On Saturday, May 11th, Smithies gathered at the home of Marylou Cronin '88 to help young mothers in the Bay Area. We sponsored our third annual community service event to benefit
Loved Twice, a nonprofit that collects gently used baby clothing, sorts a year's supply of these precious garments into boxes, and distributes them to needy newborns and their mothers at local hospitals, shelters, and prenatal clinics. We sorted clothes, made boxes together and shared the Mother's Day love!
We met on Wednesday, April 17th, at the home of Diana McDonough '66 to discuss Code Girls by Liza Mundy. We found the subject interesting, particularly because a number of the decoders were Smithies, and some of the training program took place at the College. We were struck by the patriotism and dedication shown by the Code Girls as they carried out their hard and boring task; we felt they must have welcomed the opportunity to use their education, at a time when most educated women had limited prospects. And we sympathized with their likely frustration when, after the war, they lost that opportunity. However, we found the book too long and too loose; in trying to include all her research, the author made the book too diffuse, and the "hoppy" structure made it hard to follow. We did, though, appreciate her success in bringing to light the significant accomplishments of the Code Girls.
May 15th: Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
A 28-year-old Englishman reflects on his "strange and adventure-filled adolescence" in the years following WWII, a story that allows Ondaatje to explore the subject of memory.
June 19th: Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ali was born in Somalia, was elected to the Dutch Parliament, and now lives in the U.S. She left Islam and spoke out on the situation of Muslim women, which made her a target for violence. The New York Times calls this memoir "brave, inspiring and beautifully written...narrated in clear vigorous prose."
No meeting in July
August 21st: Movie Night, a potluck dinner starting at 5:30, followed by the film Fried Green Tomatoes, based on the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg. The NYTimes said, "The story centers on a café in the railroad town of Whistle Stop, Ala....the core of the story is the unusual love affair" between two main female characters. It has "scores of tossed-off little hilarities" plus recipes.
September 18th: The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert. Selected by the NYTimes Book Review as one of the 10 best books of 2014. The Times review of the book says, "
In lucid prose, she examines the role of man-made climate change in causing what biologists call the sixth mass extinction - the current spasm of plant and animal loss that threatens to eliminate 20 to 50 percent of all living species on earth within this century."
