I hate to keep going on and on about the Launch Party of the Big Read featuring Ray's F451 but this is BIG for me here as there has not been any events(s) relating to Ray since I moved here five years ago.

But I wanted to mention that the ten cities selected for the Big Read each received $35,000 in a grant from the National Endowment for The Arts and with that grant all kinds of neat things were purchased, some of which I have posted, brochures, reading guide, etc. Plus the cost of the dramatic reading (I am sure that the actors did not do it for free) and after the reading each of the attendees received a paperback copy of F451 along with a CD featuring Ray himself, and several others, along with Sam Weller (see attachment, I love my scanner.)

Thought that you all might enjoy seeing this CD's cover, front and back.

Also Ray will be on the radio (what radio station I do not know) this Saturday, May 6th at 1 PM at the Main Library. Unfortunately I will be at the Air and Sea Show and will miss it. Perhaps I can make arrangements with someone with the library to tape it for me.

CD-Front.jpg (94 Kb, 16 downloads)

Here's the back cover of the CD. Hopefully you can read it.

I am not sure what all of the other cities are, but if I can will post them as I am sure that anyone living near them will wish to participate in them as well and be able to pick up these neat items.

Believe or not I just found a list of the cities and the books that they have been assigned to read. I hope that this copies.


National Endowment for the Arts Announces The Big Read


Contact:
Paulette Beete
202-682-5601
beetep@arts.gov

Ten communities to participate in pilot program to promote reading

December 20, 2005

Washington, D.C. – The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in partnership with Arts Midwest, today announced the pilot phase of The Big Read, a national initiative to encourage literary reading by asking communities to come together to read and discuss one book. Ten organizations were selected from a pool of 45 applicants to receive grants ranging from $15,000 to $40,000 to promote and carry out four- to six-week, community-based programs to encourage reading by teens and adults. The NEA's Big Read is modeled on successful "city reads" programs. Pilot communities, ranging in population from 7,000 to more than 4 million people, will read one of four classic novels: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury; The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

"The NEA's landmark 2004 study, Reading at Risk, showed that literary reading in the U.S. is in steep decline," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "No single program can entirely reverse this trend. But if cities nationally unite to adopt The Big Read, our community-wide reading program, together we can restore reading to its essential place in American culture. Call me naïve, but I can actually envision an America in which average people talk about To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby with the same enthusiasm as they bring to Lost or Desperate Housewives."
Reader's guide cover for To Kill A Mockingbird

To encourage community-wide participation in the project, each locale will develop its own program of activities related to the selected novel in collaboration with community partners including schools and colleges, arts organizations, and local government. Program activities are scheduled to take place from February-May 2006, including read out-loud marathons with local celebrities and community leaders, film series and other presentations related to each novel and its themes, and keynote presentations on each novel and its relevance to the local community. At the end of the project's pilot phase, the NEA will evaluate each of the ten pilot programs with a goal of inviting 100 U.S. cities to participate in 2007.

In cooperation with Arts Midwest, a regional arts organization based in Minneapolis, the NEA also will provide participating communities with free program materials including an organizer's guide, reader's guides for each of the four novels, a CD featuring distinguished actors and writers, and a program web site. The NEA and Arts Midwest also will provide each community with technical assistance in implementing its Big Read program and promotional materials, including TV and radio components.

The ten participants in the Big Read pilot program are:

Arkansas Center for the Book
Little Rock, AR
$25,000
The Great Gatsby

Fishtrap, Inc.
Enterprise, OR
$15,000
Fahrenheit 451

Florida Center for the Literary Arts/Florida Center for the Book
Miami, FL
$40,000
Fahrenheit 451

Fresno County Library
Fresno, CA
$30,000
To Kill a Mockingbird

Huntsville-Madison County Public Library
Huntsville, AL
$25,000
The Great Gatsby

Just Buffalo Literary Center
Buffalo, NY
$25,000
Fahrenheit 451

The Loft Literary Center
Minneapolis, MN
$30,000
Their Eyes Were Watching God

Log Cabin Literary Center, Inc.
Boise, ID
$25,000
Fahrenheit 451

South Dakota Center for the Book
Brookings/Sioux Falls, SD
$25,000
To Kill a Mockingbird

Topeka/Shawnee County Public Library
Topeka, KS
$25,000
Their Eyes Were Watching God

Well I was wrong on the grant money, the amount apparently geared to the population of the community and also not all of the communities were to read F451. Sorry about that error.

CD-Back.jpg (87 Kb, 17 downloads)

I forgot that you can enlarge the images by clicking on the bottom right corner. I was able to read the contents of the CD by doing this.

Hey, biplane1, that CD looks pretty good. Are they giving them away, or did you have to pay? Is there any way non-Floridans can get hold of one?

Phil,

I have a contact at the Main Library so I will ask if there might be some additional ones available. They were free, undoubtedly taken care by the $40,000 grant. At the end of the Dramatic Reading there two boxes by the door, one with the CDs and one with the F451 paperbacks. I suppose that I could have taken several of the CDs, but felt that I shouldn't as others were there as well, although not too many were picking it up.

I will call tomorrow and see if I can obtain some additional copies, but then you have to come pick it up--just kidding.

Let me know, and especially make sure Donn Albright gets one if no one else!

If there are any extras knocking around, I would love one, too. Otherwise, I see that Track 3 is Ray discussing his favorite book. Can you please tell me what that book is?

Hi lmskipper, believe it or not I haven't even listened to my own copy. I will have to do that and give you a report. Say, the other night GirlMontag and I went back and forth, almost like Instant Messaging, for about an hour and it was real neat.

I took a few moments to listen to the track and Ray said that it was "A Christmas Carol" that influenced him a lot.

So, if you read this, let me know. I am writing this at 10:45 PM Florida time.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: biplane1,

I never would have guessed "A Christmas Carol!" I thought it would be something from Poe or some much heavier kind of book. This really interests me though, because I have had a book idea for a few years now that relates to the different movie versions of "A Christmas Carol," and I love the idea that it is one of Ray's favorites. I am still working my book ideas out in my mind, and I probably would never have the time to do it until I retire (or find a millionaire to support me in the style I would like to become accustomed to!!), because it will take an incredible amount of research and time. Thanks so much for getting back to me on that, Biplane!!

Given Ray's wonderful story, "Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby's Is A Friend of Mine", it's not suprising that Dicken's A CHRISTMAS CAROL is one of his favorite books.