November 2013 - The Conductor

A book that a lot of members wanted to read at the beginning of the year.  Several members actaully managed to read for themselves since then.  But maybe a second read will be beneficial.

The conductor by Sarah Quigley

In June 1941, Nazi troops march on Leningrad and surround it. Hitler's plan is to shell, bomb and starve the city into submission. Most of the cultural elite are evacuated early in the siege, but Dmitri Shostakovich, the most famous composer in Russia, stays on to defend his city, digging ditches and fire-watching. At night he composes a new work. But after Shostakovich and his family are foced to evacuate, only Karl Eliasberg - a shy and difficult man, conductor of the second-rate radio orchestra - and an assortment of musicians are left behind in Leningrad to face an unendurable winter and start rehearsing the finished score of Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony.

A tribute to Mary Kayes

Mary joined our book group around August 2008, after Stan Edgar chose to leave.  When Mary hosted meetings, it would not be unusual for other young people to be walking through her home - whether grandchildren or water polo players.

She was a very generous and hospitable host. In the final months, Mary allowed the book group to come to her home for the meeting.  This was a great bonding experience for the group.  Thank you, Mary.

Reading was one of Mary's loves, and she was very well read.  If Mary hadn't read the book group book by the meeting, it was usually because she was reading other things.  These books she shared with all the other book group members.

Mary was very knowledgeable about a lot of different things, and provided a lot of insight into the reading we were doing.   She will be sorely missed by us all.

Thank you Mary, for your friendship and hospitality.  You were one of a kind.