The Lonesome Dove panel and FOL officers planning the upcoming book discussion.
Linda Bono
A new year brings fresh ideas and Friends of the Library (FOL) has been hard at work turning those ideas into new programs for the library.
Our first event of the year in the library will be “A Celebration of the Old West!” For this inaugural 2020 Book Discussion, we’ve chosen a terrific book, Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Lonesome Dove. USA Today’s praise says it all, “If you only read one western novel in your life, read Lonesome Dove.”
It’s a fact that books have the power to transport us. On Thursday, Feb. 27, from 2 to 4 p.m., we’ll begin a dynamic “literary journey” in the library. We’ll travel back to the 1870s, to the small, dusty Texas town of Lonesome Dove and head out on a cattle drive to the wilderness of distant Montana. Along the way, we’ll encounter larger than life characters — an unforgettable assortment of heroes and outlaws, whores and ladies, Indians and settlers, and cattlemen (or cattlemen wannabes). Our discussion will explore the ageless themes of friendship, unrequited love, old age, and death in this novel set in the closing years of the Old West. Lonesome Dove is a book that will make you laugh, weep, dream, and think about how the West was really won.
Don’t miss this program! Get in the spirit! If you’ve got some cowboy duds, put them on and mosey over to the library on Feb. 27. No western apparel in your closet? Not even jeans? No problem, come anyway! This event will be entertaining, stimulating, and fun, no matter!
We have a great panel of Robson residents to lead the discussion. Alan Albarran, who taught media at UNT, will cover the adaptation of the book to the 1989 television miniseries. Dave Parker will offer insights on the cowboy culture gleaned from his Cowboy-Hall-of-Fame great grandfather. Susan Parker will provide a feminine perspective on the book. Lewis Toland, who taught literature and specialized in the lore of Western Americana, will lead the panel as they cover the book and miniseries.
Although reading the book will add to your enjoyment, it isn’t necessary to read it or to be a member of FOL to attend. Everything FOL does is for the enjoyment of the entire community. But, if you support the library and want to participate in our advocacy, please join FOL! Annual membership dues are only $10 per year (July 1-June 30), and there’s a Drop Box for joining in the library.
What else is Friends of the Library working on for 2020? Glad you asked! We’ll introduce a New Yorker Magazine Discussion Group in the library soon, and we’re planning an event on Understanding Today’s Social Media Environment. Puzzle Palooza was such a hit that we plan to repeat it, and there are three more book discussions in the works. It will be Lively in the Library in 2020!