Galveston Reads Rebounds in 2009

Galveston Reads, a “One City, One Book” program selected Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls for 2009. After Hurricane Ike, the Galveston Reads Committee quickly reassembled to plan the spring 2009 schedule of programming. Reading programs prevail on Galveston, with many programs and book discussions in February and March of 2009.

The next program in the series, a movie discussion programs featuring the movie Surfwise, will be shown at 6:00 p.m. February 11, 2009, at Galveston College, Room FA-207. “Surfwise: The Amazing True Odyssey of the Paskowitz Family” , a 2007 documentary by Doug Pray, of a family that lives outside the norm, is another depiction of what could be termed dysfunctional family or perhaps one that just defies the usual expectations in our culture regarding child rearing, responsibility, and schooling. The father, Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, who was born in Galveston, drops out of life as a Stanford trained physician to live in a camping trailer and travel around to surfing locations with his wife and nine children. The movie features archival footage of the family surfing, as well as interviews with the father and children. The movie is rated R for nudity and language and will be followed by a discussion comparing the book to the movie led by Allan Griffin, a retired psychologist. This program is free and open to the public.

The kick-off program for Galveston Reads, the Four Professor Panel Discussion, was held on January 6th at Galveston Colleges with over 50 people in attendance. The kickoff panel featured Drs. Taylor, Gorman, Curley and Delancey, and facilitator, Ms. Joel-Reich. The panel provided a very interesting, varied panel on this book. Dr. Taylor is an associate professor of English and Journalism at Galveston College, where she teaches writing and literature classes. Dr. John Gorman, is an island resident and teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. He is involved with Poets Roundtable and the Osher Life Long Learning Institute; he has been part of Galveston Reads since its inception. Dr. Dayle DeLancey is an Assistant Professor of the History of Medicine in the Institute for the Medical Humanities at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. She received her Ph.D. in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine from the University of Manchester, Manchester, England. Dr. Stephen J. Curley is a professor of English at Texas A&M University in Galveston who received his Ph.D. from Rice University in 1974. Currently is the Area Chair for the Sea Literature, Popular Culture Association; serves on the Advisory Board of the Journal of American Culture and is also a member of the American Culture Association. His interests are anything having to do with sea literature, including chanteys (work songs at sea); Jean Lafitte and Texas culture.

The professors brought up various themes, such as the archetypical early American point of view, the autodidactic father, Rex Walls, the resilient child, free spirits from the 1960s, counter culture parenting, conscientious non-conformist parents, choosing to be lower class, no safety net such as health insurance or a regular income for the family, the narcissistic father and mother, forgiveness and redemption, the doppelganger/double personality effect on Jeannette, the Joshua tree symbolism of resilience to the wind and elements as are the children, the glass castle as a fragile symbol of hope, mental illness, and eventual homeless status.

Galveston Reads has encouraged reading by offering programs held at various locations throughout Galveston County for the past six years. Past selections include Tortilla Curtain, by T.C. Boyles; Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team , and a Dream, by H. G. Bissinger; A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, by Mark Haddon; Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehreinreich and A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines. The programming has included local discussion groups, theatrical presentations, author visits and panel discussions, including the ever popular evening with local English professors.

The next book selection for 2010 is under consideration by the committee, and to be selected by the community later this spring.