Tag Archives: Special Interest Groups

WALTHAM MATTERS SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP: Upcoming Event

Upcoming Plans for BOLLI Waltham Matters

by Sue Adams  (scadams@gmail.com)*

Special Exhibition: A Disability History of the United States at the Charles River Museum of Industry November 16 at 10:30 AM   

Stay tuned for a very special collaboration in November between the BOLLI Social Change Working Group and Waltham Matters.  On November 16 (third Friday), we will meet at the Charles River Museum for a guided tour of a special exhibit  put together by students at Gann Academy, a private high school in Waltham,  after extensive research.  Alex Green, former chair of the Waltham Historical Commission as well as a teacher at Gann,  will be our guide, and we hope we will also meet some of the students who were involved in devising this project.  Waltham Matters is very pleased to co-sponsor this presentation, and we extend thanks to Cindy Wentz, BOLLI’s  Equity, Inclusion and Disability Liaison, for her support.

Parking for the museum is ONLY at the Embassy movie theater parking lot at the foot of Cooper Street. Follow the signs and cross the river at the footbridge; bear right, and follow the road to the museum entrance. There is a small parking fee (free if you have purchased a parking pass at the Stanley Senior Center on Main Street). The museum charges a nominal $5 admission for Seniors..

Other News:

Waltham Matters planning team has put together a monthly lecture or walking tour on (usually) the fourth Fridays since April, working from suggestions offered by you, our BOLLI Waltham Matters participants. So far we have paid attention to local history and historic sites, as well as art and a walk along the Charles River led by the director of the Waltham Land Trust. We are a collaborative and participatory group with wide ranging interests. I encourage you to help expand our reach with suggestions and ideas and join in making interesting events happen. Future programs may include a look at theater in town, a talk by the director of Africano, a talk with local education leaders, a conversation with the director of the Senior Center/Council on Aging.  What would you like to see? Perhaps you’d like to launch a project to catalogue the outdoor art around campus?  Let me know!

Spread the word–and join us on November 16.

“Waltham Matters” special interest group chair Sue Adams

Long-time Waltham resident Sue is active in Chaplains on the Way, Connections for Healthy Aging, Neighbors Who Care, and the League of Women Voters.  Semi-retired from the Unitarian Universalist Funding Program and the Access Project, in her spare time, she–wait–there’s no spare time!  But she divvies up what there is among her husband Ron, kids, grandkids, and one great-grand.  Life is full and good.

FOCUS ON SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS: MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Aside from courses, lectures, seminars, and other activity, at BOLLI, we have an extensive menu of  Special Interest Groups that give us even more opportunities to get to know each other and dive more deeply into engaging pursuits.  Each month, we will focus on another BOLLI SIG and its activities–membership is always open!

In August, our BOLLI “Make a Difference” SIG was featured in the National Osher Newsletter.  That article is reprinted here.

OLLI at Brandeis University 

Make a Difference

Leaders Eleanor Jaffe and Elaine Dohan

“Make a Difference” is an affinity group that evolved naturally at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Brandeis University. It is led by two long-term members, Elaine Dohan and Eleanor Jaffe who have been participating for many years with classmates in discussion groups as well as in history and current event classes.  For example, Eleanor taught a course called “Resistance and Resilience in Politics and Life” in which current issues, as well as law and history, were discussed. In addition, every semester,  OLLI at Brandeis  hosts a variety of speakers who stimulate discourse from their unique positions.

Inviting colleagues to join with Elaine and Eleanor to form a group for civic action seemed an obvious next step.  As seniors, their particular experience and perspective gives them a unique vantage point from which to view today’s political climate and current events.  They also believe they have a responsibility to their grandchildren to set an example of the importance of citizen participation in civic discourse and action, both through voting and by speaking out.

Currently, the group is focusing their attention on issues concerning children. These include topics such as immigration, school shootings, voter registration and juvenile justice.  They meet regularly and reach consensus on current critical issues. Actions include writing postcards and calling editors of newspapers, members of Congress, and executives of corporations to urge action on behalf of these important issues.  They then follow up and write “thank you notes” to those individuals and groups who are providing positive leadership in these areas.

BOLLI’s “Make a Difference” SIG meets every other Friday morning from 10:30 to 12:00.  Watch the Bulletin for announcements of meetings and activities.

All of our SIGs are member-driven.  Don’t see your particular interest on our list?  Talk to a staff member about starting a new one!

BOLL Matters Co-editor Sue Wurster

Want to see your group highlighted here? Send updates on your SIG activities for future focus.  susanlwurster@gmail.com

 

 

 

A VERY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP: THE BPG

A VERY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP:  THE BPG

BOLLI Photographers “In the Wild” (photo by Dennis Greene)

By Lydia Bogar and Joanne Fortunato

Be sure to check out the BPG–BOLLI Photography Group!  Some members may be true camera buffs since getting their first Brownie camera in fifth grade, but many are novices, having just taken-up photography in retirement years.  The eye takes in something beautiful, unusual, colorful (or all three) that makes impact and becomes an integral part of the day.  Inspiration comes from anyone, anywhere, or anything around us–from a complex flower or a simple weed; a day at Fenway or a walk in the backyard after a rain storm.

“This summer, we began a weekly photo challenge, giving the group a new topic to photograph each week,” says BPG organizer Joanne Fortunato.   Topics included an animal, a reflection, something red, happiness, or other subjects suggested by members of the group.  Joanne says that the purpose of the challenge was to encourage members to exercise their own creativity and to photograph something new and different every week.

The BPG has also taken field trips to points within an ever-expanding circle of our local communities:  Tower Hill Botanical Gardens, Mount Auburn Cemetery, and Copley Square.  One of the group’s next trips will be to ‘Fog x FLO’ along the Emerald Necklace!

Recently, the BPG met to discuss final preparations for their new exhibit, which will be available for viewing in the classrooms as the fall semester starts.  The entire BOLLI community will be able to savor the group’s latest works.   Perhaps viewers may even be inspired to join the group and discover their own creative eyes.

Watch the BOLLI Bulletin for announcements of BPG meetings, challenges, and trips.  You don’t need a fancy camera–just a desire to see your world through a different lens.

“BOLLI Matters” co-editor, feature writer, and photography enthusiast Lydia Bogar
BPG Organizer Joanne Fortunato

 

BOLLI PRESENTS A NEW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP: MAKE A DIFFERENCE

WHO SAYS WE’RE TOO OLD?

by Eleanor Jaffe

Eleanor and Husband Burt

Where political action is concerned, I’d say we are not too old.  I’d say we have strong ethics and opinions that are well informed by our personal lives and professional experiences,  and we have potentially strong voices.  BUT – we must use them!

We watch our beloved country overrun by scoundrels, those with no moral compass or sense of history.  Those who cannot (or will not) defend the rights of children separated from their parents at our borders.  Under this administration, we see  families that have trekked many hundreds of miles from their homes where they lived in danger from gangs and governments unable to protect them  to our borders seeking asylum.  (They are highly motivated;  wouldn’t they make ideal citizens?  Highly motivated, strong, ambitious people, sacrificing and striving for democracy and safety for themselves and their children.)  And we watch, dumbstruck by cruelties performed in our names by our government’s benighted policies:  these official asylum seekers, whose entry is not illegal,  are being separated from their traumatized children.

Thousands of children have been separated from their parents and are being “warehoused” in large detention centers, suffering the cruelties of fear and separation  that will shape their lives forever.  And our own government is the perpetrator of this policy!  And our tax dollars are supporting these arbitrary cruelties!

No matter what you think of our immigration policies…do you think they are inconsistent, have loopholes, need attention and correction?  Do you really believe this is the way to implement our current practices?  

Who says we are too old to do something about this heinous, cruel “immigration policy?”

Many of  us already make our voices heard by writing letters and making phone calls to our elected officials.   Others financially support organizations like the ACLU, the League of Women Voters, or other worthy organizations.  I hope that all of us might raise our  voices, write those postcards, support voter registration and candidates whose policies we admire so that our government represents the policies and programs that are synchronous with who we are as  moral persons   Ask yourself, does your government now reflect your ideals, experiences, and hopes?  If it does not, get active!  We are not too old!

One way to “get active” is to attend the meetings of our newly formed Make A Difference special interest group at BOLLI to see what we are doing.  We will be meeting on June 12 at 1 pm.  We will also meet once a month in July and August.  We will then set a regular meeting time come September.  You and your righteous anger and determination to “Make a Difference” will be heard.  We are not too old!

After serving as a delegate to Chicago’s 1968 Democratic Convention, Eleanor’s activism took a back seat to her other pursuits.  But today, she says, fear and loathing of the Trump administration has propelled her from “arm chair activism” (talking back to TV anchors) to small acts of resistance.  In the 2017 fall semester, she was sufficiently motivated to create a BOLLI course, “Resistance and Resilience in Politics and in Life.”  Now, she and Elaine Dohan are leading, “Make a Difference,” a new special interest group devoted to doing just that–through phoning, writing, and other acts of protest.  She invites others to join.

WALKABOUT by Quinn Rosefsky

At our most recent Writers Guild session, we shared our work with a “conspiracy theory” prompt in which we challenged ourselves to stretch our imaginations into the “fantastic” and write with authority.  As autumn creeps upon us, this piece of fiction by Quinn Rosefsky took many of us right back to summer camp…  We thoroughly enjoyed it and are sure you will too.

Quinn says that:  “Walkabout” started as a chapter in a book I call: Camp Arawakee .The manuscript was on a shelf in my closet for over twenty-five years. At one time, the book had enough strength to entice an agent to take interest. However, no publishers ever bothered to take a nibble. That was disheartening. More recently, I summoned the courage to take a fresh look. After all, in the past several years, I have somehow managed to write and re-write many times, what on paper looks like a mere 200,000 words. That changes a person. Let me tell you! So, what we now have in “Walkabout” is the fresh, 2017 version of the sentiments which first came to life so long ago. I’d be interested to know if anyone can come up with an ending to the “story within a story.” Having said that, you should probably read the story before reading this brief essay

 

WALKABOUT 

By Quinn Rosefsky

Where was Louis? The boys in Turtle Cabin waited in the fading light for their counselor to return from chatting with the pretty dark-haired nurse in the infirmary. Charlie, Teddy and Sean made up a contest. Who could jump the farthest from the edge of the lean-to onto the ground? A few feet away, Pete and Michael began arguing about whose turn it was to sweep the floor the next morning. As the first stars began to appear, Louis strode into view.

“Story!” the boys said, one after another.

The boys and Louis, dangling their legs, huddled on the edge of the lean-to.

“It was as hot as an oven the day I saw my first opal,” Louis said, dumping a bag of strange pebbles into his palm. “I’d been behind the wheel of my truck for hours and the flies were driving me crazy. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. That’s when I drove the truck off the road into a ditch. There was no way I could get the wheels free. I sat down under the only gum tree around to rest.

“Just as I closed my eyes, something flashed at my feet. I bent over. There it was lying on top of the ground, the most fiery opal I’d ever seen.”

Louis paused to adjust the bush hat he always wore, even in the shower.

“What’s an opal?” Charlie said.

“It’s a jewel almost as precious as a diamond but still worth a lot of money.”

“Let him get on with the story,” Pete said, elbowing Charlie.

“Anyhow, just then, an Aborigine, his eyes so bright they looked like they were on fire, walked out of the bush and came straight towards me. He was wearing dusty blue jeans and no shirt.”

“What’s an Aborigine?” Ronnie said.

“They’re our native Australians, the ones who were there when Europeans first began to settle the continent. Same as your American Indians were here first.”

“Are there a lot of them?” Sean asked.

“Not any more. They’ve had a rough time.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“Not at all. They never were and never will be. They’re the ones who protect life in all its forms. That’s why the bush has been unspoiled for thousands of years.

“This particular Aborigine, who said his name was Jack, was on what’s called a walkabout. He’d been living alone in the bush for over a year, learning what he was to do with his life.

“As soon as Jack came to within a few yards, he stood still. He didn’t move for five minutes, not a muscle. It was as if he’d turned into a statue.

“Then Jack moved. First he pointed to my opal and then he took it from my hand and turned it over and over. Then he said: ‘Follow me.’

“We walked along an invisible track in the bush for about an hour. Finally, Jack stopped and pointed to the ground. I was completely mystified. Opals, dozens of them, were everywhere. I ran about like a man possessed. I was rich!

“Then I remembered my car was still stuck in the ditch an hour away from where I was. But what good would it do me to have all those opals if I never got out of the bush? I looked around to thank Jack, but he was gone. I was alone with no truck, no water and the hot sun beating down on me.”

“What happened next?” Charlie asked.

“You’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” Louis said.

“It’s not fair,” Pete said stomping his feet.

“That’s enough, Pete,” Louis said, wagging his finger. “I’ll give you guys fifteen minutes to get ready for bed and then it’s lights out.”

“How can I fall asleep not knowing if you survived?” Sean asked.

“Tomorrow.”

BOLLI Member & SGL Quinn Rosefsky

Quinn is a familiar face at BOLLI where he takes courses, teaches courses, serves on the Study Group Support Committee, participates in the New Yorker Fiction Group, the Writers Guild, and more!

 

CAST UPDATE: Self-Discovery in a Supportive Environment

CAST (Creativity in Acting, Storytelling, and Theatre) IN ACTION

Veteran Player Sandy Clifford

“It gets the creative juices flowing!”  Sandy Clifford says of CAST activity at BOLLI.   “It’s great fun making new friends and begging part of a  creative team.  It’s also challenging and educational kind of self-discovery–in an environment where taking chances is supported.”

It’s a typical CAST adventure.  The group gathers for a “Warm-Up Walk” around the Gathering Space.  They are instructed to focus on the space itself, the intersection between themselves and their environment, and then, the nature of their movement.

The instruction to “Walk like an Egyptian” brings the expected laughter as actors try to move as if they are one or two-dimensional beings. Then, they take on the characters of individuals with unique walks: clown, deep sea diver, tightrope walker, toddler, ballerina.  “How has the environment and years of this activity affected the way you walk–on the sidewalk?  Across a room?”  They move throughout the room, finally coming to a stop to see what might be coming next.

Mimed activity–jumping rope, playing tennis or volleyball–might lead to creating tableaux or “Photo Album” in which one member turns the pages of an imaginary album, narrating a memorable family outing  or celebration.  “Oh, here we all are at Uncle Elbert’s barbecue,” the narrator indicates, for example, as the group quickly compose themselves in a frozen scene.

Next might be an exercise in improvisation.   In “Job Interview,” an employer engages a potential employee in conversation about the position for which he or she is applying.  The catch?  The potential employee doesn’t know what the job is and must rely on the other player to guide her or him to that conclusion with well-constructed clues.   In “Congratulations on Your Retirement!” a group of party-goers try to determine what each other’s 50-year careers entailed.

Phyllis Walt and Steve Goldfinger in “You Did WHAT?!”

An exercise in dialogue might follow.  “The Ten-Line Trip,”  for example, provides players, in pairs, with a generic ten-line dialogue which each pair particularizes by creating a unique environment in which it takes place,  As in…

UP IN THE AIR with Judy Blatt and Eileen Mitchell

On occasion, a rousing rendition of “Chopped Props” ensues.  The players are divided into two groups, and each is given a picnic basket or grocery bag which has been filled with identical prop items.   The groups then have a prescribed bit of time in which to create a scene in which all of the props become essential elements.  As in…

THE BANK HEIST with Bette Winer, Joan Halperin, and Sandy Clifford

and…

MY AGING DENTIST with Steve Goldfinger, Judy Blatt, and Monique Frank

 

Props can be used to inspire solo storytelling as well–as Marty Ross demonstrates.

Marty Ross in Mega-Magnifiers recounts a tale–fiction? Or NOT…?

 

At times,  too, the group deals with scripted material–as we will do starting next month when we begin to prepare CARRYING ON, the world premiere of a collection of short plays for senior players.  The production will be presented at a Lunch & Learn session during the last week of the fall term.

Newcomers are always welcome.  Margie Nesson tried her hand at the acting game this summer, reporting that she enjoyed “yet another new experience for me at BOLLI!”   New BOLLI member Mark Seliber says that, during the first session he attended,  he was intrigued by how just movement itself can set up a scene.  And Jan Burres, who dropped in recently, says, “It was fun! We laughed.  We played.  We even learned how people in theatre can cry, night after night, when necessary. I felt welcomed and delighted in the real sense of camaraderie in the group. And I’ll be back.”

And it just doesn’t get better than THAT, now, does it?

CAST Facilitator Sue Wurster

For over 40 years, Sue taught drama to students  in kindergarten  through college (but mostly in middle and high school).  Working with BOLLI players has been “absolutely the best,” she says.  “Unlike adolescents, this group isn’t worried about looking silly in front of their friends–they just go for it!  And, as a result, their growth as actors is exponential in nature.”  

ONE BOLLI, ONE BOOK

During the final week of our Fall Term, BOLLI’s “Book Group” engaged lunchtime attendees in a BOLLI-wide discussion of Philip Roth’s novel, Indignation.

Roth’s book is set in the 1950s and features a butcher’s son from Newark who escapes the family ties that bind by enrolling at a small, traditional college far from home in the rural Midwest.

The BOLLI Book Group’s co-organizers, Abby Pinard and Charlie Marz, moderated the event.  “I think the One Bolli, One Book conversation went extremely well,” Charlie says.  “I’m not very good at estimating the number of people in a crowd, but I would say there were at least 3 or 400 people in the room.”  Abby suggests that 30-40 were actively engaged in the conversation circle, and mentions that another 10-20 observed from the tables.

Abby Pinard and Charlie Marz (left) greet participants in the discussion circle
Abby Pinard and Charlie Marz (left) greet participants in the discussion circle

Charlie points to the conversation as having been lively and substantive.  “Rosalie Fink told me that, although she hadn’t read the novel, she found the discussion so interesting that she went out and bought it and read it,  and, since that time, she’s  become a bit obsessed by Roth, recommending that we do another one of his novels–American Pastoral or Nemesis.  Another ‘silent’ participant, Marty Kafka from The New Yorker Fiction Salon,  told me that, although he hadn’t read the book, he found the discussion so interesting that he stayed just to observe/listen.”

Both Charlie and Abby believe that the event may become an annual one, but, whether that happens or not, the BOLLI Book Group offers excellent reading and discussion opportunities on a regular basis.

Watch The Bulletin for specifics about the group’s upcoming reading and discussion plans.

Want to know more about BOLLI’s Special Interest Groups?  Click here:  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33972419/SIGS.pdf

 

 

BOLLI’S PHOTO GROUP: Getting the Picture

During the Fall Term, the BOLLI Photo Group treated us all to a glimpse of their activities in a wonderful lunchtime presentation.  It helped to introduce this very popular Special Interest Group to the membership as a whole and highlighted some of its activities.

Group organizer Joanne Fortunato kicked off the presentation with some images from the group’s October trip to the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.  She focused, in particular, on one outdoor installation called “Lincoln”  One would think the photographers’ images would all be quite similar considering that they were shooting the same thing.  But, clearly, this is never the case!  Note how very original these shots are!

Miriam Soybel
Miriam Soybel
Mel Markowitz (shooting Dick Hanelin)
Dick Hanelin
Joanne Fortunato
Joanne Fortunato
“Weathered” by Steve Schwartz
“Rabbit Hole” by Steve Schwartz
“Out of the Darkness” by Steve Schwartz

Other members of the group presented aspects of their work for the BOLLI lunchtime audience.

Linda Brooks shared her “Photography Projects with a Focus.”  She particularly likes working with themes and, after her “Windows and Doors Calendar” (which you can find on the blog by scrolling through SIG “Photo Group” items), she started creating books, including a dog story for children.  She photographed the 30 day gestation period taking place in the robin’s nest outside her kitchen window, and is now into flowers.

Helen Abrams provided “Photographing Trees: A Personal Journey.” As a docent at Mt. Auburn, she has an excellent opportunity to check out a huge number of different types of trees and focus on their fascinating differences–their twisted trunks and branches, their leaves…in all sorts of light.  She says that they eventually start to look like they’re going to move!  (You can find one leg of this journey in a very early blog item by scrolling back through the SIG “Photo Group” items.)

Steve Schwartz showed “Interpretations: Familiar and Artistic.”  He says that, as a CPA, photography fulfills his fascination with the intersection of precision and feelings.  His work, exemplified by his “Lincoln” photographs above, clearly does just that!

And, finally, the irrepressible BOLLI photo enthusiast/SGL/and field trip leader extraordinaire Arthur Sharenow rounded out the event by providing “Tips for Taking Good Pictures,” sharing some hits and misses.  Always a treat!

The group meets on one Friday afternoon per month–check the BOLLI calendar for meeting dates/times.  At each meeting, the group takes time to critique each other’s work, share ideas, and plan events.  Any interested BOLLI member–from beginner to professional–is welcome!  Coming up, another photography show featuring works by members of the group will be installed in the Purple Room for the spring term.

Want to know more about BOLLI’s Special Interest Groups?  Click here:  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33972419/SIGS.pdf

 

 

CAST PRESENTS: “Going Solo”

During the last week of the fall term, the BOLLI Membership Committee sponsored lunchtime presentations celebrating ourselves and our activities, providing our fellow BOLLI members with entertainment, discussion, and more!  First up, that week was our intrepid group of actors providing a program called “Going Solo.”

                                                                 CAST                                                                               (Creative Acting, Storytelling, and Theatre)On Monday, our CAST Our CAST members performed monologues drawn from plays (many of them one-character shows) featuring characters from real life.  The performers provided the following glimpses of fascinating people–

CAST Coach/Performer Sue Wurster as Stein

Sue Wurster started off the program with a piece drawn from the play Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein by Marty Martin.  The play, a single-character work, featured Pat Carroll in its off-Broadway run in New York in the ’70s and takes place on the eve of Stein’s eviction from her Paris apartment.  In this portion of the work, she talks about the inner self as well as what she was trying to accomplish in her work.

 

Monique Frank as Emily Dickinson

We then moved back in time (and place) from the Paris of 1933 to the Amherst, Massachusetts of the mid-19th Century.  In this scene from William Luce’s one-woman play, The Belle of Amherst, the reclusive poet talks about her father, her sister, and, of course, her poems.

Bunny Cohen as Amelia Earhart

In 1932, the National Geographic Society awarded its Gold Medal to Amelia Earhart for becoming the first woman (and the only person since Charles Lindbergh) to achieve a solo transatlantic flight.  In this passage from Laura Annawyn Shamas’ one-woman play, Amelia Lives, the aviatrix reflects with some amazement upon the extraordinary public response to her flight as she accepts the medal for her achievement.

Becki Norman as Vivien Leigh

In Marcy Lafferty’s one-woman show, Vivien Leigh: The Last Press Conference, drawn from the Leigh’s own words, we are given a portrait of the troubled and gifted actress not long before the end of her life.  Here, she talks about her most determined campaigns in life:  marrying Laurence Olivier and landing the role of Scarlett O’Hara.

Eileen Mitchell as Eva Peron

In a very unusual piece, First Lady, playwright Erica Christ has provided a unique look at the woman who used her position as Argentina’s first lady to fight for women’s rights and care of the poor. Here, Peron (after her death) reflects upon what it means to be a woman in Argentina…and more.

Sandy Clifford as the irrepressible Molly Ivins

Twin sisters Margaret and Allison Engel have provided a vivid image of brassy Texas newspaper columnist Molly Ivins in their one-woman play, Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins.  In this portion of the play, Ivins turns her humor on Texas politics as she tries to write about her father.

Bette Winer as J. Robert Oppenheimer

A scientist herself, Bette Winer was drawn to this particularly powerful monologue from Carson Kreitzer’s compelling play, The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer.   In this passage, the scientist reflects upon the volatile age that he and his Los Alamos crew ushered in when they invented the modern devil, the atomic bomb.

The Cast of CAST’s “Going Solo” Presentation

So, is CAST a closed group?  NO.  Does one have to audition in order to be involved?  NO.  What if you’ve never been on stage in your life but are kind of interested in maybe trying some acting–is this something you could join?   YES!  And so, how would you go about doing that?

Just watch the Bulletin for announcements of our upcoming meeting times (next at BOLLI on Thursday, January 5 from 12:00 – 1:30) when we engage in lots of fun activity–we do some warm-ups, play some theatre games, engage in some improvisation, read scenes and/or plays, and so on.  No experience necessary–just a desire to have some creative fun!

Want to know more about BOLLI’s Special Interest Groups?  Click here:  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33972419/SIGS.pdf

MEET MEMBER LARRY SCHWIRIAN: Drawing on Experience

MEET MEMBER LARRY SCHWIRIAN: DRAWING ON EXPERIENCE

Larry
Member and Writer Larry Schwirian

I was born and raised in a small town on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh, the second of five children. I guess you could say my father was a small business person–he owned a milk hauling route, picking up raw milk from farmers and hauling it to a dairy. As cows give milk twice every day, this was a 365-day a year job, so we never took family vacations. Still, he managed to serve on the town council for over thirty years and twice served as mayor of the town. When my mother was fifteen, her mother died, and she became surrogate mother to her six younger siblings. So, I grew up with not only an older brother and three younger sisters but with sixteen girl cousins who all lived within walking distance. Our house was where everyone congregated for morning coffee, gossip, and news analysis.

At eighteen, I went off to Case Institute of Technology to study engineering but decided that wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, so I transferred to Western Reserve to study architecture. It was there that I met my wife Caroline. A year after graduation from Case Western Reserve University, we were married, and a year after that, we moved to the Boston area, working as architectural novices in large firms in Cambridge. Very soon after that, the first of our three sons was born, and a few years after that, we moved into our historic home in the Auburndale section of Newton.

Over the next forty plus years, I worked for a number of large firms in the area and eventually became a project manager and/or a project architect. I had the opportunity to work on projects all over the country in addition to doing local projects like the Harvard Square Subway Station, The Wang Ambulatory Care Center at Mass General Hospital, Josiah Quincy Elementary School in Chinatown, the addition to the old Ritz Carlton Hotel in Boston, and One Newton Place in Newton Corner.

In 2010, Caroline and I retired from our positions in large firms, and in 2011, we established our own firm, Caroline & Lawrence Schwirian, Architects LLC.  We still do some residential work, and I still do some technical consulting with larger firms, but for the most part, we have enjoyed retirement, watching our grandchildren grow, and trying to keep up with gardening, yard work, and house maintenance.

In the fall of 2015, we joined BOLLI, and, for the first term, just attended the Lunch & Learns. I also participated in the Sages & Seekers program and joined the BOLLI Writers Guild. For the second term, I signed up for Betsy Campbell’s “Five Stories in Five Weeks” writing class, Peter Carcia’s “The Art of Storytelling” class, Mary Ann Byrnes’  “The Elephant in the Room” class about metaphors, and Larry Koff’s class on “The Death and Life of Cities and Towns in Metro Boston.”  I enjoyed all the classes, but I especially relished the opportunity to refine my writing and storytelling skills.

Here is one of the nonfiction pieces Larry has done as a participant in the BOLLI Writers Guild.

GIFTED OR TALENTED

(In Response to the Prompt: “What a Remarkable Gift”)

What is the difference between being “gifted” and being “talented?” Although there are no generally agreed upon definitions for these two words, they are similar in meaning but are generally used in different ways.  The term “gifted” is most often, but not always, used in conjunction with intellectual ability and implies an innate quality. In many school placement decisions, individuals with IQ scores above 130 (the upper 2% on the bell curve) are generally classified as being “gifted.”  While a person’s IQ may or may not be a true measure of intelligence, it at least measures some innate ability. The term “talented” is most often used to describe someone with an acquired ability to perform significantly above the norm in any one of many different endeavors, including but not limited to music, art, food preparation, or athletics but typically not intellectual pursuits. A person becomes “talented” after much hard work and practice.

I am aware of no numerical scale that can be used to evaluate “talent” in music other than the number of records or albums sold by an artist, but it would be unfair and foolhardy to compare the “talent” of a classical violinist to a pop singer by this method. Similarly, there is no logical way to numerically evaluate a painter, a sculptor, or a chef.   Sports may be the exception.   In baseball, for example, the batting or earned run average can be used to evaluate a player’s performance.   In football, a quarterback can be evaluated based upon the percentage of passes completed, touchdown passes thrown, or number of games won, but you can’t really evaluate the “talent” of a defensive lineman by comparing it to the “talent” of a running back or quarterback.

Using the above meanings, it is possible to be “gifted” without being “talented” and “talented” without being “gifted.”   It is also possible to be both “gifted and talented,” which is probably the case for most people who rise to the very top in their respective vocations. It could be said that people like Madonna and Shakira are both “intellectually gifted” and “musically gifted” as well as being “talented.”   Many people would agree that Elvis Presley was “musically gifted” and “talented” but not “intellectually gifted.”  Many who don’t make it quite to the top can be very “talented” but not necessarily “gifted.”  Similarly, most lists don’t include Sharon Stone as being among the one hundred most “talented” actresses, but I have read that she has a nearly genius IQ of over 150.

While it appears there is at least some standard way to evaluate whether a person is “intellectually gifted,” there is no universally accepted, objective way to evaluate and compare the “talent” of two or more individuals.  One would have to say then that “giftedness” is innate, but “talent” is in the eye, ear, nose, or taste buds of the beholder.

You can leave comments for Larry in the box below.