studying the breakdown of how the brain is able to function, albeit strangely, when faced democracies, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy with obstacles of disease or injury. ISBN-13: 978- no longer ends with a revolutionFULL or military coup, but with the 0684853949 gradual weakening of the judiciary and the press, and the Fridays 2 – 4 p.m., January 11, 18, 25, February 1 gradual erosion of political norms. The good news is that Leader Stanley Oropesa Members $22 there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism.

Host Margaret Hostrup Non-Members $32 ISBN-13: 978-1524762933

Wednesdays 2 – 4 p.m., January 16, 23, 30 Place Pasadena ______Leader Reiko Sakata Members $29

Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis Host Reiko Sakata Non-Members $39 105 Place Monrovia “What are the consequences if the people given control over ______our government have no idea how it works?” Michael Lewis 109, 110 & 111 Great Decisions delves into an administration ignorant of how our government The Foreign Policy Association, an independent non-profit works. Lewis finds experts who are working to keep our organization, publishes Great Decisions every year. This is a government running and what keeps them awake at night. series of eight in-depth articles by policy experts and global ISBN-13:POSTPONED 978-1324002642 thinkers. Through this national program we are provided Mondays 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., January 14, 21 28, background information, news and context for anyone February 4 Leader Joan Stafford Members $28 seeking to understand global issues and eager to discuss them. 109 Great Decisions 1 Host Nancy Sullivan Non-Members $38 Thursdays, 7 - 9 p.m., January 31, February 7, 14, 21, 28, March 7, Place Pasadena ______14, 21 Leader Brice Harris Members $37

106 The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Host Suzanne Diller Non-Members $47

Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940 by William Place Pasadena Manchester 110 Great Decisions 2 This is a view of Winston Churchill when he was out of power Fridays, 2 - 4 p.m., February 15, 22, March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5 Leader Bhargav Oza Members $37 during many years before WWII. It shows him struggling to Host Deborah Fox Non-Members $47 alert Britain to the danger of Hitler. Government leaders refused to listen until they were forced to do so by disaster. Place South Pasadena ISBN-13: 978-0385313315 111 Great Decisions 3 Mondays, 7 – 9 p.m., January 7, 14, 21, 28 Tuesdays, 2 - 4 p.m., March 26, April 2, 9, 16. 23, 30, May 7, 14 Leader Ed Washatka Members $37 Leader Steve Crane Members $31 Host Jane Crane Non-Members $41 Host Cornelia Fuller Non-Members $47

Place Pasadena Place Altadena

______112 North Korea Confidential: Private 115 & 116 Laemmle Theatre Groups Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, The Laemmle Theatre always has some interesting films Dissenters and Defectors by Daniel Tudor showing. With your input we’ll choose the best, meet for an and James Pearson afternoon matinee, stroll to a nearby restaurant for a drink, Practically everything you know about North Korea is wrong snack and a discussion of the movie. Several days ahead of – particularly when DPRK citizens are characterized as robots time, your leader will send you instructions about where and who only live to serve their “Dear Leader.” From the when to meet. Drink, food and movie ticket not included. 115 Laemmle Wednesday afternoons, January 9, 23, February 6, 20 countrywide famine of the 1990s has emerged a society which 116 Laemmle Thursday afternoons, January 10. 24, February 7, 21 is more susceptible to outside information than ever before. Wed. Leader Carol Criqui Members $10 Tudor, a former correspondentFULL for The Economist , and Thu. Leader Carla Barnes Non-Members $15 Pearson, a Reuters reporter, have pieced together their story Place Laemmle Theatre, 673 E. Colorado Bl., Pasadena from North Korean insiders, defectors, diplomats and traders. ______The book was named an Economist best book of 2015. ISBN- _ 13: 978-0804844581 117 Armchair Movie and Discussion: 100 Tuesdays 2 – 4 p.m., February 5, 12, 19 Men and a Girl Leader Carla Barnes Members $29 Bob Koster, son of movie director Henry Koster, will show Host Fran Blackwell Non-Members $39 Koster’s Oscar nominated movie “100 Men and a Girl” Place Pasadena ______staring Deana Durbin, Adolphe Menjou and Leopold _ Stokowski, followed by a talk and discussion of his dad’s role 113 A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor in the making of the film. Maximum 30 people. Towles Wednesday, February 13, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. Leader Bob Diller Members $10 If you love historical fiction this book is a must read. In 1922,

Host Joyce Newman Non-Members $15 Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat Place Pasadena by the Bolsheviks and is sentenced to house arrest for life in a grand hotel. Rostov, a man of erudition who has never worked, must become a waiter. As tumultuous decades in WINTER SAFARIS Russia unfold, visitors keeping popping in. Towles crafts ______themes that run deeper than mere sociopolitical commentary: S01 Rubel Castle parental duty, friendship, romance, home. ISBN-13: 978- Rubel Castle in Glendora, California has been called “a San 0670026197 Gabriel Valley version of Watts Towers.” In 1959 Michael Fridays, 2 – 4 p.m., February 8, 15, 22, March 1, 8 Rubel purchased a 2½ acre citrus orchard on which the Leader Jane Crane Members $29 structure resides. He and his friends completed construction Host Steve Crane Non-Members $39 in 1986. It is considered the first major recycling project in Place Pasadena ______the United States. It was constructed out of concrete, scrap _ steel, rocks, bedsprings, coat hangers, bottles, and other re- 114 Calculating the Cosmos: How purposed materials that Rubel found. Part of National Mathematics Unveils the Universe by Ian Register of Historic Places. Stewart Limitations: MaximumFULL 11 people. No tour participation is Ian Stewart demonstrates how scientific inquiry and math go allowed via wheelchairs, walkers, or cart assistance due to hand in hand. This is a history of astronomy and mathematics, stairs, tunnels, and uneven surfaces. There are no sidewalks, how advances in astronomy fueled advances in mathematics or handrails and walking surfaces include gravel and bare and vice versa. With virtually no equations, we learn about ground. There are no rest benches along touring routes. complicated math theory in a friendly, conversational tone. Sturdy footwear is required (heels, flip-flops, and sandals are ISBN-13: 978-0465096107 not recommended., A walking and standing ability of at least Thursdays 2 – 4 p.m., February 14, 21, 28, March 7 90 minutes is required. Restroom facilities (2) require agility Leader Gay Bruveris Members $21 and balance due to steps and no handrails. Need to sign release to get in. We will email them. Host Gay Bruveris Non-Members $31 Place Pasadena Thursday, January 10, 9:15 a.m. - noon Leaders Jane Crane Members $20 Bonnie Brown Non-Members $25 Meeting Place Carpool from the PALAC parking lot, 1015 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena

______S02 Modern Art Tour of the Frederick R. SPRING SESSION 2019

Weisman Art Foundation ______Visit the magnificent private home and grounds of Frederick _ R. Weisman in the Holmby Hills to see his modern art 201 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family collection of 400 paintings and sculptures. Learn about the and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance President of Hunt Foods and the first importer of Toyota in Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a America. Followed by a no-host lunch in Beverly Hills. The culture in crisis – that of poor, white Americans. The tour lasts 90 minutes with only one opportunity to sit down. disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly There are stairs both inside and outside. Maximum of 25 occurring now for over forty years, has been reported with people and six cars. growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been Monday, January 21, 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. written about as searingly from the inside. In Hillbilly Elegy , Leader Judith Klingbeil Members $10 J.D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and

Non-Members $15 class decline feels like when you were born with it hanging Meeting Place Carpool from the PALAC parking lot, around your neck. Required reading to understand our recent 1015 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena politics. ISBN-13: 978-0062300546

______Tuesdays 2 – 4 p.m., April 2, 9, 16, 23 Leader Carol Emerson Members $28 S03 Hollyhock House by Frank Lloyd Host Barbara Blowers Non-Members $38 Wright Place Pasadena ______Built in 1919-1921, Hollyhock House was originally designed _ by Frank Lloyd Wright as a residence for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall. The building is now the centerpiece of the city’s 202 Third Thoughts by Steven Weinberg Barnsdall Art Park. The art museum on the grounds is open From one of the greatest living physicists we’ll read essays for viewing as well. FULLNo-host lunch in Pasadena following the ranging from science history and a layman’s explanation of tour. Maximum 10 people. phenomena in the news today, to public policy, and personal Wednesday, January 23, 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. reflection. Essays include “The Art of Discovery”, “The Leader Susan Trauger Members $17 Universe We Still Don’t Know”, “Obama Gets Space Funding Non-Members $22 Right”, “Skeptics and Scientists”, “On Being Wrong”, and Meeting Place Carpool from the PALAC parking lot, “The Craft of Science and the Craft of Art”. ISBN-13: 978- 1015 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena 0674975323 Thursdays 2 – 4 p.m., April 4, 11, 18 ______Leader Bob Diller Members $30

S04 Visit to USC Pacific Asia Museum Host Bill Butler Non-Members $40 USC Pacific Asia Museum was originally built in 1924 by Place Altadena ______architects Marston, Van Pelt and Mayburg to house the Asian _ and Western Art collection and living quarters of collector 203 She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Grace Nicholson. The museum is only one of four institutions in the country devoted to the arts and cultures of Asia and Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Pacific Islands. Wear good walking shoes. Minimum 8, Heredity by Carl Zimmer maximum 14 people. Carl Zimmer, a science journalist who writes for the New York Thursday, February 7, 12:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Times , does a good job of peppering his highly readable book Leader Nancy Shannon Members $17 with lots of colorful stories and plenty of science. Starting Non-Members $22 with Mendel and Darwin and the dark history of eugenics, he Meeting Place Meet in parking lot of museum at the corner moves on to today and the future: our ability to explore DNA, of Los Robles and Union. Free parking at meeting the hunt for genetic errors that cause disease, and cutting-edge place. Must be there by 12:45 p.m. technologies that can (and will) allow us to edit out these errors. ISBN-13: 978-1101984598 Fridays 2 – 4 p.m., April 5, 12, 19, 26, May 3, 10 Leaders Jane Crane Members $30

Gay Bruveris Non-Members $40 Host

Jane Crane Place Pasadena

______204 The Best American Science and 207 & 208 Laemmle Theatre Groups The Laemmle Theatre always has some interesting films Nature Writing 2018 by Sam Kean showing. With your input we’ll choose the best, meet for an Best-selling author of The Disappearing Spoon , The afternoon matinee, stroll to a nearby restaurant for a drink, Violinist’s Thumb , and more, Sam Kean, selects the year’s top snack and a discussion of the movie. Several days ahead of science and nature writing, looking for writers who balance time, your leader will send you instructions about where and research with humanity and in the process uncover riveting when to meet. Drink, food and movie ticket not included. stories of discovery across the disciplines. This will be the 207 Laemmle Wednesday afternoons, April 3, 17, May 1, 15 fifth session of the great series for PALAC members. ISBN- 208 Laemmle Thursday afternoons, April 4, 18, May 2, 16 13: 978-1328987808 Wed. Leader Carol Criqui Members $10

Mondays 2 – 4 p.m., May 6, 13, 20, 27, June 3 Thu. Leader Carla Barnes Non-Members $15 Leader David Whitcomb Members $22 Place Laemmle Theatre, 673 E. Colorado Bl., Pasadena ______Host Coralie Whitcomb Non-Members $32 _ Place Glendale ______209 Armchair Traveler – Jerusalem 205 Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in Holy to three religions, contested by two nationalisms, and influenced by one great power. The history of Jerusalem, past North Korea by Barbara Demick and present, through photos old and new. You might be What do we truly know about North Korea and its people? In surprised! Nothing to Envy , award-winning journalist Barbara Demick, Thursday 7:15 – 9:15 p.m., April 25 Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times , follows the Leader Brice Harris Members $10

lives of six North Korean citizens over fifteen years, a chaotic Host Esther Ames Non-Members $15 period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the rise of power of Place Pasadena ______his son Kim Jon-il (the father of Kim Jon-un), and a _ devastating famine that killed one-fifth of the population. This eye-opening account of a closed world of increasing 210 Film and Discussion: Dolores Huerta global importance was a National Book Award Finalist. ISBN View a 1.5 hour film about Huerta’s role in founding, with 978-0385523912 Cesar Chavez, the United Farmworkers and the grape strike Wednesdays 7 – 9 p.m., May 8, 15, 22, 29 in the ‘60s. Half hour discussion afterwards. Leader Carla Barnes Members $23 Friday 7 – 9:30 p.m., May 10 Leader Bob Diller Members $10 Host Suzanne Diller Non-Members $33

Place Pasadena Host Sue Hogan Non-Members $15 ______Place Pasadena 206 Two books by Ian McEwan SPRING SAFARIS Amsterdam won the Booker Prize in 1998. It portrays the ______“mutually parasitic relationship between politicians and S05 Museum of Radio and TV journalists that is as damning as it is comic.” Saturday “is a thoughtful and matureFULL look at our world today,…weaving Over 200,000 videos of TV shows and radio programs, past together suspense, psychological depth and beautiful prose.” and present, are found in the amazing media center. We will Amsterdam : ISBN-13: 978-0385494243 view a theatre screening of a pre-selected TV show and have Saturday : ISBN-13: 978-0007218295 a group discussion led by a docent who will also answer any Thursdays 2 – 4 p.m., May 9, 16, 23, 30, June 6 additional questions you might have. Then, we’ll eat in Leader Susan Trauger Members $36 Beverly Hills within walking distance. “Let’s get on with the Show!” There is a $5 entrance fee payable upon entry. Host Coralie Whitcomb Non-Members $46 Place Pasadena Wednesday, May 1, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Leader Carolyn Karpin Members $10 Non-Members $15 Meeting Place Carpool from the PALAC parking lot, 1015 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena

______S06 LetterPress Chocolate Factory Tour Option to purchase books yourself Watch your chocolate go from bean to bar. The husband-and- The Board has decided that all books purchased for our groups wife team of David and Corey Menkes founded their company will be sent directly from Amazon to your homes. However, in 2014 in their apartment, and now make 4,000 bars a month if you wish to support another bookseller by purchasing your of single-origin chocolate. We will get to view the process books there, the cost of any group will be $10 for members start to finish, and can buy bars of chocolate ($10 - $18) and $20 for non-members (unless there is a ticket or other decorated with wrappers designed by the owner using a expense involved). We have included the ISBN in our group 1920’s-era South American air mail stamp as a prototype. descriptions to ensure that you purchase the correct edition of Some evening in the spring, date and time TBD. the book. Please do not send money until you receive an email with the date and time. In our program brochure, PALAC publishes the cost of each Leader Carla Barnes Members $35 discussion group. This includes the price of the book, Non-Members $40 convenient delivery to your home, and office overhead. If you Meeting Place Carpool from the PALAC parking lot, choose to buy your own book rather than using the office’s 1015 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena book delivery system, we request that you follow these simple steps: ______• When completing your registration form, check the S07 Museum of Tolerance option that says “I will be responsible for buying my own Recipient of the Global Peace and Tolerance Award from the books.” Friends of the United Nations, the Museum of Tolerance is a • Jot a note to yourself to remind yourself to order or human rights laboratory and educational center dedicated to buy the book. Be sure to order your book early, to give challenging visitors to understand the Holocaust and confront the bookstore or online service time to check availability! all forms of prejudice in our world today. This museum • Keep the ISBN in the brochure handy when ordering should serve to prevent hatred and genocide from occurring to online or shopping at a store. This ensures you will have any group now and in the future. One of the special exhibits the same edition of the book as the rest of the group. was created by the surrealist Salvador Dali. It portrays the • When filling out your registration form, adjust the epic history of the return of the Jewish People to their price to $10 for members, or $20 for non-members. homeland – expressed in 25 bold, dramatic, yet sensitive drawings, sketches and water-colors. There is also possibly (Note: Buying your own book may end up costing you more still available an Anne Frank Exhibit (extra cost, separate than if the office orders the book for you.) ticket). No-host lunch at nearby restaurant. Minimum 6, maximum 12 people. Senior admission of $12.50 to be paid upon entry. Wednesday, May 8, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Leader Jane Crane Members $10 Non-Members $15 Meeting Place Carpool from the PALAC parking lot, 1015 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena

PASADENA AREA LIBERAL ARTS CENTER

1015 N. Lake Ave., Suite 108 Pasadena, CA 91104-4574

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED [email protected] PALAC Where people and ideas meet

Visit us at www.palac-pasadena.info or Call 626 797-2380 Pasadena Area Liberal Arts Center 1015 N. Lake Ave., Suite 108 Pasadena, CA 91104 626-797-2380

2019 Annual Membership Dues January 1 through December 31, 2019 PLEASE LEGIBLY PRINT ALL INFORMATION Name: ______Family Membership with: ______Address: ______City, State, Zip: ______Phones: hm/wk/cell ______E-mail address: ______Individual Membership $30; Family Membership $50

Sustaining $40; Supporting $60; Patron $125 Dues Subtotal Other Contribution: $______(Thank you for your donation)

Winter and Spring Program Registration : Name: ______

Phone Number (in case we must contact you):______

Program Title Fee Number

Total Pd.

Group Subtotal

(Please make check payable to PALAC) Option: I will be responsible for buying my own books (see previous page). Circle one YES NO Do you need a ride? Circle one YES NO Are you willing to transport another group participant? Circle one Yes NO