Te Kimbal Farms Observer Volume 29, Number 1 ’Snow Use Complainin’ January 2020 Look for Familiar Faces in New Roles If you haven’t already done so: technology] people,” more suitable for corporate Congratulate Bob Herrick, the new Supervisor of positions, “and that’s not really what we’re looking Maintenance and Security, who succeeds Peter for.” Ideally, she says, Kimball’s new tech person Provenzano. would be qualified to work on, and assist residents with, both PCs and Macs, plus cellphones and other Congratulate Jordan (“West”) Saunders, a new technology. maintenance person to work with Bob Herrick and long-termer Chris Arnold. You’ve seen Bob Herrick, the new Supervisor of Maintenance and Security, Congratulate Chris-Ellen Furey on becoming the Chris working full-time on new Community Wellness Coordinator. construction within the Congratulate Kristina Shallies, promoted from buildings. Before coming Community Wellness Coordinator to be Director of to Kimball in May 2003, the Life Enrichment Program. he was a self-employed remodeler and painter. All these are Bob and West A m o n g t h o s e w h o full-time employed him was John appoint- Barry, a District Court ments, and all Judge in Pittsfield and except West President of Hillcrest Saunders’s Hospital and Educational are promo- Centers. A Pittsfield boy, tions from Bob and his wife, Lori, now live in Dalton. He used w i t h i n , s o to be a golfer but now, he says, “we’re homebodies.” three of the They have two sons in their late 30s. four faces are familiar in the halls. West Saunders does not come from the West. He’s a Human Resources Director Amy Goodrich says their Sheffield resident who goes by his middle name, appointments also mark a new phase of openness in West. Originally from Great Barrington, he spent 40 which the Administration will try to keep residents years in Maine, where his wife, Tatiana, was a better informed about staff changes and activities. veterinarian and he did maintenance work in the For good measure, the roster of appointments also veterinary clinic. She’s back to work as a includes two new CNAs (Certified Nursing veterinarian in the Berkshires. Both have family Assistants): Maia Leslie in LEP and Molly Bussiere here. “We came back to be around Great Barrington in Pine Hill. and everybody,” West explains. They have a 19-year- old daughter. And the search is still on for a computer person to replace Peter Provenzano, Amy says. (This Observer Chris Furey, an LPN and Dalton resident, had been report extends only until mid-December.) There have working here alternate weekends as a nurse since been plenty of applications, Amy says. “The problem August 2015. is that we are getting very high-level IT [information (continued on next page) 2 The Kimball Farms Observer January 2020

(Familiar Faces, continued from page 1) State Your Hot Ideas When Kristina Shallies stepped up to become LEP in New Focus Groups director last month, Amy Goodrich explains, “it just made sense” to make Chris the new Wellness Kimball Farms residents are never reluctant to share their opinions, solicited or not, but Michelle Rosier, Coordinator, “since she knows the ins and outs, and she knows the residents within the community.” Director of Residential Services, is about to launch a series of focus groups for residents to share their Chris graduated from Berkshire Community concerns and wishes specifically about the activities as an LPN and worked at long-term care centers and programming for Independent Living residents. Berkshire Medical Center 24 years before coming to “We’re here for you,” Michelle says,” and we want Kimball. She and her husband, Rick, have two children and three grandchildren. “I love to cook,” to know what activities you’re interested in, or not.” she says, mentioning Chinese and Italian food “I’m very brave,” she asserts, “and I can take among others. “That’s what I do as a hobby.” She criticism. I really want to hear from everyone. We also knits, crochets and, in summer, gardens. have many new residents with great ideas to share LPN Kristina Shallies and we hope to hear from them, too.” c a m e t o K i m b a l l Kristina The focus groups will begin after the first of the year, Farms in June 2018 as with about ten residents per group. While the format Community Wellness for the groups is still to be decided, each one will Nurse. Born and raised “cover all the bases and topics,” according to i n P i t t s f i e l d , s h e Michelle. “We’ll ask about preferences for concerts, trained as a CNA at speakers and activities, the kind of programs we Ta c o n i c H i g h i n usually schedule, but I also hope there will be some Pittsfield. Ten years of outside-the-box ideas, too.” w o r k a s a C N A Sign-ups for the focus groups will begin soon. convinced her that she wanted to become a Michelle cites the recent survey of users of the nurse and she went exercise equipment in both the Pine Hill and Lenox b a c k t o M c C a n n gyms as a good example of the benefits of asking for Technical School in opinions. “We planned to buy a certain group of North Adams for further training. She and her machines, but when we surveyed residents, we husband, Nick, live in Hinsdale. A former swimmer, learned that they had other preferences, so we’ve she says she now spends most of her spare time with revised the order to include, for instance, more their five-year-old son. NuStep machines, two for Pine Hill and one for the small Lenox gym.” That’s the new lineup. But Amy Goodrich wants “to raise awareness and welcome discussion” of new A problem Michelle hopes to have groups discuss is staff members. To that end, she has begun posting this frustrating situation: the Trips Committee works pictures of new hires in all staff positions, including hard to find interesting destinations and good kitchen, laundry and grounds, around the buildings; restaurants, and makes appointments with tour you can see the first crop on the Bridge bulletin guides or docents. They post a sign-up sheet. Many board. You’ll also begin seeing pictures of monthly residents sign up for the trip, but by the time it orientation classes and quarterly “milestone lunches” actually takes place, so many people have crossed held for staff recognition. their names off the list that the trip is cancelled. P.S. The recognition lunches are held off-campus. Start thinking about your great ideas now, so that you can be ready when it’s your turn to share your Andy Pincus opinion. Susan Dana January 2020 The Kimball Farms Observer 3 President’s Report: Also in the works, this time led by Michelle Rosier, is the establishment of focus groups, whose task will Let Us Connect be to consider what new committees or programs One question about fulfilling my role as President of residents would welcome; which existing ones have the Residents’ Association was answered at our lived their lives and can end or be modified. The December meeting: I can be seen behind the podium. focus groups would not be permanent but offer input Whether I can adequately represent you is yet to be that may continue. Success of this effort relies upon determined. My understanding of the responsibilities residents’ ideas and participation. of this office stems from one word: “Connect.” I hope for this monthly column to be short but do want to let you know of staff changes. We offer The gavel is passed congratulations to Bob Herrick, Peter Provenzano’s successor as Superintendent of Maintenance and Security, and newcomer Jordan (West) Saunders, maintenance worker with Bob Herrick and Chris Arnold; Kristina Shallies has been promoted to Director of the Life Enrichment Program; Chris Ellen-Furey is now our full-time Community Wellness Coordinator. You’ll see pictures of new staff on the Bridge bulletin board, thanks to Amy Goodrich. It’s not for lack of looking that we don’t yet have a competent IT person to provide computer assistance to residents. This is the Berkshires: there are more We are a disparate group but we form one jobs than people to fill them, but Kimball is aware community, and we are all a part of making it work that there is a significant demand for the right in a congenial way. I will do my best to connect individual and the search continues. residents’ concerns and aspirations with the Thank you for the confidence you have expressed in administration; to facilitate conversations that will me. promote cooperation, and to include as many Dorothea Nelson individuals as possible in decisions that will impact residents. The Kimball Farms Observer is printed and That can only happen with your cooperation. I will published by and for the residents of Kimball Farms be guided by your suggestions: that means EDITOR PRODUCTION expressing your ideas in writing and placing them in Andy Pincus Ned Dana the Suggestion Box found in our mail room. I Michelle Rosier promise such messages will be presented to Administration and R.A. officers. I cannot promise EDITORIAL STAFF: Stephanie Beling, Susan Dana, outcomes but can guarantee your written Ned Dana, Virginia Fletcher, John Gillespie, communications will be reviewed and responses Bernie Handler, Loring Mandel, Dorothea Nelson, provided. Margot Yondorf Early in the New Year, Sandy Shepard will schedule PHOTOGRAPHS: informal coffee hours with selected staff. This will Ned Dana, Lily Wayne be an opportunity for residents to offer their ideas for what works and what doesn’t; what they wish could CONTRIBUTORS THIS MONTH: Eileen Henle, Nelda McGraw, be instituted. It’s also a way to get a better handle on Patricia Moynahan the desires of residents you may not know too well. In order for Kimball to work at an optimal level, it matters that we connect, connect and then reconnect! 4 The Kimball Farms Observer January 2020 “Hey! A Family!” A Woodstock Saga The radio report for the weekend was for warm, and practical announcements were broadcast now sunny weather. We packed the car with sleeping bags and again. Messages from individual concertgoers and picnic food and our two girls, aged eight and ten. filled the airways. “Betsy Smith, please meet your We were excited to have a few days to camp out and group at the east side of the stage.” “A service listen to some of our favorite musicians in an organization is here to help with overdoses and can outdoor concert. We had no idea we were on our way be contacted in the first aid tent.” “There is some to participating in a rare historical event. BAD STUFF being circulated. Be sure you know We met our good friends from the next town and where your ‘stuff’ comes from.” hurried toward the campground in separate cars. It We found a spot that was large enough for our two wasn’t until we were about ten miles from our cars and began making camp. We were quickly destination that our journey came to a screeching surrounded by other mostly young folks, so that we halt. On the highway ahead, bumper-to-bumper cars were soon boxed in with pup tents and handmade were standing stock still for as far as we could see lean-tos. Announcements on sound systems gave ahead of us, and soon, behind us as well. We sat for directions to toilets and food tents. The hours surrounded by young people h i t c h h i k i n g , running from car to car with water bottles, offering snacks and water t o e v e r y o n e along the way. Naturally, we e n v i s i o n e d a h o r r i b l e c a r accident ahead and we began to fear that our weekend would be spent on the announcements grew as the numbers of folk in the highway. The girls became more and more restless. audience grew. The realization that this was no usual Finally, a local radio station reported that people gathering began to dawn on us, filling us with awe. were pouring in from all over the country to attend At one point during the weekend there was a request the concert. for a doctor and later an announcement of the birth of a healthy baby boy. The hillside roared welcome Young people began climbing out of their cars, to the newborn. There were frequent announcements turning up their radios and dancing and singing. It of caution about a certain brand of drug, and was a national block party, a joyful gathering of directions to a group treating anyone with health strangers. The highway was alive with music, and problems. peace and camaraderie. This was our introduction to Woodstock. We put blankets out and focused as the huge stage lit up about ¼ mile below us. Helicopters began We crept to our destination, concert tickets at the arriving as the performers were flown into the ready. When we arrived, there were no gatekeepers staging area. The long wait in the car was forgotten taking tickets and, indeed, there was no longer a gate as we had a picnic and listened to the music coming or a fence in sight. Hordes of people were moving from the stage. We were not a part of the cannabis toward the huge stage and setting up small tents, generation and did not recognize the strong scent of placing sleeping bags and backpacks to make small weed wafting across the hills. camps on the hill overlooking the huge area. Safety (continued on next page) January 2020 The Kimball Farms Observer 5

(Woodstock, continued from page 4) friends and became tired and fell asleep after a hectic day. The rain continued almost to dawn. My friend The girls forgot all that had made them cross. The and I settled with the children, tucked snugly into sights around us grew more and more entertaining. our cars. Our husbands bravely slept in the tent. We There were various fashion styles on display and, as listened to the performers until our eyes could not the weekend progressed, some began to form a stay open. nudist colony. Young people walking past us on the hillside would point at us sitting on our pallets and We had planned a two-night camping trip and had a say, ”Hey! A family!” We seemed to be an powwow with our friends to talk over the reality of unexpected anomaly and brought joy to youngsters what we had stumbled into. After agonizing from afar. There were other families there, but very discussion of pros and cons, we decided we would few as far as we could tell. stick to our plan to get back home on Sunday. Packing up began with distributing all the leftover Friday evening was all we food to the people around us. There had been no had hoped for. The music food drops since Saturday morning. The crowd was went on throughout the beginning to become very hungry. Our contributions night and the next day were very welcomed by sleepy fellow campers. brought more wonderful surprises than we had My husband went to the tents and camp spots around expected, as everyone in us and told the people we needed to move our cars the music business out of the park. Once again, we were amazed to find volunteered their time to we were met with smiles. The young folks around us perform at Woodstock. were polite and very accommodating. They moved Performing there had their tents and gear to make a path for our cars to become a badge of honor. leave the park. In spite of our tired backs, damp We were introduced to clothing and need for a warm shower, we had a live performances of weekend never to be forgotten. Jimi Hendrix Richard Havens, Santana, Needless to say, our naïve decision to go for what many others who became was to be an innocent camping concert created an icons that weekend. The ecstatic crowd sang, swayed instant reputation as “cool parents” when our girls along with the music and passed peace and love entered junior high. signs to everyone in sight. This unique “city of love” made us think there was still hope for peace in the Nelda McGraw world. New Year’s Resolution The rain began as evening arrived on the second Is it too much to ask of yourself night. Gentle but steady, the rain soaked everything to pick up a pencil, in sight. Sloshing through the mud was the only way a piece of paper, your sketch pad, t o g e t t o t h e your notebook — toilets. The food Sit down and begin to tents ran out of Write, draw, or compose? food and, as the A poem, novel, essay or memoir begins evening began to With a single word. cool, people were A landscape, portrait, or surreal abstraction wrapping plastic Starts with a single stroke or even a dot garbage bags A song or sonata needs that a r o u n d First note. themselves to try Is it too much to ask and keep dry. of yourself to Others gave up and shed their clothes and joined the Just begin? puddles. Fortunately, the children played with their Stephanie Beling 6 The Kimball Farms Observer January 2020 Roy Rogers Westerns hard bump after the other, up, down, up, down. Everything inside me jiggled. With every bounce, Were Never Like This my eyeglasses slipped further down my nose, almost (The assignment in Ruth Bass’ writers class falling off. I needed one hand for the glasses and one was “Our Worst Vacation.” ) hand for the reins. Not only was I worried about my own survival, but also about poor Audrey, her horse When I was a little girl, my sister and I spent many obediently following mine. Both of us were in tears Saturday afternoons going to the movies. During and calling for help. those years, most of the movies we saw were Westerns. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were our Our guide, who was in the lead, turned around to see favorites. Later, John Wayne became the horseman what all the commotion was about and immediately we admired, as he rode his horse westward into the went into action. He quickly rode up to my horse, sunset, to a tune from Grofé’s The Grand Canyon grabbed hold of the reins and got her under control, Suite. while chiding me all the time to“sit up straight.” Audrey’s horse followed suit and we continued our Many years later, when I had little girls of my own, journey with our guide riding along beside me. one of them, Janice, expressed a desire to take horseback riding lessons. Her best friend had already When we finally dismounted, I found that I could started on her own lessons. Arthur encouraged hardy walk or sit. My entire bottom was sore. It took Janice, for he knew how to ride and had entertained soaking in hot baths for two days for me to walk visions of “father and daughter galloping along normally. together on beautiful woodland mountain trails.” The I haven’t seen a Western movie for years. How did time soon came for their sought-after horseback ride, they do all that fancy riding? Stunt doubles, maybe. when our family visited the trails along the Grand Too bad I didn’t think of doing that before my Tetons in Wyoming. My younger daughter and I horseback-riding episode. Now, as I happily ride off Audrey and I were not enthusiastic about this into the sunset with Grofé’s On the Trail going adventure. through my head, I say “Giddyap,” not to my horse Neither Audrey nor I had ever even been near a but to my Toyota Camry. horse. Just looking at those horses was terrifying. Eileen Henle Mine was way too big, very tall and wide. No way was I going to get my legs spread wide enough to get Vegetarian’s Lament them around that tremendous creature, but with a Chicken and fish, boost from our guide, and much effort and grunting Fish and chicken, on my part, I did. Oh, how I wish The horses all lined up, Arthur and Janice in front, For another dish. me next and Audrey last. We began to move, each Ham and cheese, one behind the other. Unfortunately, no one thought Cheese and ham, to instruct us on how to sit on a horse or how to steer I ham what I ham, it or get it to slow down or stop. Too bad, because I’ll have cheese, please. my horse put her head down and stopped. She wouldn’t move. I tried talking to her. Maybe I said For ripe bananas the wrong things, nudged her the wrong way, We sing hosannas, because she lifted her head, broke off the line and But those with brown spots took off in another direction. Are eat-me-nots. We went every which way, under low-branched trees Day-old cake and high bushes that scratched my face and tore at Make tummy ache. my jeans as we passed them. My horse seemed to be ` Say ice cream, please picking up speed as I leaned forward, afraid I was Put belly at ease. going to fall off. That gesture just made the horse go Al Kaseltzer faster. Then the bumping began in full force. One January 2020 The Kimball Farms Observer 7

say with confidence, David was, at heart, a salesman. And boy, was he good at it! Here’s a good example. In 1966, he sold CBS on the idea of producing a big-budget TV version of ’s great play, Death of a Salesman, with the original Lee J. Cobb recreating his greatest Death of a Salesman: performance. But before the rehearsals were to David Susskind begin, David received a call from the President of CBS Entertainment, Michael Dann, who thought the Little David Susskind, Shut up play would be better if the Salesman didn’t die at the Please don’t talk, please don’t talk end. Dann, not a bad salesman himself, threatened to Little David Susskind, Me first cancel the project if Susskind didn’t agree. David Then you’ll talk knew that his reputation would be forever Allan Sherman diminished if he agreed to turn the play, as he told There was no mistaking him, and no escaping him. me, into The Illness of a Salesman. In fact, David did While hosting a television discussion program for what was considered bad form: He went over Dann’s almost 30 years, and during a time when the quality head to William Paley, who owned CBS, and Paley, a of television was skidding into weightlessness, he very wealthy man whose cultural pretensions and his company produced prize-winning television sometimes took second place to profits, supported dramas, motion pictures and Broadway plays, all of David. Thus the show went on with the original serious quality. He was, in his span that saw his hair script. turn from black to wavy silver gray, protean. Incidental remark: I sat at the CBS table with Mike He was big on TV, Dann at the 1967 , where I won for a but he was physically television play I’d written for . Most of short. So, too, was the top awards went to NBC that night, and Dann his brother Murray, kept muttering under his breath, “Saved by a damn who ran the offices writer.” of David’s company, Bad David. He would enter a meeting at which he . would propose a new project. If the reaction was not M o s t o f t h e quickly encouraging, he would reach into his attaché employees were case, pull out a different proposal and abandon the w o m e n , r o u g h l y first. Not great if it divided into two was your script. groups: Talent and Secretaries. Talent Here’s another one. included the women He produced an w h o s e r v e d a s ambitious TV series, Producers for many East Side, West Side, of the shows and films the company created, starring George C. although these women were always credited as Scott and featuring Associate Producers. The Secretaries were virtually every first distinctive in that office for their tallness, their very rate actor in New long legs and their very short skirts. Yo r k . A w r i t e r named Eddie Adler I got to know David perhaps better than most, was both writer and technical advisor on the show. because I observed him at his worst and at his best, During that time, one of Susskind’s daughters had leaving me incapable of coming down on either side endeavored to write a script for a contest. of a judgment. As an interviewer, he was dogged. As (continued on next page) a phrasemaker, he was prosaic. But it seems fair to 8 The Kimball Farms Observer January 2020

(Susskind, continued from page 7) David asked Eddie to rewrite the script. Eddie did so, and rejected any payment. “It was a favor,” he insisted. But when East Side, West Side failed to win a huge audience, Eddie became persona non grata to David. Many months later, Eddie met Susskind on the street, and David greeted him warmly. Eddie said, “I don’t know why I can’t sell my scripts to you The Nerve of It All: any more.” David replied “I’ll tell you what. Why Facing Neuropathy don’t you send me your resumé?” The peripheral nervous system is the communication Good David. In the days of the infamous blacklist, network that sends and receives signals between the his Talent Associates refused to abide by it. David central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) personally testified for a homespun radio and all other parts of the body. Damage to these commentator named John Henry Faulks, who sued nerves often causes weakness, numbness and pain. for damages when CBS (William Paley again) The hands and feet are commonly involved, but it summarily fired him when his name appeared in Red can affect many other part of the body. Sensory Channels. nerves send information about what you are experiencing in the environment to the central Here’s another. Susskind was related to the Lears: nervous system (CNS), such as a message that your was his cousin. In the book feet are cold or you are touching something hot. Heartsounds, Martha Weinman Lear tells of her They can also malfunction to the point that there is husband, Dr. Harold Lear, dying in a New York City an absence of pain and you are unaware of injuries hospital, and that cousin David was the one who sat taking place. for hours with her outside the room, offering comfort. M o t o r nerves There are many stories of David’s cupidity and c a r r y heroism, and I can’t find a place where to put the signals marker. from the Let me leave you with this. I had flown to L.A. to CNS to the present, with David, a idea to CBS. We met at rest of the the Beverly Hilton for lunch prior to the body. These presentation. While eating, David suddenly excused are the himself to go to the men’s room. He didn’t come nerves that back, and finally I went in search of him. He had s e n d come from the men’s room confused, sat down with signals to strangers at another table and didn’t say anything. I the muscles that tell them to contract, which is how rescued him, we went to CBS for the presentation, we move. There are also nerves that help control and David was almost incoherent. He went back to everything over which we don’t have a direct say, the hotel, I took the redeye home and called Andrew, such as our heart and blood vessels, digestion, bowel David’s son, and told him. Andrew had already seen and bladder control and even our bones and immune his father’s deteriorating behavior, and thanked me. system. The peripheral nerves are the conduit through which all information goes to and from David, divorced from his second wife, ended in a headquarters (the central nervous system). When midtown New York City hotel, his company merged they malfunction, complex functions can grind to a with the Hollywood megaliths, still having meetings halt. but not selling to an industry that had gone inconsequential. He died alone at the age of 66. Nerve signals can be disrupted in various ways. (continued on next page) Little David, play on your harp. Or whatever they have there. January 2020 The Kimball Farms Observer 9

(Neuropathy, continued from page 8) toxins; injuries such as bones and slipped discs that can compress nerves; infections such as Sometimes there is complete loss of a signal such as shingles that can lead to chronic pain (post-herpetic absence of pain when pain is needed to tell of an neuralgia), and Lyme and other tick-borne diseases injury, or when the muscles needed for picking that can become chronic and cause severe nerve something up or buttoning a shirt or even walking pain. are not receiving a signal to contract. Another malfunction is inappropriate signaling such as pain Guillain-Barré syndrome triggered by an infection from a light touch or even from a bedsheet resting on causes weakness and paralysis, and auto-immune your legs. There are also errors that distort the signal diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus have so that you are not sure of where your feet are and a component of peripheral neuropathy. Other you become unable to maintain your balance. predisposing factors are smoking, excess alcohol Symptoms can range from mild to disabling consumption, chemotherapy, vitamin deficiencies, exposure to insecticides and certain cancers such as The symptoms associated with sensory neuropathy lymphoma and multiple myeloma. include: The bewildering array and variability of symptoms • Tingling and numbness, pins and needles, that neuropathies can cause often makes diagnosis hypersensitivity difficult. A diagnosis of neuropathy typically • Increased pain or absence of pain includes: • Inability to detect changes in heat or cold • Medical history including questions about • Loss of coordination or awareness of your symptoms, nutrition, home environment, bodily position exposure to toxins, alcohol use and past • Burning, stabbing or shooting pain, maybe infectious diseases worse at night • Physical exam looking for evidence of The symptoms associated with motor neuropathy diseases that can cause nerve damage, such include: as diabetes, injury, arthritis, lupus and • Muscle weakness infections • Muscle wasting • Blood tests. Various blood tests that can • Unsteadiness and difficulty with small detect diabetes, vitamin deficiencies, liver or movements kidney dysfunction, other metabolic • disorders, infections and signs of abnormal Muscle twitches, cramps and spasms immune system activity. • Paralysis • Nerve function tests, such as nerve When the autonomic nervous system is affected, there may be problems related to sweating, heat conduction velocity, electromyography, and even nerve biopsy. intolerance, indigestion, diarrhea or constipation, difficulty with urination, and changes with blood More about diagnosis and review of treatment pressure control that can lead to dizziness and falls. options, including alternative therapies, next month. Most neuropathies affect all three types to some Stay tuned. degree. Diabetes is the most common cause of peripheral In Memoriam neuropathy. Chronically elevated blood sugar damages the tiny blood vessels that provide oxygen Evelyn Hand and nutrients to the nerves resulting in damage. October 12, 1935 to Nov. 24, 2019 Controlling blood sugar may prevent further damage Jared Emery but does not cure the damage already done. Other March 4, 1940 to Nov. 25, 2019 conditions that damage nerves are chronic kidney disease because of the buildup of salts and metabolic 10 The Kimball Farms Observer January 2020

The 19th in the Women’s Murder Club series by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro has just been published. It is The 19th Christmas and its appearance is in keeping with the present holiday season. Crime is down in San Francisco and so Detective Lindsay Boxer and her followers should Four New Biographies have cause to celebrate; then a fearsome criminal Grace Our Shelves known as “Loman” grabs the headlines and plans a Thanks to the work of our Library Committee, there deadly surprise for Christmas morning. Another have recently been a number of excellent new titles worthy addition to this popular series. added to our collection. As examples, here are four Twenty-two years ago, a young black man was sent new biographies of special note: to prison for a murder he did not commit. Now a Voted one of the best books of 2019, Samantha lawyer, who is also an Episcopal minister, sets out to Power’s The Education of an Idealist is the find the real killer. Soon it becomes apparent that the autobiography of the Obama administration’s wrongdoers will stop at nothing to hide the truth. Ambassador to the United Nations. Raised in This is the situation in John Grisham’s new Ireland, she and her family migrated to America bestseller, The Guardians. when she was nine. This account traces her triumphs Time Magazine has called John Le Carré “the and failures (both personal and public) from premier spy novelist of his time, perhaps of all time.” childhood to the present day. His latest, Agent Running in the Field, lives up to Me is the only official autobiography of Elton John. this reputation. It tells of a 47-year-old member of He was born Reginald Dwight and started life as a the British Secret Service named Nat who takes over shy boy from a London suburb who dreamed of a London section of an ill-equipped spy unit and of becoming a rock superstar. His life was filled with his friendship with a younger badminton player who both rejection and adulation and years of drug proves to be unusually helpful. It is also the story of addiction that climaxed in conquering the habit. In a mystery involving Brexit and some awesome later years, filled with both failures and successes, skullduggery. his life took a right turn when he married David These are only a few of the great reading experiences Furnish and began raising a family. available through our library. Happy holidays. The subtitle of Sonia Purnell’s A Woman of No Importance is “The untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II.” It is an account of the life of Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who Birthdays established a vast spy network throughout France 24 residents celebrate birthdays in January. There is during the second World War and who managed to a 23-year spread between the youngest and oldest escape through a death-defying trek across the celebrant. January birthdays belong to: Pyrenees into Spain. Casey Cep’s Furious Hours George Raymond, Jeanne Marie DeGiacomo, was called by one critic “a compelling hybrid of a Leo Mahoney, Diana Feld, Ann Morgan, novel, at once a true-crime thriller, courtroom drama, Judith Rosenthal, Marilyn Fiddes, Gwen Sears, and miniature biography of Harper Lee, author of To Glenn Jorn, Katherine Stell, Leonard Allen, Kill a Mockingbird. It tells of a murder rial in John “Mike” Brown, Robert Stein, Alabama attended by Miss Lee who was hoping to Marilyn Simons, Edmund “Ned” Dana, collect material for a book that would rival Truman Patricia Carlson, Nancy Steele, Sue Colker, Capote’s In Cold Blood . This is a gripping portrait Judith Levin, Laurel Meyerhofer, of the author and of mid-century Alabama. Albert Anderson, Vivian Wise, Audrey Salzmann There are also a number of new thrillers written by & Julane Reed. masters of their craft that are now part of our Happy Birthday to each of you!! collection. Here are three examples. January 2020 The Kimball Farms Observer 11 A little NY humor This was the “quiet isolated place” of my assignment. A breeze lightens the air crisping the sun-warmed shirt on my back. I breathe deeply of this Berkshire tonic, my shoulders relax. From the far woods, across the meadow, three specks emerge. As the first angles into the woods at left, I see that it is a deer. The other specks follow: two large dogs. The deer emerges, limping swiftly toward stage right. A dog howls. The deer disappears over the hill. The dogs emerge, sniffing the grass, and, noses to the turf, exit at center stage. The horse neighs, the rooster crows. Silence returns. Forty years later, there are steel barriers along the road protecting vehicles from falling into the brook. Recently there have been many advances in preserving these lands; the furthest reaches are entitled Parsons Marsh. Patricia Moynahan

Lily Wayne caught this guy outside the main Entertainment entrance of Grand Central Terminal in New Monday Jan 6 7:30pm York. He is artistic; check out his sign and Berkshire Hillsmen sneakers, both really well done. Girls were sitting on his lap and having their photo taken with him. Wednesday Jan 8 7:30pm Just a NY moment. Taconic Chamber Players Monday Jan 13, :30pm Education Committee Program Interlude Tuesday Jan 14 7:30pm (Our writers’ class assignment: find a quiet isolated Randy Hodgkinson W/Astrid Schween Recital place in Berkshire County, sit and observe for two hours. Write.) Friday Jan 17 7:30pm Ampersand Re-entering my educational career – 40 years ago with four teenage sons and husband awaiting their Monday Jan 20 7:30pm daily dinner – I chose a course in creative writing Education Committee Program which came with a dynamo female professor from Monday Jan 27 7:30pm New York City. Education Committee Program In Lenox, Undermountain Road revealed a wooden Tuesday Jan 28 5:30pm stile over a small brook running downhill toward Trivia Night W/Lenox NHS Students acres of open meadows and wetlands which helped (Sign-up required) feed the creatures at the nearby horse farm. Movies: Wednesdays and Saturdays The wooden crossbeam provided the setting from which to view this verdant vista. Wispy clouds cast January 1, 4, 7(Tue), 11, 15, 18, 22, 25 & 29 ever-shifting shadows across the swaying grasses of the meadow. 12 The Kimball Farms Observer January 2020 Is Jo the Oldest to Be the Youngest Newest? As a lively, delightful 95-year-old, Jo (Josephine) While the children were young, the family took trips Brunjes may be the oldest “young” newcomer to throughout the United States. Her husband, who died Kimball Farms. Born in New York City into a large in 1995, was less interested in travel, having done his family of Italian immigrants, she grew up in traveling during World War II while in the U.S. Yorkville, the upper East Side of . The Army. They did, however, take some trips together Metropolitan Museum of Art was for recreational in Europe and the U.S. After his death there were and cultural activities, with Central Park her cruises, trips to Mexico, Europe and in this country. playground. She had five brothers and three sisters. She took college trips and traveled courtesy of the During the Depression years, higher education was U.S.O. as a service-related person. In Spain she for the boys while the girls only graduated from high visited the Black Madonna of Montserrat and school. Jo became a secretary and learned much by enjoyed Gaudi’s architecture in Barcelona with an working for different companies, including a architect brother as a guide. A fond memory of many newspaper representative advertising agency, a years ago was a voyage on the Queen Elizabeth to Scottish wool importer, American Armament and the visit her sister in France and experiencing her first Canadian Club Corp. of America. Being curious has trip abroad. But the highlight of all her travels was motivated her throughout her life. being in Edinburgh for the Scottish Tattoos. She was the last The children, of course, are grown up. Her daughter of the sisters to is chairman of the English Department at marry and so she Bridgewater (Mass.) State College and has three became the daughters. Her son is an investment fund lawyer and maiden aunt to lives with his wife and two children in Hartford, her nieces and Conn. Her stepdaughter, retired from the public nephews. She schools in the state of Washington, is on the board of met her husband, the University of Washington, but the rest of the John Brunjes, at a family lives close enough so she sees them often. l u n c h e o n , Her brothers are deceased but two sisters are alive married, had two and she is close to her nieces and nephews as well. children – a boy Jo lived in the same big house in Pittsfield for 50 and a girl – and years and alone for almost 25 since her husband’s a c q u i r e d a death. The family loved to visit, but the time had stepdaughter as come for her to say goodbye to the house. Happily, well. When her her son wants it, so it will remain in the family. Jo is h u s b a n d w a s exploring Kimball Farms now and with her curiosity approached by the Berkshire Life Insurance and zest for life, she will be at home and happy in Company to work in real estate investments, the Apartment 262. family moved to Pittsfield. She remembers a snowstorm on her first Mother's Day and wondering Margot Yondorf about the wisdom of leaving her beloved New York City for a snowy place in May! Pittsfield became home, however, and it was a good Talent Needed life. She was a stay-at-home mom, active in her If you know of anyone who could give a talk, show a children's schools, her church, the League of Women movie or do any other kind of educational Voters, busy with friends, books, music, etc. She was presentation, the Education Committee would like to always curious and, although Catholic, formed a hear from you. Get in touch with Chairman Moe bond with Knesset Israel, the Jewish synagogue, to England at 7173. He’d also welcome other ideas for expand her horizon. programs.