Making History/Making Blintzes: How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America is a chronicle of the political and personal lives of progressive activists Richard (Dick) and Miriam (Mickey) Flacks, two of the founders of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
As active members of the Civil Rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement in the 1960s, and leaders in today’s social movements, their stories are a first-hand account of progressive American activism from the 1960s to the present. Throughout this memoir, the couple demonstrates that their lifelong commitment to making history through social activism cannot be understood without returning to the deeply personal context of their family history—of growing up “Red Diaper babies” in 1950s New York City, using folk music as self-expression as adolescents in the 1960s, and of making blintzes for their own family through the 1970s and 1980s. As the children of immigrants and first generation Jews, Dick and Mickey crafted their own religious identity as secular Jews, created a critical space for American progressive activism through SDS, and ultimately, found themselves raising an “American” family.
Miriam Flacks is a social activist and a researcher in biology. She is the coauthor of Children of a Vanished World.
Richard Flacks is emeritus professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is also the author of numerous books, including Making History: The American Left and the American Mind.
This event includes a book signing and books will be on sale.
Vault of Midnight is excited to present a reading and book signing with Michael DeForge to launch Leaving Richard’s Valley, his new graphic novel. Leaving Richard’s Valley documents a group of forest creatures attempting to survive in the big city after being forced out of their cultish community. What unfolds is an entertaining meditation on the meaning of community and the many forms it takes.
The reading will take place in the Ultralounge, nestled beneath Vault of Midnight Ann Arbor, at 7pm and will be followed by a signing. Come celebrate this exciting book launch for Leaving Richard’s Valley by meeting Eisner-award winning creator, Michael DeForge, for a very special event at our Downtown Ann Arbor location!
April 13 at 8pm, April 14 at 2pm
Back Office Studio
$7 General Admission
PURCHASE TICKETS
For this Neighborhood Theatre Group fundraiser, we will transform the Back Office Studio into a coffeehouse. Join us for an evening of poetry and music from some of Ypsilanti’s most talented performers.
Directed and conceived by Dianne Bernick
Starring R. Darrow Bernick, Eric Hohnke, Maegan Murphy, Emily Rogers-Driskell, and Craig VanKempen
Featuring Tom Hett on piano and bass and Rudy Bernick on accordion
A special Saturday night pre-show with Paul Keller on bass and Rudy Bernick on accordion
Where
Pittsfield Branch: Program Room
For Whom
Age 2-5 Years
Description
Come to a singing and storytelling event where Arabic teacher and storyteller Heba Abdelaal, will lead us in songs and storytelling in Arabic!
April 13 at 8pm, April 14 at 2pm
Back Office Studio
$7 General Admission
PURCHASE TICKETS
For this Neighborhood Theatre Group fundraiser, we will transform the Back Office Studio into a coffeehouse. Join us for an evening of poetry and music from some of Ypsilanti’s most talented performers.
Directed and conceived by Dianne Bernick
Starring R. Darrow Bernick, Eric Hohnke, Maegan Murphy, Emily Rogers-Driskell, and Craig VanKempen
Featuring Tom Hett on piano and bass and Rudy Bernick on accordion
A special Saturday night pre-show with Paul Keller on bass and Rudy Bernick on accordion
In 1896, Michigan consumers spent an estimated $23,000,000 ($690,000,000 today) on impure food products. Vinegars, spices, jam, cheese, coffee, and condiments were among the items tainted with additives ranging from benign to deadly. Local history writer Laura Bien gives an illustrated talk on the state’s history of food fraud and the efforts to quash it.
This event is in partnership with the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor (CHAA), an organization of scholars, cooks, food writers, nutritionists, collectors, students, and others interested in the study of culinary history and gastronomy. Their mission is to promote the study of culinary history through regular programs open to members and guests, through the quarterly newsletter Repast, and through exchanges of information with other such organizations.
This event will be recorded
Student directors from RC Drama Major course RC Hums 482 present their own final projects with the students of RC Hums 281.
DR. CHLOE PREEDY, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Hosted by the Animal Studies & Environmental Humanities RIW. Please RSVP to lageiger@umich.edu or cvfair@umich.edu
The Civil War began as a battle to save the union but it ended as a struggle to abolish slavery and usher in “a new birth of freedom.” No aspect of society was left unchanged by the years of war and its effects continue to resonate more than one hundred and fifty years later. Dr. Louis Masur is Distinguished Professor of American Studies and History at Rutgers University. A graduate of the University at Buffalo and Princeton University, he is a cultural historian who has written on a variety of topics. His most recent work is Lincoln’s Last Speech: Wartime Reconstruction & The Crisis of Reunion (2015), Lincoln’s Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for the Union (2012), and The Civil War: A Concise History (2011). Register online.
Come with questions, a work in progress, or an empty notebook. All writers are welcome in this casual, supportive environment. Authors Bethany Neal and Alex Kourvo will be on hand to answer questions and give encouragement. Bethany and Alex will also provide private, one-on-one critiques if you choose to have them read your work. Sharing your writing with other attendees is not required and is completely voluntary.
This is an excellent opportunity to meet your fellow Ann Arbor writers as well as get feedback from published authors. This is a monthly meet-up that welcomes all writers to ask questions, connect with other writers, or simply have a dedicated time and place to work on their projects. Do you have a completed manuscript? Consider submitting it to the library’s new imprint, Fifth Avenue Press.
