Organic Pioneer, Educator and Author Joan Dye Gussow to Speak at Wilton Library
Thursday, January 13th, 2011Tweet
Wilton Library is proud to host a talk by Joan Dye Gussow about her latest book, Growing, Older : A Chronicle of Death, Life, and Vegetables
Thursday May 12, 2011 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Brubeck Room
Michael Pollan calls her one of his food heroes. Barbara Kingsolver credits her with shaping the history and politics of food in the United States. And countless others who have vied for a food revolution, pushed organics, and reawakened Americans to growing their own food and eating locally consider her both teacher and muse.
Joan Gussow has influenced thousands through her books, This Organic Life and The Feeding Web, her lectures, and the simple fact that she lives what she preaches. Now in her eighties, she stops once more to pass along some wisdom—surprising, inspiring, and controversial—via the pen. Gussow’s memoir Growing, Older: A Chronicle of Death, Life, and Vegetables begins when she loses her husband of 40 years to cancer and, two weeks later, finds herself skipping down the street—much to her alarm. Why wasn’t she grieving in all the normal ways? With humor and wit, she explains how she stopped worrying about why she was smiling and went on worrying, instead, and as she always has, about the possibility that the world around her was headed off a cliff. But hers is not a tale, or message, of gloom. Rather it is an affirmation of a life’s work—and work in general.
‘In Growing, Older Joan Dye Gussow once again proves herself the consummate writer, gardener, cook, professor and-it turns out-philosopher, too. This is a memoir about death, but much like Joan herself, it’s brimming with life. A vivid, unflinching, and unexpected self-portrait.’–Dan Barber, chef and co-owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Joan Gussow is a highly acclaimed nutrition educator who has demonstrated that year-round eating from 1,000 square feet in a suburban riverfront village is possible, life-sustaining, and delicious. She is the Mary Swartz Rose Professor Emerita and former chair of the Columbia University Teachers College Nutrition Department. She lives on the Hudson River in Piermont, New York.
Q&A following the talk. Michel Nischan, who will introduce Ms. Gussow, will also provide finger food for the reception following the talk. No charge. Sponsored by the Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation for Wilton Library’s Environmental Initiative. Books available for purchase and signing; purchases will benefit the library. Registration strongly suggested. To register, please call 203-762-3950 or visit www.wiltonlibrary.org/events. Wilton Library, 137 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton.
