Officers: Sara Cohen, President
Neil Harvey, Vice-President
Patrick DeMarco, Secretary
Jesse Starr, Treasurer
To contact our Council, E-mail Sara Cohen at TampaBayArea2@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org
or Patrick DeMarco at TampaBayArea1@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org. Phone: (813) 672-9052.
SPECIAL NOTE: The Tampa Bay Great Books Council sponsors two annual events: a Great Books Conference Weekend in Longboat Key (a few miles west of Sarasota), Florida during the month of January, and a Great Books Summer Retreat during the month of June.
The next Conference Weekend event will take place on January 22-24, 2010 on the theme of "Great Books That Changed the World." There will be discussions of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN (Harriet Beecher Stowe), NIGHT (Elie Wiesel), and THE PRINCE (Niccolo Machiavelli).
The Summer Retreat in June 2010 will feature readings and discussions of two Arthur Miller plays, interspersed by a potluck lunch.
For information and registration either or both of these events, contact either Sara Cohen at 813-988-0091 and at TampaBayArea2@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org, or Patrick DeMarco at 813-672-9052 and at TampaBayArea1@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org.
GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSION GROUPS IN THE TAMPA (HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY) AREA:
1) GREAT BOOKS ROUNDTABLE: RE-READING CLASSICS OF THE WESTERN CANON:
This is an eight-week session which is part of the University of South Florida, Tampa campus, Department of Continuing Education and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). The Fall 2009 sessions will run every Friday morning from September 25th through November 13, 2009. Readings include selections by Plato, John Dewey, Euripides, Aristotle, Dostoevsky, Old Testament, Thomas Hobbes, and Herman Melville. Classes meet at the Lake Magdalene Center, 2902 West Fletcher Avenue from 9:30 to 11:30 A.M. The text for the Fall 2009 and Winter 2010 terms (morning class) will be the Great Books Reading and Discussion Program, Series II (Two). The cost of the class is $54 for the eight-week session, plus textbook ($33.95) and annual membership fee ($30) to OLLI.
For registration and other information on joining this class, contact the moderator, Patrick DeMarco at 813-672-9052 and at TampaBayArea1@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org.
2) GREAT BOOKS ROUNDTABLE: GREAT CONVERSATIONS:
This is an eight-week session which is part of the University of South Florida, Tampa Campus, Department of Continuing Education and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). The Fall 2009 sessions will run every Friday afternoon from September 25th through November 13, 2009. The text for this afternoon class will be Great Conversations IV (Four). Readings include selections by Plutarch, Yasunari Kawabata, Shirley Jackson, Clarice Lispector, Eavan Boland, Tim O'Brien and Jane Austen. The last two sessions of this class will be spent on a discussion of Austen's novel, EMMA, a copy of which will be provided to participants at no charge. Classes meet at the Lake Magdalene Center, 2902 West Fletcher Avenue, from 1:30 to 3:30 P.M. The cost of the class is $54 for the eight-week session, plus textbook ($28.45) and annual membership fee ($30) to OLLI.
For registration and other information on joining this class, contact the moderator, Patrick DeMarco at 813-672-9052 and at TampaBayArea1@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org.
3) TEMPLE TERRACE LIBRARY GREAT BOOKS ROUNDTABLE:
This group meets every month (except December and August) on the LAST SATURDAY of each month, from 1:00 P.M. to 2:30 P.M., at the Temple Terrace Library, 212 Bullard Parkway, Tampa, Florida The group is free and open to the public, although copies of the reading selections are lent out free only to those who hold a Hillsborough County library card. For more information on joining this group, contact the moderator, Patrick DeMarco at TampaBayArea1@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org or at 813-672-9052. Here is the reading list/schedule for the 2009-2010 season:
9/26/09: SISTER CARRIE (Theodore Dreiser) 10/31/09: JANE EYRE (Charlotte Bronte) 11/28/09: DEATH IN VENICE (Thomas Mann) 1/30/10: DIVINE COMEDY: INFERNO (Dante Alghieri) 2/27/10: CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY (Alan Paton) 3/27/10: FRANKENSTEIN (Mary Shelley) 4/24/10: SELF-RELIANCE AND OTHER ESSAYS (Ralph Waldo Emerson) 5/29/10: TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES (Thomas Hardy) 6/26/10: THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED (F. Scott Fitzgerald) 7/27/10: ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE: AN INQUIRY INTO VALUES (Robert Pirsig)
4) SOUTH SHORE REGIONAL LIBRARY GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSION GROUP:
This group meets every month (except August) on the FIRST SATURDAY of each month, from 10:30 A.M. to 12 noon, at the South Shore Regional Library, 15100 Beth Shields Way, Sun City Center (off exit 240 A, I-75). The group is free and open to the public, although copies of the reading selections are lent out free only to those who hold a Hillsborough County library card. For more information on joining this group, contact the moderator, Patrick DeMarco at 813-672-9052 and TampaBayArea1@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org. Here is the reading list/schedule from September 2009 through December 2010:
9/5/09: THE ILIAD (Homer) 10/3/09: LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (Eugene O'Neill) 11/7/09: THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (Edith Wharton) 12/5/09: THE SOCIAL CONTRACT (Jean-Jacques Rousseau) 1/09/10: THE CRUCIBLE (Arthur Miller) 2/06/10: NATIVE SON (Richard Wright) 3/06/10: THE METAMORPHOSIS (Franz Kafka) 4/03/10: WINESBURG, OHIO (Sherwood Anderson) 5/01/10: THE SUN ALSO RISES (Ernest Hemingway) 6/06/10: THE DIVINE COMEDY: INFERNO (Dante Alighieri) 7/10/10: GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (Jonathan Swift) 9/04/10: THE RED AND THE BLACK (Stendhal) 10/02/10: A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN (Mary Wollstonecraft) 11/06/10: LIGHT IN AUGUST (William Faulkner) 12/04/10: LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSION GROUPS IN PINELLAS COUNTY (St. Petersburg and Clearwater areas):
1) GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSON GROUP AT THE SEMINOLE COMMUNITY LIBRARY:
Meets monthly at the Seminole Community Library at the St. Petersburg College, Seminole Campus, 9200--113th Stree N., Seminole, FL 33772; 727-394-6923. Contact moderator Mike Bryan at TampaBayArea3@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org.
2) GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSION GROUP AT THE SAFETY HARBOR LIBRARY:
Meets monthly at the Safety Harbor Public Library, 101 --2nd Street N., Safety Harbor, FL 34695. Contact Jean Carey at TampaBayArea4@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org or Lisa Kothe at 727-724-1525, Ext. 106, and TampaBayArea5@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org.
3) GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSION GROUP AT THE GULF BEACHES LIBRARY:
Meets monthly on the second Saturday at the Gulf Beaches Public Library, 200 Municipal Drive, Madeira Beach, FL 33708; 727-391-2828. Contact Maggie Cinella at TampaBayArea6@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org.
4) GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSION GROUP AT THECLEARWATER MAIN LIBRARY:
Meets monthly at the Clearwater Main Library, 100 N. Osceola Avenue, Clearwater, FL 33755; 727-562-4970, Ext. 5284. Contact Jan Nickols at TampaBayArea7@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org.
5) GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSION GROUP AT ECKERD COLLEGE:
Meets monthly from October to May on the first Wednesday, from 6:30 to 8:15 P.M. at the Eckerd College Osher LIfelong Institute, near St. Petersburg Beach. Contact Lester Johnson at 727-443-2484 or Julie McConnell at 727-391-5293.
Contact Patrick DeMarco at TampaBayArea1@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org
or Tom Santee at 727-867-1166 for more information.