April 2021 Newsletter

WALLA NEWS Wabash Area Lifetime Learning Association, Inc. Volume 23, Issue 4, April 2021

Board of Directors Drew Casani, President A Note from the President Al Williams, Vice President Gail Beck, Treasurer Spring is finally here! Flowers starting to bloom! Buds appearing Mary Jo Pflum, Secretary on the trees! It will not be long before WALLA is coming out as Dorothy Jones, Past President well. Are you ready? Certainly, it has been a long time in shutdown. Kristine Anderson All evidence is that WALLA will get through this in good shape. Ron Andres Zoom classes are never going to replace the in-person variety; Joan Briller however, they did offer another opportunity for lifetime learning. Leslie Brost The Fall 2020 Sessions were well received, and things are looking Jim Carter good for Spring 2021. Learning is what we had to do to participate, Kathleen Connolly both as students and presenters; none of it would have been possible Marshall Deutelbaum without the dedication of Nancy Hartman and Howard Magadanz. Patrick Egan They took it upon themselves to learn Zoom, present classes and be Larry Fisher available for personal tutoring as WALLA dealt with distant Sally Gustafson learning. Nancy Hartman Howard Magadanz Howard and Nancy exemplify the strategic advantage that WALLA Mary Quinn has…the volunteers. There is not enough space to thank each one Joe Rees individually, but we all do owe thanks to those who contributed their Margaret Rowe time and money to keep WALLA moving forward. The Executive Donna Stonehill Council and Board served an extra year to keep things running John Veach smoothly. Mary Jo, your Secretary, had a huge challenge keeping the records straight without access to an office with historical records. Gail Beck, Treasurer, and Leslie Brost, Finance Officer, navigated WALLA through almost two years without income., and WALLA Office News Al Williams and Mary Gardner provided the stable leadership needed. Managing the office move and creating new opportunities

were only a few of their contributions. Thanks to the WALLA The WALLA office is now open! Executive Council. I feel truly fortunate to have been able to serve two years as president of such a great organization. It has been a The WALLA office is now open most rewarding time. from 10-1 Monday-Friday. The new address is: Drew Casani, President

Margerum City Hall Room 142 222 N. Chauncey West Lafayette, IN 47906 Phone: 765-746-2006

Please address all written correspondence there. If there is no response to your phone call, leave your name, phone number and a brief message. A volunteer will get back to you as soon as possible.

WALLA ANNUAL MEETING REMINDER

Walla is required by law to hold an annual meeting open to the public. Due to the pandemic the 2020 meeting was canceled. Because we are still unable to meet in person, WALLA will hold our 2021 annual meeting on Friday, April 30th at 1:30 PM over Zoom. Zoom address and passcode. https://zoom.us/j/97536553997?pwd=RmNqZ0JBc013ZkFtN29WV3Q1SFFoZz09 Zoom Meeting ID: 975 3655 3997 Passcode: walla

The meeting agenda will be posted on our website, http://wallaonline.org as well as printed in this newsletter. At the WALLA Annual Meeting we will recognize the committee Chairs and the current Board members as well as elect the new Board by vote from the membership present at the meeting. The current Board has also proposed changes to the existing By-Laws that must be approved by the membership at this meeting. These By-Law changes are available on the WALLA website, http:// wallaonline.org/index.php/board/136-bylaws We all are disappointed that we cannot meet in person and enjoy the social aspect of our organization. Meeting by Zoom is not as desirable a way to hold meetings and it is understandable if some people are turned off by it, but we would ask that due to the importance of this meeting, that you attend if at all possible. Thank You, Alan Williams, Vice President

2 Annual Meeting Agenda

Friday April 30th

Welcome………………………………………Drew Casani, President Business Meeting Approval of April 26, 2019 Annual Meeting Minutes...Drew Casani In Memoriam……………………………………………Mary Jo Pflum Recognitions……………………………………Drew Casani Recognition of Current Board Members Recognition of Retiring Board Members Recognition of Current Chairpersons

President’s Annual Report…………………………….Drew Casani Board Development Committee Report……………….Jim Moore Election of New Board Members……………………Drew Casani Officer Nomination Report…………………………….Drew Casani Old/New Business……………………………………….Drew Casani

Vote on Proposed By-Law Changes

Mary Fuqua Memorial Volunteer of Year Award..Drew Casani Closing Remarks………………………………….…Alan Williams

3 4 The Purdue English Department has chosen Binti, The Complete Trilogy, by Nnedi Okorafor as the 2021 Big Read. As in the past few years, WALLA chooses the Purdue Big Read as the basis of a mini-course and program during the Fall WALLA classes. The course is taught by Purdue students, and the WALLA program is usually a panel or book review (TBD). Depending on the COVID-19 situation, these will be either via Zoom or in person. Nnedi Okorafor is a bestselling, Nigerian- American writer who has quickly gained a reputation as one of the foremost voices in contemporary science fiction. The Binti collection includes a trio of novellas— Binti (2015), Binti: Home (2017), and Binti: The Night Masquerade (2018)—as well as a new short story. Binti won the Hugo, Nebula, and Nommo Awards for best science fiction. The Binti novellas tell the story of one extraordinary girl’s journey from her home to distant Oomza University. It is the chance of a lifetime for this young Himba Girl to attend a prestigious university. Despite her family’s concerns, Binti’s talent for mathematics and aptitude with astrolabes make her a prime candidate to undertake this interstellar journey. Set on earth and in space, the Binti trilogy tells the story of a young woman from Namibia who negotiates the stress of leaving home, confronting past tradition and future prospects as she struggles to find her place in an alien environment. The Binti series is Okorafor’s contribution to Afrofuturism, a movement with a deep investment in African culture history, mythology and point of view. Binti must negotiate prejudice, self-doubt, and trauma as the narrative builds to high-stakes conflicts between groups on Earth and beyond. Okorafor’s stories have been praised by critics. Neil Gaiman, for instance, writes, “Nnedi Okorafor writes glorious futures….Her worlds open your mind to new things, always rooted in the red clay of reality. Prepare to fall in love with Binti.” Purdue is again generously offering WALLA and book groups complementary copies. They will also be available in the WALLA office in West Lafayette City Hall, depending on the supply. Call Mary Gardner (764- 494-5760) or Sally Gustafson (765-463-5874) to ask questions and reserve your copy.

5 Book Review

The Witch’s Side of the Story Headley, Maria Dahvana. The Mere Wife. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018. Beowulf. A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020. Madeline Miller. Circe. New York: Little, Brown, 2018. Gornichec, Genevieve. The Witch’s Heart. New York: Ace, 2021. A new fantasy subgenre is quietly emerging, one with scholarly credentials and a feminist slant. A female scholar of the classics finds a much despised but quickly and heroically eliminated minor female character (often a witch) and tells the story from her point of view. Thus Headley updates Grendel’s mother into a Gulf War Veteran suffering PTSD and isolating herself and her son in the backwoods. Headley was so inspired by this exercise she went on to produce a feminist translation of Beowulf itself, drawing on contemporary rhythm and slang, with inventive use of alliteration and kennings in imitation of the ancient text. Madeline Miller takes Circe, the witch in two chapters of the Odyssey, and finds enough stories about her in the classical canon to fill a whole book, reserving only two chapters for the part of the story involving Ulysses. (Circe, by the way, had a good reason for turning those sailors into pigs.) Gornichec’s The Witch’s Heart is a recent addition to this subgenre. Her field of expertise is Norse Mythology, familiar to WALLA opera buffs in the form of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The main sources of these myths are Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda and the medieval collection by anonymous authors called The Poetic Edda. Her protagonist is a giantess who goes by the name Angrboda for most of the book, mentioned only once in each of the Eddas as the giantess who bore Loki’s three monstrous children. Loki, the trickster god, meets her after she has been burnt to death three times by the gods and comes back to life each time, running away and hiding after the last. Loki finds her heart on the pyre and returns it to her. This begins a friendship that turns to love as Loki keeps visiting and eventually impregnates her three times. Their children are Hel, who eventually becomes the half-dead ruler of the underworld, Fenrir, who grows up to be the giant wolf, and Jormangand the serpent who grows so large he can circle the earth. The reason Odin persecutes her is because under the name Gullveig she taught him the art of seid whereby one can envision the future if one descends deeply enough. Odin was not able to go as deep as she could, however, and she refused to go deep enough to learn what Odin wanted to know. Part I, the longest section of the novel domesticates these wondrous events and humanizes the characters that take part in them. Angrboda supports her family by producing magic potions and the pottery to contain them; these are marketed and sold far and wide by her friend the business-savvy giantess, Skadi. She loves her strange children and worries about them. Loki visits from time to time despite having another wife in Aasgaard, the home of the gods, and makes himself Hel’s favorite parent with his teasing ways. Angrboda’s life is mainly cozy and happy until Loki’s other wife, Sigyn, follows her husband and finds his monstrous children and their mother. Sigyn informs Odin, who invades, takes the children away and orders Thor to kill Angrboda with his hammer, but not before forcing her to give up the final secrets of Ragnorak, the end of the world. Angrboda is not dead yet, however. She resurrects herself again with the help of Skadi and changes her name to Heid to go on a quest from village to village selling her wares herself and trying to find the secret of who she was before she was Gullveig. She finally returns home to await Ragnarok, which comes in due time in all its horror, with her three children playing crucial roles in it. Gornichec skillfully weaves fragments of the Norse myths into a coherent and absorbing narrative with rounded and believable characters. Angrboda is stitched from several in the Eddas, some of whom are only mentioned once. This information is included in the appendix where you can find entries on all the characters, races and places mentioned in the book. Although this information enriches one’s reading, the narrative stands on its own. Despite all the gloom and doom inherent to this myth cycle, Gornichec manages a happy ending -- at least for Hel. Kristine Anderson

6 A New Community Resource

The West Lafayette Public Library and our Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) programming staff would like to invite WALLA members to continue their mission of lifetime learning by checking out our new STEAM Kits funded with a grant from the Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center, sponsored by Purdue University in partnership with Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University.

STEAM programming staff are currently circulating several different kits that are available for one-week checkouts. The kits offer equipment to explore topics like stop-motion animation, architecture and spatial thinking, computer programming, electronics, and construction---with more being added throughout the spring. The kits are fun for all ages, making them ideal for trying something new at home or spending time with family. You can view our currently available kits at wlaf.lib.in.us/steamkits, or browse the item description binder in the library.

WLPL is proud to add community-driven materials and programs to our collection; this helps the library serve our unique community best! We value the input of all patrons on how we can improve our collection to better foster a love of lifelong learning throughout our community.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions you may have about this collection.

If you are on Facebook, you can visit WALLA at facebook.com/WALLAonline, search for “WALLA and Lafayette” or search for our full name Wabash Area Lifetime Learning Association. Become a fan of WALLA and keep up-to-date on our activities.

7 Wabash Area Lifetime Learning Association, Inc. Paid West Lafayette, IN WALLA Office Permit #79 Margerum City Hall Room 142 222 N. Chauncey West Laf.ayette, IN 47906 Address Service Requested

Phone: 765~746~2006 E~mail: [email protected] Website: WALLAonline.org Newsletter email: [email protected] Affiliated with Purdue University

April 2021

We Want Your Feedback

We would like your feedback. Is there anything you want included in the newsletter or do you have an idea for a virtual program, or do you have a suggestion for an article? Please email your comment or idea to Nancy at [email protected]. I will carefully consider all suggestions and pass them on to the correct person if they are not about the newsletter. You can also leave a message at the office 765~746~2006 or email us at [email protected].

Mark Your Calendars WALLA Volunteers Are Newsletter deadline ~ Friday, May 5 for the May Newsletter Wanted and Needed

Our WALLA organization works best when Programming Meeting, Tuesday, April 27 at 4 PM via Zoom many participants see needs, make useful suggestions and especially, lend a hand. Annual Meeting, Friday, April 30 at 1:30 PM via Zoom The success of our WALLA programs depends on office workers, newsletter writers, course coordinators, course WALLA Volunteers at Food Finders 1st Tuesday 1-3 pm (May 4) presenters, planners and facilitators of our and 3rd Thursday 9-11 (May 20) social and enrichment occasions, audio~visual technicians, vigilant board members and many others.

Consider how you can add to our growing list of able and enthusiastic volunteers. Consider adding your name to our “Help Wanted and Needed” sheet at your earliest Sign up for Electronic Newsletter opportunity. For more information call (765~746~2006) Want to get your newsletter quicker and save WALLA money? or email ([email protected]) the Sign up to get your newsletter electronically. Either send an email WALLA office. The website also contains to [email protected] (Please put more information. “Subscribe” as the subject and your first and last name in the body of the message.) or visit WALLAonline.org and look in the right hand column for the newsletter signup form.