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Looking back, facing future. A thoughtful, intelligent musing on the pattern of life from youth to middle age and recognition of the value of life experiences. "But the rewards of building a solid edifice are wondrous".

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A week's trip to Cuba focusing on Art and Architecture. Also included a review of Cuba's history, the current economic scene and personal observations.

Paper description The author writes about two of her favorite people. "Sister" was Katherine, who lost her son, 2nd Lieutenant Dunbaugh, her only child (who had to be delivered by Caesarian without anesthesia), in the Korean War. A sturdy octogenarian, Katherine traveled to Europe with the author to attend opera. After Katherine's death, the author was given possession of her papers and letters. Among the stories, was a description of a visit with General Pershing. "Brother": was a cab driver named Harrington...

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Many of author's papers have their source in the island off the coast of Maine where her family has summered for decades, owned property since before the American Revolution. The subject here is the lighthouses from the "pharaoh" of ancient Egypt to a lighthouse now owned by her family.

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Description of a trip to Germany in 2000, which started in Frankfort and ended at Oberammergau at the Passion Play. There were visits to Dresden, Eisleben, Eisenach, Erfurt, Wittenberg and Wartberg Castle. These sites each played a role in Luther's life. One to Berlin, Weimar, Buchenwald, and Regensburg.

Paper description Author and husband move to a 33rd floor apartment on the Gold Coast of Chicago after 40 years in Winnetka. She describes a history of the neighborhood (established by Potter Pulman [Palmer?] in 1882). The city can thank Montgomery Ward for public use of the lakefront. She describes the famous architects of the area and famous residents (Abe Lincoln’s son, Robert, for example), Mayor Daly’s pride in and beautification of the city, and changes in the relationship with nearby Cabrini Green...

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A distillation and reaction to contemporary news:1. Dialogue between two women concerning the electoral college and its history plus a discussion of politics. 2. Dialogue among four women about the constitution, public safety, Muslims, new vocabulary, questioning beliefs post 9-11. The Civil War unexpected results. 3. The results of 9-11: reality, fundamentalism, violence within our borders.

Paper description Al Khatun was the honorific Iraqi name for Gertrude Bell, who died in Baghdad in 1926. Born and bred in Victorian England, a precocious and gifted scholar, she fell in love with Persia and the deserts of the Middle East. She was a linguist, photographer, archeologist, writer, political advisor, and even a spy. Hired as the Oriental Secretary to the Civil Administrator of Iraq, she broke the gender barrier in the British Foreign Service and supplied crucial information on the Iraqi tribal...

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The author writes about women and women writers, including Hildegard the medieval mystic, Margaret Wade, Elaine Showalter (writes about women writers), Mary Jo Bang (poet and local instructor turned professor at Washington University St. Louis), etc. She includes the story of her Scottish ancestry and the history of names for herself. As a newly coined writer, she explains her choice of Lee MacDonald as her nom de plume.

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Play Ball: Little Leaguer Hughie, a non-athletic nerd, unbelievably hits a home run to break a tied ballgame. He went on to play in the majors and was known as Home Run Hughie. Summer Idyll: History and description of lovely Castle Park, Michigan, where the author spent many heavenly summers with her family in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

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Short history of the Chicago Daily News newspaper where Anne's husband Roy was an editor. Recalling notable news events and stories about staff members, including Mike Royko.

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Author’s witty account of a trip onboard the German cruise ship, Bremen, when she was a young mother of four. Leaving the children behind in Winnetka in order to accompany her husband Roger on an important business trip to Germany, they experience several adventures at sea before arriving in Germany. On the return trip, what promised to be an uneventful relaxing cruise again became more than what two travelers could have expected.

Paper description A lifetime of author’s memorable meals, not so much because of the food, but mainly because of locations and people involved. Locations: from Pittsburgh, France, Princeton, NJ, Rochester, NY, Washington D.C., and Switzerland to Atlantic ocean liners. People: Other than dear friends -- Spanish royalty in exile (in France) during the revolution, Vera Tolstoy, a nervous Communist Polish diplomat, CIA agents in disguise, Ghanaians in medical residency, Cyrus Vance, and more – including all the...

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Andrea Knight, whose maiden name was Saladin, wrote about another Saladin, the greatest and most noble Muslim, 12th century leader of the Crusades. She recounts the many incidents of generosity and compassion exhibited by the deeply religious Saladin, who rose quickly to great power. Although both Christian Crusaders and Muslim forces can be accused of atrocities, Saladin remained an honorable leader, highly respected by his enemies as well as his own army.

Paper description The author considers the life of Clara Schumann (1819-96): her childhood training in music by her father (the cause of her endurance and well developed talent), her remarkable musical career, and her loving marriage and happy life with Robert Schumann (despite his mental illness). Her children paid an enormous price as a result of a career that often took her away from them. The author muses that perhaps her extraordinary achievements outweighed the sacrifices her family made. She wonders,...

Paper description The author applies three precepts of philosophy, according to Alan Watts: #1) What are you going to call it? #2) Where are you going to put it? #3) Who is going to clean it up? She applies them to religion, art, literature, and politics, as well as her own filing system. She points out how naming things gets us into trouble (religion), assigning things to place (Israel and Palestine) can create lasting turmoil, and figuring out how to clean things up after mistakes #1 and #2 (Israel and...

Paper description Indira Gandhi of India, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, the three women presented in this informative paper, achieved power and fame in the mid- to-late 20th Century. As strong and courageous women living in male-dominated cultures, they broke barrier after barrier to achieve their leadership roles. Betsy Warren treats each woman's struggle individually and then summarizes their achievements as a group. It is ironic that as we enter the second decade of the...

Paper description John S. Knight (1895 – 1981) was the owner of newspapers in Akron, Detroit, Chicago, and Miami. He wrote 2000 notebook columns in 39 years. He knew presidents, generals, men of industry. He won the Pulitzer Prize, among others, selected for his clearness of style, moral purpose, sound reasoning, and power to influence public opinion. He accomplished all this in spite of many personal tragedies including the death of two sons and a grandson with a promising career ahead of him in publishing...

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The story of Wisconsin - focusing on the North Central area around New Auburn. The effect of glaciers on the land, the arrival of Europeans, the "cutover" of the white pine forests (logging, logging life, lumber business, and dispersal of the land after the clearing lumber barons). Also growth of businesses, colleges, and New Auburn (population 485) in the 21st century.

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Family Story/wedding in Maine: Comical and touching memoir of the author's wedding in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The challenge: Maine dictated the parameters, but all turned out for the best. What "should be" was overthrown for what turned out to be delightful.

Scope and Contents From the Series:

The titles, summary descriptions and commentary are supplied by the author / presenter of the papers, and by members of the Winnetka Fortnightly.

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[This paper appears never to have been given as scheduled.] This Old House, Part I (a paper first presented on 4/26/89, re-read by Marguerite Remien)

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A memoir showing that there is an American war every 20 to 24 years for a certain age bracket which causes war weddings. For the author’s parents it was World War I, and marriage in 1917; for author it was World War II, and marriage in 1944; for my daughter it was The Vietnam War and marriage in 1970.

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Napoleon, general and Emperor, was a man with tremendous leadership abilities as well as a man who was a military genius. He wrote or dictated thousands of letters to his family, his generals, and heads of state. This paper describes the author's father's fascination and joy in collecting these letters - donated to the Newberry Library by the author.