THE BOOK SALE BEGINS TODAY.
Friends of the West Tisbury Free Public Library volunteers have been collecting, sorting, organizing, and preparing for the annual event, housed in tents in the far parking lot outside the West Tisbury School. This year’s sale runs from July 31 through August 4. Hours are 9 am to 3 pm.
It is a treasure hunt for book lovers. You never know what you will find. A special story remembered from childhood. An out-of-print art book. A volume of poetry by your favorite poet. A treasure of Island history. The missing volume in your collection of Inspector Morse mysteries. How-to books on any subject you can imagine. Cookbooks. Antique maps. Movies from the 1940s.
Looking through rows of books on long tables is great fun and fascinating. Mike dreads seeing me come home with bags of books we won’t have shelves for. My piles of books, ever-growing, have tried his tolerance. I want more bookcases. He wants me to get rid of some of my books. It is a discussion we have not resolved over our years together.
The Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival also takes place this weekend, August 2 and 3, on the Community Center grounds in Chilmark. There are wonderful authors, speakers, and events on the program, including many Vineyard writers. Their books will be for sale, with authors on hand to sign them, both days between 9 am and 5 pm. Check the website for the complete schedule:
West Tisbury rabbi, writer, and photographer Josh Plaut will be the featured speaker at the Featherstone Photographers Salon on Tuesday, July 29. He has been traveling and photographing images of Jewish life for more than 40 years. He is currently working on his first photography book, “Sparks of Splendor: Portraits of Jewish Women From East to West.”
Paul Karasik and his wife, Marsha Winsryg, were in San Diego attending Comic-Con, where Paul was given the Inkpot Award as he began his Spotlight Lecture. After his presentation, he rushed to attend the Eisner Hall of Fame award ceremony to accept Roz Chast’s award on her behalf. The photographs that Paul sent me showed him enjoying coffees, breakfasts, dinners, book signings, and events with other cartoonists, and some former students. It looked as though he was having a raucous good time.
Paul had a full-page cartoon in this past Sunday’s New York Times art section. It appeared on page 2 under the heading “Inside Culture.” The cartoon was called “At the Frick Museum,” and used lyrics by Aimee Mann to tell the story of a Vermeer painting she couldn’t remember the title of.
The Up-Island Council on Aging is hosting “Walking Through the Fire,” with Hospice trainer Steven Shapiro. It’s about learning to let go, always a useful skill. You need to preregister at 508-693-2896.
There are lots of events at the library. The big one is on Wednesday, August 6, at 4 pm. In honor of Dionis Coffin Riggs’ birthday, that date has been set aside for members of the Cleaveland House Poets to read their own work, or works by other poets. At 8:30 pm that evening, you can observe the night sky with Alan Lovewell.
I was happy to see Marilyn Hollinshead last week, looking well in a pink striped shirt. Her whole family has been here for a private family service, and to spread Warren’s ashes. Good memories of Warren. May he rest in peace.