Blog Events Join Us Grants & Programs Latest PostsDecember 2018 Book ReviewDecember 1, 2018Real American, a Memoir By Julie Lythcott-Haims I am the untallied, unpaid, unrepented damages of one of America’s founding crimes. I come from people who endured the psycho-cultural genocide of slavery, reconstruction, and Jim Crow. Who began to find a place here really only quite recently amid strides toward effecting a more perfect union, of liberty and justice for all….I come from people who survived what America did to them. Ain’t I a Real American? Julie Lythcott-Haims, the author of the New York Times bestselling anti-helicopter parenting manifesto, How to Raise an Adult, has written a different sort of book this time out. Real American is an affecting memoir, a piercing cry from the heart, and a clarion call to all of us to live more wisely, generously, and fully. In this moving memoir, Lythcott-Haims evokes her personal battle with low self-esteem that American racism routinely inflicts on people of color. The only child of a marriage between an African American father and a white British mother, she shows indelibly how small aggressions, as well as blunt force insults, can puncture a person’s inner life with a thousand sharp cuts. The memoir reveals how, through her path to self-acceptance, the healing power of community can help to overcome the isolation of being incessantly considered “the other.” As one reviewer wrote, “(Real American is) A courageous, achingly honest meditation on what it means to come to consciousness as a mixed race child and adult in a nation where Black lives weren’t meant to matter.” –Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author. Julie Lythcott-Haims served as dean of freshmen and undergraduate advising at Stanford University. She holds a BA from Stanford, a JD from Harvard Law School, and an MFA in writing from California College of the Arts.... Read more...Holiday Celebration Party – Dec 18thNovember 26, 2018Purchase your Holiday Ticket Here - $20 before Dec 14th Visit our Holiday Auction Here Holiday Celebration Sponsored by Downtown Catering Music by John Kovac Tuesday, Dec 18th5:30 PMOpen House: Meet in the Middle/213 E Main St RSVP by Dec 13th - Ticket $20At the Door - Ticket $25 Join Us for Fellowship & CelebrationTicket includes - Hor D'Oeuvres by Downtown Catering, Wine & Beverages Online Silent Auction for your Holiday Gift Giving, final bidding at the party.Ticket and Online Auction Link will be provided closer to date.... Read more...NEW DATE & LOCATION- Annual Meeting & SocialNovember 15, 2018With the Forecast of a "Wintry Mix" for Thursday - Nov 15th - we have rescheduled the Annual Meeting & Social to Tuesday, Nov 20th, 5:30-7:30 PM at Open House, 213 E Main Street. This is a members only event from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM, followed by social, fellowship time with refreshments until 7:30 PM. Come hear a summary of FRWRC activities and efforts in 2018, vote for new Board Members and and discuss future plans for 2019! Join us for for both Meeting & Social, or feel free to attend either. We hope you will join us! RSVP - not necessary; however, it will help us plan for refreshments. Email - wrc@frwrc.org or call the office 540-636-7007... Read more...November 2018 Book ReviewNovember 6, 2018Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything By Lydia Kang, MD and Nate Pedersen Arriving just after the season of ghosts and ghouls called Halloween, Quackery, delves into a fascinating history of quacks and quack “cures” used throughout history to treat every variety of disease known to humans. Lydia Kang MD, a practicing internal medicine physician, has researched over thirty of the worst “cures” including the use of arsenic, lobotomy, cannibalism, the King’s Touch (yes, all one needed was the touch of a king!) and animal magnetism as ways guaranteed to cure what ails you. Charlatan. Quack. Con artist. Swindler. Trickster. Words like these were used for a long time to describe those who preyed on our fear of death and sickness by peddling wares that didn’t work, hurt us, or often killed us. But quackery isn’t always about pure deception. Behind every misguided treatment – from Ottomans eating clay to keep the plague away to Victorian gents sitting in a mercury steam room for their syphilis to epilepsy sufferers sipping gladiator blood in ancient Rome – is the incredible power of the human desire to live. We are willing to do or ingest just about anything just to survive. But as this book points out, this drive to survive also can lead to incredible innovation. Much of what we call modern medicine such as using anesthesia for surgery, sterilization protocols, and even utilizing leeches for wound healing grew out of some “quack cure” that didn’t quite work as advertised. But there is of course a dark side. The desire to heal and live longer is a powerful drive for doctors and wannabe healers to come up with the next “miracle cure.” Haven’t all of us at one time googled a particular ailment hoping to find the thing that will magically heal us? None of us are immune to wanting a quick fix. Clearly we need to be wary of quacks – and of ourselves. Despite increased regulation of medicines and healing modalities along with many scientific breakthroughs, quackery still reaches into every aspect of healthcare and the cosmetics industry. This is why in many chapters you will find a present-day update. Some quack cures, like leeches, have transformed into real, working treatments. In summary, this book contains a brief history of the worst ways to cure everything. Please note, this book is not for weak stomached or overly sensitive readers. Some of the “cures” are very offensive and one may find the author quite cavalier when discussing some particularly gruesome technique. Still, Quackery, is a fascinating read and just might help you be more wary the next time you read about the latest “instant cure.” In addition, on just about on every page, the book contains fascinating historical illustrations, old advertisements, and photographs that alone are worth a read.... Read more...
