In the Garden of Beasts
Fri, Jul 26, 2024, 2pm
Everyone is welcome to join in the ZOOM discussion:
Zoom Link: https://umn.zoom.us/j/93371069850
Erik Larson’s non-fiction narrative recounts the struggles of middle-class University of Chicago, Professor William Dodd, was appointed as U.S. ambassador to Germany during the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich. Dodd not only had to deal with the threats to democracy, but his thriftiness was criticized by State Department officials who mainly came from wealthy elite families who normally spent spent their own money generously on parties and gifts while ambassadors. In addition, Dodd’s daughter who was separated from her husband, began dating Nazi officials added to Dodd’s stress.
The title derives from “Tiergarten” a park in Berlin near the ambassador’s modest residence. The zoo was destroyed by allied bombing and relocated after World War II.
You may be interested in Erik Larson’s interview with Terry Gross on NPR: https://www.npr.org/2011/05/09/135922322/william-dodd-the-u-s-ambassador-in-hitlers-berlin
Selections for the rest of 2024 and January 2025:
August 23rd -- Jhumpa Lahiri - The Interpreter of Maladies
September 27th -- Sinclair Lewis - Main Street
October 25th -- Alice Munro - Vintage Munro
November 22nd -- Don DeLillo - White Noise
December - Winter Break
January 24, 2025 -- George Eliot - Middlemarch
This permits a span of two months from November 22, 2024 to January 24 2025 to read Middlemarch by George Eliot.
For more information, please contact Dorothy Marden at [email protected] or Maggie Catambay at [email protected].
Upcoming Events
The UMRA Photo Club will next meet at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, in the meeting room of the Hennepin County St. Anthony branch library in the small shopping center at New Brighton and St. Anthony Boulevards in St. Anthony, just north of the Twin Cities. For those interested in lunch, meet at the nearby Great Dragon Buffet at 11:30 a.m.
Please join the UMRA Family History Interest Group meeting on Wednesday, March 11, via Zoom, when Michelle Casey will present “DNA Testing and Analysis Using 23andMe, Ancestry, and MyHeritage.”
Public health is extremely important—and right now it is very confusing. Join us to ask questions and share your thoughts and concerns about the current state of our public health system.
UMRA’S March workshop will explore how to transform your memories, including those that have faded with time, into lively true stories. It will also show you how to reflect on them, how to express how you felt, and how to connect your stories to the values and beliefs you want to pass on.
Join fellow UMRA members for “Third Wednesdays in the West Wing" lunch at the Campus Club in Minneapolis. This is a pilot program for spring 2026.
UMRA’s Book Club I will discuss The Bohemian Flats by Mary Relindes Ellis when it meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 20. Jim Lewis will lead the discussion.
University of Minnesota General Counsel Douglas Peterson will be the featured speaker for UMRA’s March 24 luncheon forum. He will speak about how the University is addressing its latest challenges and opportunities involving law.
'Seabiscuit' by Laura Hillenbrand
Join fellow UMRA members for a morning hike in Theodore Wirth Park to celebrate the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, Monday, April 6.
Chris Gade, VP for University marketing communications, will join UMRA members on Tuesday, April 7, for the first in a new series of informal “Campus Conversations” to be held at the Campus Club in Minneapolis.
This month's theme is mountains, valleys and canyons.
"Third Wednesdays in the West Wing" is a pilot program for spring 2026.
UMRA’s Book Club I will discuss Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean when it meets via Zoom on Friday, April 17. Diane Madson-Kay will lead the discussion.
Bev leads a hike along Old Cedar Avenue.
Under Terry Straub's leadership, Hennepin County/UMN Extension has created the most ambitious master gardener program in Minnesota. His visit with us will feature the topic of lifelong gardening and how gardens can evolve with us and our life cycles.
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Ever wonder what goes on behind the shiny walls of the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus?
Family history with Craig Moody. A tale with many dead ends.
Pete leads this hike at the Arboretum.
Third Wednesdays in the West Wing" is a pilot program for spring 2026.