Why do a small town's best and brightest young people relocate to big cities?

The common assumption is that they leave to seek better opportunities or more excitement.

Bill Kauffman has a different theory -- our teachers, civic leaders, parents and American culture try to convince rural young people that to be an achiever, you have to go elsewhere. There's little thought to the notion that you can achieve right where you're rooted.

Kauffman discusses this idea in a book review for the Wall Street Journal:

The sharpest insight in "Hollowing Out the Middle" is that "small towns play an unwitting role in their own decline" by inculcating, in school and too often at home, the belief that fulfilling one's promise means leaving for the city lights or the manicured suburbs. The purpose of education today, as Kentucky poet-farmer Wendell Berry argues, is to train young people to leave home. And so, the authors note, "the investment the community has made in them becomes a boon for someplace else."

Batavia is full of bright, young people who have decided to stay, or who have come back. I've met them. Batavia's future would be even brighter if we could convince more of them to stay and help build new businesses and invest in the community that nurtured them.

Read the whole thing.

Once in a while, a reader stumbles across a morning post by Joesph Langen which he titles "Conversations with Calliope" and asks us what they're about.

Langen is a writer and he uses The Batavian as a morning writing exercise to connect with his muse.

We've never put these posts on the home page. They're just a writer's journal about his writing.

But Langen has been doing it daily since almost the first day The Batavian started publishing. Now he's made a collection of his writings available for free in PDF form. Click here for home info.

He lists these 10 reasons to download the book:

1. Find out where writers get their ideas.
2. Hear what a writer does all day.
3. Listen to what writers say about being a writer.
4. I want my muse to be more helpful.
5. See how to get unstuck when you write.
6. Learn how to talk with a muse.
7. Explore what else writers need to know besides how to write.
8. Discover what keeps a writer going page after page.
9. Determine who supports a writer’s efforts.
10. Unearth the sources of writers’ inspiration.

Langen says he's now a full-time writer after 35 years as a psychologist. He recently published his first novel, "The Pastor's Inferno." His other books include on one life's lessons, "Commonsense Wisdom for Everyday Life," and a memoir about his nine years in a seminary, "Young Man of the Cloth."

C.M. Barons is a frequent commenter on The Batavian. Baron's published a novel last year, "In the Midst of."

Last month, Penguin Multimedia, a joint venture of Loren Penman of Batavia and her son, Brant, as well as Brian Gardner, shot a video promo for the novel at vintage clothing store Calista Miakoda on Ellicott Street.

The novel is available at Present Tense Books.

 


(Windjammer Cafe)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How's you column coming?
JOE: Interesting you should ask.
CALLIOPE: Well?
JOE: You hit it on the head yesterday. My topic of addressing health and the environment exceeded the constraints of 500 words.
CALLIOPE: So now what?
JOE: I will put off the topic until I figure out what to do with it.
CALLIOPE: And in the mean time?
JOE: I woke up very early this morning wondering why people read books at all.
CALLIOPE: Any specifics?
JOE: I recalled Francis Bacon's quote about some books to be tasted, some to be swallowed and a few chewed and digested.
CALLIOPE: Do you plan to pursue that topic in this week's column?
JOE: I do.
CALLIOPE: Sounds interesting.
JOE: I'd better get to work on it. Talk with you tomorrow.

Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than a thousand books have been challenged since 1982. The challenges have occurred in every state and in hundreds of communities. Stop in at Present Tense during Banned Books Week and see if YOUR favorite book is a banned book!

Present Tense is again recognizing the outstanding work of educators in our community by inviting all teachers, administrators, and school staff members to attend our annual Teacher Appreciation Night. We'll provide FREE advance copies of upcoming books for children and teens, curriculum materials for select books, reading lists, and many other items to help teachers bring a love of reading to the classroom. Teachers who make purchases this evening will receive a 20% discount as well!

Present Tense is celebrating our fourth year as Batavia's bookstore this Fall! To thank you for supporting us during our first four years in business, we are offering a fun day full of prizes, giveaways, refreshments, and an open house showcasing our new Fall merchandise. Thank you for supporting your local independent bookstore!

We will be reading Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt for our September meeting. Anyone ages 12+ is welcome to join us for a fun hour of discussion!

We will be reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd for our September meeting. Bring your lunch and enjoy a lively discussion!

http://www.presenttensebooks.com/events/lunchgroup.php

Author Julie Berry, a native of Medina, NY who now resides in Boston, will visit Present Tense on Friday, August 21 at 1:00 pm to sign copies of her award-winning debut novel for young adults, The Amaranth Enchantment.

BATAVIA, NY – Author Naseem Rakha will be at Present Tense on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 5:30 pm to sign copies of her debut novel, The Crying Tree.

The book, which reaches into the heart of a family nearly torn apart by a mother’s act of forgiveness, has received considerable advance praise including being featured at the Emerging Voices series at BookExpo America and has been selected for the Barnes & Noble autumn Discover Great New Writers program.

In The Crying Tree, Nate and Irene Stanley’s 15-year-old son is murdered and they wait for the day his killer will face execution to bring closure. After years of waiting, Irene is faced with a growing sense that Robbin’s death won’t stop her pain, and she takes the extraordinary step of reaching out to her son’s killer. The two forge an unlikely connection that remains a secret from her family and friends.

Then Irene receives the notice that Daniel Robbin has stopped his appeals and will be executed within a month. This announcement shakes the very core of the Stanley family and as the execution date nears, the Stanleys must face difficult truths and find a way to come to terms with the past. Dramatic, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting, The Crying Tree is an unforgettable book about the unbreakable bonds of family and the transformative power of forgiveness.

Naseem Rakha is an award-winning journalist whose stories have been heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace Radio, Christian Science Monitor, and Living on Earth. Prior to journalism Naseem taught Holistic Resource Management to farmers, ranchers and tribes throughout the US and Canada. Naseem is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale where she received her degree in Geology. She now lives in Oregon with her husband and son. 

The book signing on July 29 is free and open to the public. Present Tense, a locally-owned, independent bookstore, is located at 101 Washington Avenue, Batavia, NY. For more information call (585) 815-7640, or visit www.presenttensebooks.com.

June Lee, left, and Janet Lee were outside of the Masonic Template 200 E. Main St., which also happens to be the location of The Batavian office, this afternoon, so I asked what was going on.

"We're waiting for the photographer from the paper," June said.

"Well, how would you like to have The Batavian take your picture, too?" I asked and she said "sure."

The book sale, sponsored by the Batavia Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, is Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., "rain or shine."

Proceeds will benefit various local charities.

One thing I was curious about: Whether Batavia has chapters of Demolay (I was a member for a short time in my youth), or Rainbow Girls.  The Lees said there is an effort ongoing right now to reconstitute a Rainbow Girls chapter in Genesee County.

(Martin House Orchids)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How is your learning of Dreamweaver coming along?
JOE: Interesting you should ask. I am wading through video tutorials while I await the manual I ordered.
CALLIOPE: Do you prefer one approach over the other?
JOE: I thought I would like the tutorials and liked being talked to by a person.
CALLIOPE: I sense a "but."
JOE: Very perceptive of you. Although I like the multisensory presentations, I tend to find written materials more useful.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: I feel more in control of the material. I have an index, table of contents and can focus in on the material as specifically as I need to rather than following along with parts of a presentation I might not need or don't understand.
CALLIOPE: I see. So you think there is a future for books?
JOE: As far as I am concerned, I certainly hope so. I would miss them if they disappeared. Perhaps I would adjust but it would be difficult.
CALLIOPE: Some people think books are here to stay and others think they are on the way out.
JOE: I've heard both opinions too. I guess I will adjust to whatever happens. I just happen to like working from books.
CALLIOPE: Didn't your Latin friends have a maxim, "De gustibus non est disputandum?"
JOE: Yes. There's no arguing about tastes. Talk with you tomorrow.
 

Author Lauren Groff will join us via video conference for the August Storyslinger meeting. Lauren was born in Cooperstown, NY and grew up one block from the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Monsters of Templeton is her first novel, published in February 2008. It was a New York Times and IndieNext bestseller and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers. The book tells the story of Willie Upton, who returns to her home in Upstate New York just as an enormous monster dies in a nearby lake. Willie buries herself in the research of her twisted family tree and finds that a chorus of voices from the town's past rise up to tell their stories. (This book even mentions the Batavia Muckdogs)! Visit http://www.presenttensebooks.com/events/storyslingers.php for more information.

We will be reading Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson for our August meeting. Bring your lunch and enjoy a lively discussion! http://www.presenttensebooks.com/events/lunchgroup.php

The Storyslingers book group at Present Tense will be reading The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha for our July meeting. http://www.presenttensebooks.com/events/storyslingers.php

The Young Adult Book Club at Present Tense will be reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie for our July meeting. This book won the National Book Award. http://www.presenttensebooks.com/events/yabookdiscussion.php

The Lunchtime Book Group will be reading The Art of Keeping Secrets by Patti Callahan Henry for our July meeting. Bring your lunch and enjoy a lively discussion! http://www.presenttensebooks.com/events/lunchgroup.php

Exciting new author Naseem Rakha will visit Present Tense to sign copies of her book The Crying Tree, which has been selected as one of the "Emerging Voices" authors at BookExpo America and has also been selected by Barnes and Noble for their fall "Discover Great New Writers" promotion. Visit http://www.presenttensebooks.com/ for more information.

Are you in a book club? Join the Present Tense Book Club Registry! Our first Book Club Bonanza is scheduled for Wednesday, July 22 at 7:00 pm. Our staff will present the hot new books for the Fall season and show you great selections for your group. You'll have a chance to register your club and join our growing network of people who love to talk about books! Light refreshments will be served and there will be prizes and goodies for those who attend. Bring your book club and enjoy a night just for you!