the 941

Cliff Roles interviews Lucinda Streiker-Schmidt

From our boy Cliff Roles:

“A Separate God Journal of an Amish Girl” Book Signings:

Starbucks
Saturday, November 7th from 10AM-2PM Starbucks Bee Ridge and Beneva
Sarasota, FL

Circle Books
Sunday, November 8th from 1-3PM @ Circle Books, 478 John Ringling Blvd.
Sarasota, FL

Starbucks
Wednesday, November 11th from 10AM-12N @ University & Tuttle
Sarasota, FL

Starbucks
Thursday, November 12th from 5:30PM-7:30PM @ US 41 & Worrington Avenue
Sarasota, FL

Lucinda Streiker-Schmidt left the close-knit Amish community of rural Indiana to start a new life. Streiker-Schmidt, who married and had two children while in the Amish faith, grew up with questions about the outside world, and after a tumultuous, abusive marriage, divorced her Amish husband and began a new life with her children. After putting herself through nursing school and establishing her career, she began working on her novel, which is based on the journals she kept as a young girl.

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Cliff Roles interviews Susan Estes

From our boy Cliff Roles:

Tinycandy’s Gift is a new Christmas story tracing the origins of the popular holiday treat, the candy cane. Tinycandy is an elf growing up in the North Pole who always felt left out because he walks with a limp. With Christmas approaching, Tinycandy is desperate to find his special “gift” in order to contribute to Christmas in Santa’s workshop and become accepted by the other elves. When Tinycandy does discover his gift, it creates a special sweet treat that changes Christmas forever.

In Tinycandy’s Gift, Susan creates a unique history of how the candy cane got its name and weaves in a classic tale that conveys to children one of the pivotal rules of life. Susan has spent her life working with and raising children and believes that teaching them to appreciate their own and others’ differences is the most important lesson of all.

About Susan Estes

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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels opens at Venice Theatre Nov. 10

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Danielle Favreau.

VISUAL ARTS: OPENING

4TH BI-ANNUAL ESTERO FINE ART SHOW Miromar Outlets, 10801 Corkscrew Road, Estero (755-3088 or hotworks.org). This massive event will feature a juried art show and sale of works by professional artists as well as food and live entertainment. Please see this week’s See & Do for more information. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov 7-8. Free.

ART UPTOWN 1367 Main St., Sarasota (955-5409 or artuptown.com). Jacquie Clark’s still life and dog portrait watercolors will be displayed along with Jon Greeley’s oil on canvas portraits. Exhibit runs Nov.7-13. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. Free.

THE DANCING CRANE GALLERY 1019 10th Ave. W., Bradenton (744-1333 or dancing-crane.com). The gallery will have their three-year anniversary celebration with an art giveaway and a showcase of the gallery’s featured artists. 6-9 p.m. Nov. 6. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Free.

S/ART/Q INAUGURAL EXHIBITION 1549 State St., Sarasota (330-4838 or sARTq.com). This local group of professional artists will hold their Inaugural Exhibition of multimedia, painting, photography and more. Please see this week’s See & Do for more information. 5-10 p.m. Nov. 6 and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 7. Free.

SELBY GALLERY Ringling College of Art and Design, 2700 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (359-7563 or ringling.edu/selbygallery). The People and Places Juried Photography Exhibition will be on display as well as the Annual Ringling College Faculty Exhibition and the College Staff and Instructor Exhibition. Regular hours are Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Tues. until 7 p.m. Free.

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Cliff Roles interviews Gaellen Quinn

From our boy Cliff Roles:

How did far-off Hawaii become part of America?

Suppressed for nearly 100 years, it’s a story known to few.

In 1886, Laura Jennings boards a steamship bound for the exotic islands of Hawaii to live with missionary relatives she’s never met. Laura imagines she’ll live in a grass hut and minister to “savages.” But on arriving in Honolulu, she’s surprised to find that, far from being savages, the Hawaiians have developed a charming and prosperous kingdom—and Laura’s family is among the wealthy elite plotting to overthrow the monarchy. To avoid her conniving uncle’s control, Laura goes to work for the royal family. She’s swept up in a web of intrigue and turmoil as the Missionary Party intensifies its scheme to topple the throne and Hawaii’s last queen, Lili`uokalani, struggles heroically to save the kingdom. When every way is blocked, the queen’s choices reveal to Laura a power capable of restoring the spirit of a people caught in a turbulent, changing world. And Laura discovers how her own family’s long-hidden secrets can lead the way to reconciliation.

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Cliff Roles interviews Jamie Carie

From our boy Cliff Roles:

The nearly 65 million Americans who read at least one romance novel in the past year will want to dig in to Jamie Carie’s new novel Love’s First Light. Set against the French revolution, Love’s First Light follows the lives of Christophé, the Count of St. Laurent, and Scarlett, a baker in a local French village. Their lives intertwine as Christophé flees Paris after his family is guillotined and meets the beautiful widow Scarlett who is related to the very man who murdered his family. How will Christophé react when he comes face to face with the villain?

More info at jamiecarie.com!

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COVER STORY

— Driven mad: Our pseudonymous limousine chauffeur blogger gives you the inside scoop on ferrying around Sarasota’s elite.

NEWS & VIEWS

— Steroids fallout: A letter to the editor, and a correction.

— Don’t panic! Your war questions answered: Who won Afghanistan’s presidential election?

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Back in August, I suffered a bit of a breakdown in 941 Book CL-B decorum, wondering publicly if anything I might blog about here really adds to the understanding of or interest in the books that find their way to my shelf. But then a couple commenters chimed in, told me to buck up and encouraged me to make my way through Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping. Although I had to make a few detours before I got to it (had to review a couple other books for the paper) I completed Housekeeping a few weeks ago, and luckily so. It’s the kind of book that’s strong enough to make you believe in writing again.

Robinson is a marvelous stylist, and Housekeeping, her first novel, is ruthlessly economical in the way it tells the story of a young girl growing up in a fracturing household in a small Idaho town beset by savage weather. Robinson’s sentences just amaze you with their force. Here is Robinson’s narrator on the caretaking she receives from her grandmother:

She had always known a thousand ways to circle them all around with what must have seemed like grace. She knew a thousand songs. Her bread was tender and her jelly was tart, and on rainy days she made cookies and applesauce. In the summer she kept roses in a vase on the piano, huge, pungent roses, and when the blooms ripened and the petals fell, she put them in a tall Chinese jar, with cloves and thyme and sticks of cinnamon. Her children slept on starched sheets under layers of quilts, and in the morning her curtains filled with light the way sails fill with wind.

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The Safe Sex Halloween Bash will be at the Van Wezel on Oct. 31

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Danielle Favreau.

HALLOWEEN EVENTS

6TH ANNUAL AMAZING COSTUME CONTEST GIVEAWAY Siesta Key Oyster Bar, 5238 Ocean Blvd., Sarasota (346-5443 or skob.com). This party is half football and half Halloween with three major prizes for the top three costumes. Oct. 31. Free.

CLANCY’S 9TH ANNUAL HOLLOWEEN BASH 6218 Cortez Road, Bradenton (794-2489). This party will feature a costume contest with cash prizes, Matt Brown on the tiki bar and Andrew’s Karaoke. 6 p.m. Oct. 30. Free.

COSTUME PARTY Honoluana Island Grill, 222 Airport Ave., Venice (483-3553). Costume party and contest featuring Koko Ray & the Soul Providers. 7 p.m.-midnight Oct. 31. Free.

EZRA HALLOWEEN PARTY Ezra Café, 5629 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton (792-0990 or ezrafinefoods.com). Come for dinner and stay for the after party with a costume contest and DJ Tasteman spinning killer dance tunes. 9 p.m. Oct. 30. Free.

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Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, by Richard Wrangham, is rightly taking the food world by storm. Well researched and documented (the bibliography alone is 30 pages long), it is also an engaging read. Astonishingly, few other writers have previously related the importance of how cooking affects the nutritional quality of food, therefore enabling human beings to evolve.

Not only does Wrangham detail the evolution of humankind in terms of how we understood and utilized fire, he also sets his aim on the modern food system. He takes on the trendy raw food community, as well as the fast food, chemically-processed types. He argues that eating calories that are too easy to digest is now a bigger problem for many than getting enough food. His puts out a clarion call to understand how food is actually processed in our systems.

The book itself begs to be read in a group format; I kept wanting to discuss passages with the author or fellow readers. Catching Fire is definitely a book that will be talked about, and a must for any thinking foodie’s library.

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FSU/Asolo Conservatory’s The Mystery Plays open at the Cook Theatre Oct. 28

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Danielle Favreau.

VISUAL ARTS: OPENING

ART UPTOWN 1367 Main St., Sarasota (955-5409 or artuptown.com). The vibrant colored pencil work of artist Janine Hoffman will be featured in a solo show. Exhibit runs Oct. 24-31. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. Free.

VISUAL ARTS: ONGOING

ALLYN GALLUP CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY 1419 5^TH St., Sarasota (366-2093 or allyngallup.com). Normal hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Free.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND ART LEAGUE 5312 Holmes Blvd., Holmes Beach (778-2099 or islandartleague.org). Annual Faculty Exhibit is a celebration of the Island Art League’s talented instructors and their works. Exhibit runs through Nov. 8. Normal hours are 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tues.-Fri. Free.

ART & FRAME OF SARASOTA 1055 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (366-2301). Enjoy art by both experienced and novice local artists. Normal hours are Mon. & Thurs. 9 a.m.-8 p.m., Tues., Wed., Fri. 9 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sat. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Free.

ART CENTER SARASOTA 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (365-2032 or artsarasota.org). Arte Latino: Pasion e Identidad features work from four Puerto Rican artists and coincides with Hispanic Heritage Month, while Show Us What You’ve Got showcases Member Artist’s work with over 200 pieces of art on display. Both exhibits run through Nov. 7. Normal gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Free.

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