Toronto Public Library celebrates Seniors Month with free month-long programming
Includes feature series that challenges older adults to “exercise their Grey Matter”
TORONTO (Tuesday, May 25, 2010) Toronto Public Library is celebrating Seniors Month 2010 with free literary and cultural events throughout the city. The events include the Library’s Grey Matters series, which invites older adults to think, feel and act — and to engage their intellectual curiosity all month long.
The series includes the popular lunch time Great Books Lectures, which explain why some books written decades or even centuries ago are still relevant in our very modern world. There will also be opportunities for older adults to view films and documentaries, learn about memoir writing and using the Internet, discover Inuit art, and much more.
Great Books Lecture Series
The Ramayana
Sankrit epic attributed to Hindu sage Valmiki, circa 750-500 BC. The Ramayana is an ancient tale of the eternal struggle between good and evil. Guest speaker: Professor Stella Sandahl, University of Toronto, Dept of East Asian Studies, on “The Ramayana – An Old Story Very Much Alive”
Thursday, June 3, 2010, 12:30 p.m.
Danforth/Coxwell Branch, 1675 Danforth Avenue, 416-393-7783
Death in Venice
Novella by Thomas Mann, first published in Germany in 1912, translated into English in 1925. Death in Venice explores the relationships between death and beauty, life and art, chaos and order. Guest Speaker: Professor Deborah Heller, York University, Department of English on “Death and the Poet”
Wednesday, June 9, 2010, 12:30 p.m.
Palmerston Branch, 560 Palmerston Avenue, 416-393-7680
Waiting for Godot
Play by Samuel Beckett, composed in French in 1948/49, first performed in 1953. Although very existentialist, Waiting for Godot is primarily about hope. The play revolves around Vladimir and Estragon and their pitiful wait for hope to arrive.
Guest Speaker: Professor Alan Ackerman, University of Toronto, University College, on “The Form of Nothing in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot”
Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 12:30 p.m.
Pape/Danforth Branch, 701 Pape Avenue, 416-393-7727
The Aeneid
Latin epic poem written by Virgil, 29-19 BC. For the modern reader, the most memorable passages in The Aeneid are the fall of Troy; the tragedy of Dido; and Aeneas`s haunting experiences in the Underworld. Gest Speaker: Professor Frederick Sweet, University of Toronto, Continuing Studies on “Rome’s Answer to the Iliad and the Odyssey”
Friday, June 18, 2010, 12:30 p.m.
Runnymede Branch, 2178 Bloor Street West, 416-393-7697
St. Augustine’s Confessions
Autobiography by St. Augustine, circa 397-398 AD.
St. Augustine, one of the greatest minds in the history of the West, grappled with the most difficult questions of existence together with the notion of a will larger than the self.
Guest Speaker: Professor John Greenwood, University of Toronto, Continuing Studies on “One Mind’s Road to God”
Friday, June 25, 2010, 12:30 p.m.
Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, 416-393-7697
More Grey Matters Programming
Honouring Our Parents
A celebration of life stories with Mary Bart and members of “Recording
Recollections,” a memoir writing group.
Tuesday, June 1 & Friday, June 25, 2010, 2 p.m.
Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, 416-393-7697
The Eh List: Heather Spears, Poet and Artist
Reading from I Can Still Draw and a presentation of her art.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010, 2 p.m.
North York Central, 5120 Yonge Street, 416-395-5535
A Two-Hundred Year Affair
Filmmaker Julia Browne’s virtual tour of African-American history in Paris.
Thursday, June 3, 2010, 1:30 p.m.
Downsview Branch, 2793 Keele Street, 416-395-5720
Film Screening: Young@Heart
Inspirational documentary of a senior’s chorus that perform pop and rock classics.
Monday, June 7, 2010, 2 p.m.
Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, 416-395-5577
Thrilling Tales
Great short stories read aloud by library staff and local authors.
Wednesdays, June 9, 16, 23, 2010 2 p.m.
North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge Street, 416-395-5535
Memoir Workshop
Lorraine Williams reads from Memories of the Beach and conducts a memoir writing workshop.
Monday, June 14, 2 pm
Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, 416-395-5577
Discovering Inuit Art: The Museum of Inuit Art
Guest Speaker: Ingo Hessel, curator of the Museum of Inuit Art.
Tuesday, June 15, 2 p.m.
Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, 416-395-5577
In the Books and Through the Wire: Literary Movements of
the 20th Century
Explore international literary movements of the past century
online. Basic web knowledge is required. To register, call
416-393-7209.
Wednesday, June 16, 10 a.m.
Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, 416-395-5577
Voices of the Old Ones: The Seven Sacred Teachings
with Grandmother Jo-Ann Kakekayash
The traditional concepts of respect and sharing are built around the
seven natural laws, or sacred teachings.
Wednesday, June 16, 3 p.m.
Spadina Road Branch, 10 Spadina Road, 416-393-7666
Centenarian Egyptologist: Margaret A. Murray
Guest Speaker: Steven B. Shubert, Egyptologist and librarian.
Tuesday, June 22, 2 p.m.
Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, 416-395-5577
In addition to Grey Matters, the library offers many other Seniors Month programs on health, wellness and legal issues; social afternoons and using the Internet. For full details: www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/seniors or call Answerline at 416-393-7131.
Toronto Public Library is the world's busiest urban public library system. Every year, more than 17.5 million people visit our 99 branches and borrow more than 31 million items. To learn more about Toronto Public Library, visit our website at torontopubliclibrary.ca or call Answerline at 416-393-7131.
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Media Contact:
Tina Srebotnjak, Manager, Program Development, 416-393-7098
Media@torontopubliclibrary.ca