MAC

Book Club Summer Readings

Wednesday, June 14 F 5:30 p.m. F West Clubhouse

Thursday, July 13 F 5:30 p.m. F West Clubhouse

On Wednesday, note the day change, June 14, Pam Gershuny will guide us through The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb.

Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist and won’t let anything stand in his way. When he discovers that his beat-up family fiddle is a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But the violin is stolen on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin but prove to himself—and the world—there has always been a truly great musician within him.

On July 13, Jane Molden will lead us through a discussion of Celeste Ng’s Our Missing Hearts, a popular novel with an average of 4.3 out of 5 from over 13,000 Amazon ratings.

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left the family without a trace when he was nine years old. For a decade, his family’s life has been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. When Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is pulled into a quest to find his mother. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.

For monthly MAC Book Club meetings, reservations are made with Dr. Genie McKee, Book Club Chair, at evmckee@gmail.com.

Colonial Wars

Come to the MHC

Tuesday, June 27 | 11:30 a.m. Downtown Clubhouse

This month, the Military History Club delves into the colonial wars in which Spain and England struggled for dominance in what is now Florida and Georgia. The MHC welcomes Phil Officer, Supervisory Park Ranger of Fort Frederica National Monument in St. Simons Island, Georgia.

With the outbreak of hostilities between the British and Spanish in 1739, the fate of the British Colony of Georgia hung in the balance.

James Edward Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, made himself a General. Oglethorpe commanded the 42nd Regiment of Foote at Fort Frederica and saw a looming threat in the nearby Spanish fortification of the Castillo De San Marcos. After a failed invasion attempt of his own, Oglethorpe defended the barrier islands of the Georgia coast with the remaining forces he had and fended off a Spanish invasion. Learn how these European rivalries shaped the development of America at the June MHC meeting. To register, visit mac-stl.org/events.