May 2021 News

Launching Tuesday, May 4, 2021 6:30 PM
Online and In-Person at the Theater at Lackawanna College, Scranton, PA.
Ticketed but free

On what would have been Jane Jacobs's 105th birthday, author Glenna Lang will give a slide presentation at the theater at Lackawanna College, once Central High School, which Jane Butzner (later Jacobs) attended. With Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti. AIA CES credit available.

Space is limited. Register below.
Tuesday, May 4 – Saturday, May 8

The Center for the Living City will host a five-day celebration of Jane Jacobs's life and legacy in her hometown of Scranton. In-person events will include book readings and signings with Jane Jacobs's First City author Glenna Lang, Jane Jacobs Walks throughout the city, and exhibits on Jane Jacobs's life, her work, and the history of Scranton.
Highlights w author Glenna Lang:

• Jane Jacobs Lecture and Jane Jacobs’s First City Book Launch
May 4, 6:30 PM EDT

• Jane Jacobs Walk and Jane Jacobs’s First City Book Signing
May 5, 5:15 PM EDT

• Jane Jacobs’s First City Book Reading with Glenna Lang and Community Members
May 6, 5:30 PM EDT
Thursday, May 13, 2021 6:00 PM EDT
Virtual Zoom event. Register to attend.

Please join author Glenna Lang for a presentation of her new book, hosted by Rizzoli Bookstore. Her presentation will be followed by a conversation with Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
Celebrating Ann Snitow
Join us in remembering the late Ann Snitow on what would have been her 78th birthday, May 8th. Snitow is the author of Visitors: An American Feminist in East Central Europe, the extraordinary recount of Snitow’s adventures helping to build a new, post-communist feminist movement in Eastern Central Europe.

A Zoom event (May 8, 6:30 PM EDT) with Ann's husband, composer and musician Daniel Goode, will celebrate Daniel's new CD, AnnCela Express, and Visitors, which was Ann's last book. Join the event with passcode 4mG76r.
Starting May 8th, NYU Press will partner with us to give away three free copies of Visitors on Instagram. Keep an eye on their Instagram for details on how you can win.
Also, watch NYU Press's blog for an article by Katie Detwiler on how Visitors relates to our current moment.
Mindy Fullilove News
Talking Headways interviewed Dr. Mindy Fullilove, author of Main Street: How a City's Heart Connects Us All, for their podcast episode, “Down on Main Street.”
Main Street by Mindy Fullilove Annotated in NYU’s Literature Arts Medicine Database

"This book is clear, convincing and important. . . . Readers will immediately make comparisons to cities where they have lived or visited. They may even have insights into their current city and, therefore, contemplate changes that might be made, especially through social and political activism."


Mindy Fullilove recently concluded the virtual “We the People” Speaker Series, which explores how major political events will reframe social and spatial justice ideologies and practice for architects, urban planners, preservationists, real estate developers, and academics. Hosted by University of Maryland, School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
Review of Such a Pretty Girl
“The entirety of the memoir covers four incredible seasons of LaSpina's life. From dealing with feelings of shame and guilt in response to the hatred and discrimination in her childhood to her fierce commitment to activism in her young adulthood, LaSpina works through incredible social and familial challenges as she fights for her selfhood.”
Extension Out Loud Interview with Scott Peters
Historian and professor Scott Peters is co-author of the forthcoming book In the Struggle: Scholars and the Fight against Industrial Agribusiness in California. In this interview, he traces the history of extension systems and highlights the ways that extension educators and programs enable communities to work together with land-grant universities to respond to some of the biggest challenges we face today. Listen here.
Forthcoming in July

From the early twentieth century and across generations to the present, In the Struggle by Daniel O'Connell and Scott Peters brings together the stories of eight politically engaged scholars, documenting their opposition to industrial-scale agribusiness in California. As the narrative unfolds, their previously censored and suppressed research, together with personal accounts of intimidation and subterfuge, is introduced into the public arena for the first time.
Margaret Randall Updates
• Lee Rossi interviewed Margaret Randall on her history as a poet and activist for Poetry Flash. She discusses My Life in 100 Objects, an illustrated memoir that reflects on the events and moments that shaped her remarkable life. Read the interview.

• Listen to a conversation between Margaret Randall and Martha King, authors who both recently published memoirs tracing artistic community, action, and liberation through the seismic changes of the last half century. Hosted by The Poetry Project.
More News
Art & Activism Lecture Series by Women Eco Artists Dialog (WEAD)

Listen to Betsy Damon on "Artists: Essential Workers and Visionaries," and tune in this month for a lecture by Aviva Rahmani on Sunday, May 23, 7 PM EDT.

Find more work by Betsy Damon (contributor) and Aviva Rahmani (co-editor) in the forthcoming book, Ecoart in Action: Activities, Case Studies, and Provocations for Classrooms and Communities.
Last month, Melba's Po'Boys in New Orleans gave away free, signed copies of Beginner's Guide to Community-Based Arts to the first 75 customers who purchased a plate lunch or po'boy! Special guests included authors Mat Schwarzman and Keith Knight.
Wednesday, May 5, 12:30 – 1:30 PM EDT

Linda Buzzell will interview Carl Anthony and Paloma Pavel about the founding of Breakthrough Communities for Ecopsychology Voices. Carl Anthony is author of The Earth, the City, and the Hidden Narrative of Race and Paloma Pavel is co-author of Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty.
Monday, May 10, 6:00 – 6:30pm EDT

This event celebrates the lives of incredible women whose lifelong activism has made real and lasting change in the world—hosted by LaborArts and the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition and generously supported by the Museum of the City of New York, the Puffin Foundation, and the 21st Century ILGWU Heritage Fund.

Congratulations to this year’s winners: Barbara Dane, activist singer; Suelika Cabrera Drinane, advocate for the elderly; Debby King, union fighter; Wilhelmina Perry, LGBT convener; and Muriel Tillinghast, movement organizer.