“Nano” by Dr. Jess Wade focuses on the science of the very, very small. Whatever you are thinking, think even smaller. Much, much smaller. Then read “Nano” and be fascinated.
Dr. Seuss Artifact
Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss. This artwork, featured in the Children’s Library, is unique in that it juxtaposes an early illustrated draft with the final product of a page in the famous book “The Cat in the Hat.”
March 2 kicks off “Read Across America” and what better way to celebrate than to explore the Children’s Library. We have charming Dr. Seuss artifacts including this original sketch and final artwork for the beloved book, “The Cat in the Hat.”
We also have “Green Eggs and Ham’ artwork and sculptures of The Carbonic Walrus, Gimlet Fish, and Turtle-Necked Sea Turtle. Great fun!
Book Review: Strangers on a Train
Director of Philanthropy Carter Hedberg recommends the film Strangers on a Train, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the book by Patricia Highsmith.
Can you imagine being a writer and having your first published novel made into a major motion picture, much less a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock! That’s the case with one of my favorite authors, Patricia Highsmith. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, was adapted for the big screen and released in 1951. I recently watched it again and rediscovered what a captivating and ingenious film it was. Even movie critic legend Roger Ebert ranks it in his top five best Hitchcock movies.
The stage is now set for a tense and riveting cinematic journey that leads to a dramatic and very Hitchcockian conclusion at an amusement park.
This thriller noir begins when amateur tennis star Guy Haines, played by Farley Granger, meets engaging well-to-do psychopath Bruno Anthony, cunningly portrayed by Robert Walker, on a train between New York and Washington. The strangers strike up a friendly conversation as they have drinks together during the short journey. Bruno is familiar with Guy’s stardom and the stories of his cheating wife, and proposes a plan that he views as mutually beneficial. He suggests that he kills Guy’s wife, and the tennis star takes care of Bruno’s hated father—eliminating two troublesome people from their lives.
Guy smiles and humors Bruno, but when the train arrives at the final destination, he quickly exits and clumsily leaves behind his engraved cigarette lighter. Bruno keeps the lighter as insurance, and then goes on to fulfill his end of the bargain, which he assumed he had struck with Guy.
The stage is now set for a tense and riveting cinematic journey that leads to a dramatic and very Hitchcockian conclusion at an amusement park. The first-rate cast is rounded out by Ruth Roman playing Granger’s sympathetic love interest and Alfred Hitchcock’s daughter, Patricia, as Roman’s younger sister.
Hitchcock was interested in meeting Highsmith and invited her to join him during the filming of the tennis scenes in Forest Hills, New York. Even though she declined the invitation, she wrote in her diary, “He seems to be going . . . mad over my book.” When she finally saw Hitchcock’s version of her book, Highsmith said, “I am pleased in general. Especially with Bruno, who held the movie together as he did in the book.” Indeed, Bruno’s psychopathic and seductive behavior seeps throughout the film like Elmer’s Glue.
Patricia Highsmith never achieved the lofty fame as Alfred Hitchcock, but I find her writing to be clever, engrossing, and often deliciously dark. Strangers on a Train was only the first of several of her books to be made into films. Probably the most famous included her 1955 novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, which was made into the successful 1999 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, and Jude Law. And writing under the pseudonym of Claire Morgan, Highsmith published the lesbian themed novel, The Price of Salt, in 1952, which was republished 38 years later as Carol under her own name and later adapted into the acclaimed 2015 film starring Cate Blanchette and Rooney Mara.
I invite you to learn more about this accomplished, elusive, and enigmatic author. You can check out the well-respected and exhaustive biography by Joan Schenkar, The Talented Miss Highsmith, as well as the film and book versions of Strangers on a Train from The Community Library . . . and perhaps Patricia Highsmith will no longer be a stranger to you!
Rocky Mountain Fly Highway
“Rocky Mountain Fly Highway” Film Screening & Reel Legends Panel Discussion
Join us for a screening of The Rocky Mountain Fly Highway (2014), to be followed by a panel discussion with the Reel Legends—four fly-fisherwomen of the Wood River Valley whose fishing lives are featured in the Library’s current foyer exhibit as part of the 2022 Winter Read.
The Wide Eye Productions Film, narrated by Emmy Award-winning actor Tom Skerritt, follows a 500-mile stretch of Highway 20 from Wyoming and Montana, across Idaho and into Oregon, as it connects the West’s most renowned blue-ribbon trout streams. From the Yellowstone to the Henry’s Fork, Big Lost, Silver Creek, Big Wood, and Owyhee, the film is a visual feast of scenic beauty passing through some of America’s most spectacular scenery. The jagged peaks, bewitching deserts, and shimmering waters in pristine forests are also home to some of the best fly fishing waters in the world and a region that draws anglers from all over to settings that restore the soul. Watch the film’s trailer here.
Following the 45-minute film, librarian Pam Parker will moderate a conversation with fly-fisherwomen Amanda Bauman, an elementary school teacher at the Sun Valley Community School who spends her summers working as a fly-fishing guide; Morgan Buckert, who has worked for almost two decades in recreation and conservation in the Wood River Valley; Susanne Connor, who once flew gliders over the Valley and now guides fly-fishing year-round and co-operates a local outfitter; and Juliette Gutierrez, who lives steps from the river in Ketchum and might be found styling hair in the morning and casting a fly on the Big Wood that same evening.
Registration is required to attend in person, and all attendees are required to show Proof of Vaccination at the door. The film and panel will also be livestreamed on Vimeo (link forthcoming), and the panel will be available for later viewing.
How Does Water Matter in the West?
with Heather Hansman
Heather Hansman is a freelance writer and editor who writes about a range of topics, from butchers to birth control, though most of what she covers happens outside. She is interested in the intersection of science, adventure, and culture and is the environmental columnist for Outside online. She also writes for The Guardian, Sierra, and The New York Times.
Heather’s first book, Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2019. It details her trip down the length of the Green River and the water system in the Western U.S. Her second book, Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns, and the Future of Chasing Snow, was released in November 2021 and is about the fantasy of living the ski bum dream, and why it’s not always as dreamy as it seems. Heather lives in Seattle.
Presented in partnership with the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference.
Register below to join us in person–PROOF OF VACCINATION AND A MASK ARE REQUIRED–or click above to join us virtually. This Vimeo event will be available to watch live or later.
Iconoclast Books will be on site selling books and a book signing will follow Heather’s presentation.
Book Review: “Powder Days” by Heather Hansman, and More
Community Library Assistant and English Language Instructor Janet Ross-Heiner recommends Powder Days, by Heather Hansman, and other related reads.
Covid and the good life have attributed to the floodgates of rapid growth in our mountain villages. We are all facing new realities. I remember Ketchum during the 1960s before the condo-centric wave came and the population was 750. Today we stand at 4,000 plus, depending on the season.
During the growth of the 60s my father often said; “Water and the geology of this place sets us apart.” Joe Koenig, a good friend of my father at the time, was an active city councilman and a developer. Joe believed in growth with good management. “It is the only way” he said. Our community is at a crossroad hanging on to our unvarnished charm, protecting the valued natural and social resources, while managing the inevitable growth. Let’s be smart!
There is a common thread in the following books that I have read recently:
Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West, Aspen and the American Dream, and Powder Days.
The latter is a beautifully written story of sensation seeking, wildness & obsession by Heather Hansman. She will be a guest at The Community Library on March 3. Her book Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West is part of the Winter Read and she will share this story then.
“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”
~Margaret Atwood
The three books I invite and urge you to read:
Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West, written by a Yale sociologist Justin Farrell. He grew up in Teton County where his mother was a house keeper. Maid in the USA. When reading you may discover you might be a NIMBY or a YIMBY. The book reveals the world of the Teton County uber-elites, tax reasons why they migrate to the west, and how they protect their wilderness in amongst the symbiotic relationships of the community. It is a very interesting study and you can check it out here.
Aspen and the American Dream by Jenny Stuber explores how a middle-class community survives in a super-gentrified mountain town. A town where the median income is $74K and the median home price is $4 million. Sound familiar? All players are brought to the round table where important planning and zoning take shape. Managing smart growth is not painless. If a community is to persevere we must move forward and plan. Check it out here.
Powder Days by Heather Hansman is a deep and electrifying journey into the western ski culture of skill and nerve, where many explored the nuance of being a Warren Miller type or a Bohemian ski bum, a truehearted soul skier termed at times in Heather’s book a “dirtbag,” opposite of the bourgeois vacationer hack. The 70s were golden ski years. In the 80s ski resorts became expensive and elite and now have solidified into resorts with Epic passes & Vail Resorts. “Financial privilege can be sneaky and obtuse, while racial privilege is often more blatant,” writes Heather. Powder Days takes the reader on a passionate journey chasing powder into high ridges, with intent, desire, and risk. One can sense the fly-and-glide through that first glitter of white powder, where everything melts off and makes sense, and everything is smooth… Take the journey, feel the powder slopes before a spring thaw. Find it in print and eaudiobook here.
