NATIONALSTEINBECKCENTER NEWS ISSUE 69 | JULY 2017 ISSUE 69 | JULY Notes From the Director Western Flyer owner John Gregg discussed the progress of Susan Shillinglaw reconstructing the purse seiner that Ricketts and Steinbeck At the NSC, summer is the time to chartered to the Sea of Cortez in 1940, and Taelen Thomas catch up. For the second year in a (as Steinbeck) and Steve Mortensen (as himself) entertained. row, the NSC was awarded a National My warm thanks to each, as well as to John Turner, General Endowment for the Arts Big Read Manager of The Clement, and the NSC board for their collective grant. As Eric Mora notes in his high spirits and full-throttle support; to Steve Palumbi, Director column, Citizen is a meditation on of Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station, for generously opening race in the 21st century. Please check Boatworks for afternoon seminars; to the Cannery Row www.steinbeck.org for a full schedule Foundation board and president, Greg Cailliet, for embracing the of events. Books are available at local event with gusto; and to Dennis Copeland and Claire Rygg of libraries, bookstores, and at the NSC. the City of Monterey for throwing open the doors of Ricketts’s Lab for tours and a humdinger of a reception—beer milkshakes Congressman Jimmy Panetta were flowing freely. graciously permitted me to print his moving speech from the first annual Cannery Row Banquet, The spirits of Doc and the boys raised a glass—or one of the co-sponsored by the National Steinbeck Center and the specially designed tin cups—I’m sure. Cannery Row Foundation, held at the InterContinental The Join us for the May 2018 Festival and Cannery Row Banquet. Clement Monterey on May 5. Congressman Panetta reflected The theme is the “The Women of Steinbeck’s World.” Maybe on the theme of the 2017 Festival, “Migrations.” In addition, Flora Woods’s expansive spirit will swoop through Cannery Row. Call 831.775.4721 or visit www.steinbeck.org for more information CALENDAR on our upcoming events. August 28 to October 18 Big Read, Citizen ANNUAL EVENTS November 4, 2 pm at NSC October 29–November 5 Performing Arts Series The Listening Place Day of the Dead presents “Over the River and Through the Woods” by Joe DiPietro. Starring Philip Pearce December 15–17 Salinas Valley Comic Con, “WE ARE and Michael Robbins. Four Italian grandparents in Hoboken, NJ respond hilariously to their NOT ALONE.” Hartnell College grandson’s announcement that he will move March 5 & 7, 2018 to the west coast. $10, NSC members $7. Steinbeck Young Authors Days of Writing December 9, 2 pm at NSC Performing Arts Series The Listening Place May 4–6, 2018 presents “Yuletide Jewels,” a collection of The Steinbeck Festival, “The holiday stories, poems, and songs. $10, Women of Steinbeck’s World” NSC members $7. The National Steinbeck Center’s BIG READ of “Citizen” by Claudia Rankine Eric Mora, Marketing Director I am happy to report that the National Endowment for the Arts has awarded a 2017 Big Read grant to the National Steinbeck Center; the book selected is Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric. This is the second consecutive year that the National Steinbeck Center has received an NEA Big Read grant and the fourth time overall. Why Citizen: An American Lyric? As we reviewed the list of books approved by the National Endowment for the Arts for the Big Read program, I was pleased to see that the NEA had added many new titles. In the past, the NEA Big Read books list read like a syllabus for a high school English class and was comprised primarily of classics: To Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 451, The Grapes of Wrath. A few years ago, the NEA began to phase out some of those books in favor of works by living authors such as Julia Alvarez (In The Time of the Butterflies), Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake), Emily St. John Mandel (Station Eleven), Ursula K. Le Guin (A Wizard of Earthsea). This year’s list represents the most drastic shift in that direction, with nearly every book by a living author. Citizen: An American Lyric stood out for me, in particular, because it presented the perfect opportunity to encourage frank discussions about race and, more broadly, about the way we treat one another. At 160 pages, Citizen is a Ways to get involved: quick but enthralling read. For me, no other book on the list 1. Read conveyed the sense of purpose and urgency that Citizen Citizen: An American Lyric does. Though Citizen is a little under 170 pages, you’ll be amazed by how much ground is covered in the book. Copies Around the time that we were considering which book to of Citizen will be available at the Salinas Public Library, select, I read an article by Walter Ryce in the Monterey Monterey County Free Libraries, Hartnell College Library, County Weekly, “Even when an encounter between police Monterey Library, CSUMB Library and of course at the and a man of color ends well, fear is in the air.” Walter National Steinbeck Center bookstore. recounted an incident that happened to him at work: the alarm at his office was accidentally triggered while he was 2. Attend NEA Big Read Events. By August, a full still working, and the police arrived on scene. Though the schedule will be on the NSC website and sent to members. interaction between him and the officers was amicable, Walter describes the tension that surrounded the incident 3. Join one of the Big Read book groups. and how very differently it could have ended had only a few factors been changed. 4. Attend free screenings of films that deal with race at Maya Cinemas. Citizen is filled with similar stories that deal with the complexity of race in everyday settings. As a community based program, the success of the NEA Big Read depends on participation. Don’t just join us—bring a We hope that the book will bring Monterey County together friend (or three). Share information about the NEA Big Read to hold difficult --but necessary—conversations about the events on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! varied lived experiences of members of our community. NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. 2 The National Steinbeck Center presents NEA BIG READ FILM FESTIVAL Maya Cinemas, Salinas AUG 28–OCT 16 All shows Mondays at 6 PM AUGUST 28 Lifeboat (1944) Introduction by Susan Shillinglaw, Director, National Steinbeck Center. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Survivors of a ship torpedoed during WWII face challenges of cooperation and survival. SEPTEMBER 4 Lady Sings the Blues (1972) Introduction by Kendra Cabrera, Professor of Ethnic Studies and Social Science at Monterey Peninsula College. Directed by Sidney J. Furie. The story of legendary Jazz singer Billie Holiday. SEPTEMBER 11 A Raisin in the Sun (1961) Introduction by Walter Ryce, Arts and Culture writer, Monterey County Weekly. Directed by Daniel Petrie. A financial windfall could either save or ruin a poor family living in Chicago’s East Side. SEPTEMBER 18 In the Heat of the Night (1967) Introduction by Luis Camara, Associate Professor in Cinematic Arts and Technology, CSUMB. Directed by Norman Jewison. While investigating the murder of a white businessman, a black homicide detective gets caught up in the racial tension of a Southern town. SEPTEMBER 25 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Introduction by Yhashika Lee, Lecturer in Cinema Arts and Photography, CSUMB. Directed by Robert Mulligan. A white lawyer and father defends a young black man accused of rape, while navigating his children through the issues of prejudice and growing up. Shown during Banned Book Week. OCTOBER 2 The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) Introduction by Mel Mason, Co-Founder, Executive Director and Clinical Director of The Village Project, Inc. Directed by Alfred E. Green. Traces the life and career of Jackie Robinson through the Negro leagues to the major leagues. OCTOBER 9 Fruitvale Station (2013) Introduction by Steven Goings, NAACP at CSUMB and National Coalition Building Institute, CSUMB. Post film discussion with Salinas police and community leaders. Directed by Ryan Coogler. The last day in the life of Oscar Grant, showing the events leading up to his death at the Fruitvale district station at the hands of BART police officers. OCTOBER 16 Do the Right Thing (1989) Introduction by Christine Hong, Professor, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UCSC. Directed by Spike Lee. A story of bigotry boiling over into violence on the hottest day of the year in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. A PROVOCATIVE MEDITATION ON RACE3 3 John Steinbeck and Race in America Susan Shillinglaw, Director Cheerleaders from Russian edition of Travels with Charley 4 John Steinbeck and me: “The Moon Was Down” Exhibit and Story Collection David Douglas Lee About ten years ago I found myself of this story and its impact outside the looking through the stacks of a used U.S. He documented the novella’s wartime bookstore in my adopted hometown of impact in America, Norway, Denmark, Amsterdam when I came across a thin, Holland and France, noting the importance hardbound volume, a first edition ofThe of the book to the resistance movement. Moon Is Down (1942) from London, and its But he only briefly related the background first page bore the name of an RAF pilot. and origin of the Italian, Swedish, Swiss, I bought and read the book immediately, Soviet and Chinese editions, and had little but cannot say I thought it very good. to say about British, Canadian, Australian, Compared to the power of the writing of Swedish and Egyptian editions.