TCCL News & Events

Vintage Newsmagazine
November 2009
By Jackie Hill

When Geraldine Brooks walks amongst the historic houses on the island of Martha’s Vineyard where she lives, she imagines the families who once inhabited these tiny modest homes and feels an overwhelming desire to protect and preserve these fragile structures so that their stories survive for future generations.

"Sadly, all over this island, historic houses are being lost, usually to build grandiose vacation compounds where people will come for, maybe, a month a year," said Brooks, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and award-winning journalist. "I’m just really disturbed that so often the rights of individuals in the here and now are the only thing that’s valued as a core American ideal. What about the rights of Americans in the future to experience what their own past was like – the struggle and the guts and the austerity of the lives of the people who built this country. It is the modest buildings that tell us the most about who we once were. They are the templates of ordinary American lives."

Just as these tiny old houses reveal pieces of the past, Brooks’ storied novels and nonfiction works share intriguing bits of history. Brooks is the author of two nonfiction books, Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women and Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal‘s Journey From Down Under to All Over; and three novels, Year of Wonders, March and People of the Book.

The Tulsa Library Trust and Tulsa City-County Library are honoring Brooks with the 2009 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award for her major contribution to the field of literature and letters. Brooks will receive the Helmerich award at a black-tie dinner on Dec. 4 at Central Library, Fourth Street and Denver Avenue. The award consists of a $40,000 cash prize and an engraved crystal book.

Before Brooks turned novelist in the late-1990s, she worked for many years as a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, covering crises in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. But after her first child was born, the Australian-born journalist decided to stay put and try her hand at writing historical novels. Her first venture, Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague, was an international best-seller. Set in Great Britain in the 1660s, the book recounts the true story of the village of Eyam, Derbyshire, and the self-sacrifice of the villagers who voluntarily quarantined themselves when bubonic plague struck.

Tulsa City-County Library’s popular "Novel Talk" series will explore this dramatic, haunting read as it presents "The Gifts of Tragedy" on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at Central Library, Aaronson Auditorium. Erin Christy, anchor, KJRH Channel 2 News, will moderate a panel discussion focusing on Year of Wonders. Panelists Dr. Tom Dafforn, clinical psychologist; the Rev. Todd Freeman, College Hill Presbyterian Church; and Dr. Elizabeth Williams, history professor, OSU-Stillwater, will confront the different ways people handle tragic events.

Brooks followed up Year of Wonders with the Pulitzer Prize-winning March, which focuses on what happened to John March, the father character in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, the year he was away from his wife and four daughters. Brooks based the character of March on Alcott’s own father, an educator, abolitionist and progressive thinker.

Her third venture, People of the Book, a New York Times best-seller translated into 20 languages, traces the perilous journey of a rare illuminated Hebrew manuscript known as the Sarajevo Haggadah and its possible adventures over five centuries.

Brooks is known for peppering her novels with odd details of her characters’ daily lives that delight and surprise the reader.

When asked if any of the characters in her books remind her of herself, Brooks said: "You really can’t tease out who is who in the characters you create. There are thoughts I’ve had, smells I’ve smelled, emotions I’ve felt, in all of them. But there are also many, many shards of other people’s lives that I borrowed. More of those, probably, than of myself."

Brooks will share more about her life and writings at a free public presentation on Dec. 5 at 10:30 a.m. at Central Library. Brooks will speak, answer questions from the audience and sign books. Copies of her works will be available for purchasing.

For more information about the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award or to purchase tickets for the dinner, call 596-7897.

Legal issues affecting the elderly and their loved ones are numerous. Join legal professionals from the Tulsa County Bar Association at “Layman’s Legal” and gain a better understanding of elder law.

The free program is from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19 at Central Library, Fourth Street and Denver Avenue, in the Lecture Room. You may bring your lunch.

Join Cathy Welsh, of Welsh Law Ltd., to gain a layman’s perspective on disability planning, including use of durable powers of attorney, living trusts, living wills, and other means of delegating management and decision making to another in case of incompetency or incapacity. Also learn about patient’s rights, conservator/guardianships and estate planning.

While you are at the library, check out some resources to complement the program. Titles include: “Elder Law” and “Estate Planning” by Margaret C. Jasper, “The American Bar Association Legal Guide for Americans Over 50,” “The American Bar Association Guide to Wills & Estates: Everything You Need to Know About Wills, Estates, Trusts & Taxes,” “The Complete Retirement Survival Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Safeguard Your Money, Your Health and Your Independence” by Peter Strauss, “A Guide to Elder Planning: Everything You Need to Know to Protect Yourself Legally & Financially” by Steve Weisman, “Plan Your Estate” by Denis Clifford, “8 Ways to Avoid Probate” by Mary Randolph, “Patients’ Rights in the Age of Managed Health Care” by Lisa Yount, “Power of Attorney Handbook” by Edward Haman and “Living Wills Simplified” by Dan Sitarz. Visit www.tulsalibrary.org/govdocs/laymanslegal.php for other titles.

The “Layman’s Legal” series continues with “Family Law,” Jan. 21; “Immigration Law,” Feb. 18; and “Rights in the Workplace,” May 20.

For more information about “Layman’s Legal,” contact Robbie Sittel, government documents librarian, at 596-7946, or visit www.tulsalibrary.org.