Programs for Adults

Zest for Life

What do Lou Gehrig, John Steinbeck and Ray Bradbury share?
A zest for life and “the finest aspirations of the human spirit.” If it is true that we strive to be like that which we admire, then here is much to admire…and enjoy in the stories which Carol Birch will tell.

Lou Gehrig: The Story of a Great Man

Of Gehrig, Paul Gallico wrote: “We need stories like that of Lou Gehrig, tales of honest, trustworthy men with life patterns that are not crossed by deceit or chicanery, vice or intrigue, whose careers are not poisoned by double-dealing, jealousy, or opportunism with love stories that are simple and virtuous and true.” Here is the story of a man who excelled off, and on, the field. The New York Storytelling Center proclaimed: “Carol Birch Hits Home Run!” in a review of this outstanding event, adding “not only did the story resonate for diehard sports buffs, but Carol translated the language of baseball into the story of a man who never rested in his entire career.”

Steinbeck Out Loud!

Hearing John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is as exhilarating as it is a revelation. The selections performed are some of the other stories from the novel – stories not about the Joads. When heard aloud, the stories soar even as they echo today’s news; they ricochet from head to heart to fists thrown in the air. Listening to Carol Birch’s interpretation of this thoroughly American novel is to be brought deep inside Steinbeck’s world.

Myth America: Summer, 1928

This program of stories from Ray Bradbury’s DANDELION WINE follows the curve of the novel: “June dawns, July noons, and August evenings over.” Known primarily for science fiction, Bradbury’s magic in these stories is spun from the power of his writing about the great gifts of childhood, maturity, and daily life in a small town in the Mid-West during 1928.

Will We Ever See Their Likes Again?

Celebrates the immigrants who, at the turn of the century, left their homes and entered the United States through Ellis Island to blend into the great melting pot of American culture. There are songs which speak of loved ones left behind, never to be seen again. The stories tell, too, of women and men and children who put their faith in the untested promises of early twentieth century America. For some, dreams were abandoned; for others, the “American Dream” was made manifest.

A Delicate Balance

Recounts the tales of women whose heads tell them one thing, and whose hearts tell them another. These are the stories of women who find the delicate balance — not necessarily in the center — between their needs and their wants. Some make a world within their own homes; others make their homes while searching the world for luck… or something.

Happily-Ever-After Love Stories…More or Less

Tells of the distant paths by which love travels, the wonder love may work beneath a disharmony of surfaces, and love’s transforming power. Hidden within each story is the wish that every person may find true love — in whatever form it takes — for love is possible, even “ever-after.”

Other Programs

Please remember that love is never out of season, though people seem to think of it more often around Valentine’s Day, and again in June. Similarly, the need to hear the stories of women exists in all the months of the year, not just in March during ‘Women’s History Month.’ But the reality and strength of expectations are hard to deny, so of course, Carol has holiday programs: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, President’s Day, Earth and Arbor Days.