Kent_Campus_Library

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable. - Joseph Addison

The next time you visit Kent Campus, stop by the Library and take a look at the International Portrait Gallery.
This portrait collection contains black and white laminated portraits or photos of hundreds of famous individuals. FCCJ is one of the few libraries to offer this unique, historically significant collection. It is located downstairs in the vertical files at Kent Campus. The collection contains an index so you can look up photographs alphabetically by name or subject.
Many of the photographs included in this collection are the classic images of historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Queen Elizabeth II. In addition, there are images that you may not have seen as often, such as Sitting Bull, Sun Yat-Sen, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Virginia Woolf. You might also wish to check out what Jessie Jackson, Johnny Cash, Barbara Walters, Tom Brokaw, Al Gore, and Cher looked like 30 or more years ago.

Submitted by Dawn Keller, Kent Campus adjunct Librarian.

My list of writers all made it across The Pond and were published on both sides of the water.

Number 1 Dorothy Bryant “The Kin of Ata are waiting "

She was the daughter of immigrants from Turin, born in San Francisco and was a college teacher until 1976.
The story is of a man transported to an island where people live guided by their dreams. It is the story of spiritual growth, a great piece of feminist literature and a short story that is easy to read.
"One of my favorite books in all the world" Alice Walker
(Also from Dorothy Bryant The Garden of Eros Starting with the pain of her first childbirth, Lonnie, a young blind woman, goes through the ordeal of childbirth alone, discovering strength whilst reliving a love story.)

Number 2 Anne Cameron "Daughters of Copper Woman"

This has s become an underground classic, a retelling of northwest coast Native myths that together create an image of the social and spiritual power of woman. She weaves together the lives of legendary and imaginary characters, creating a work of fiction with an intensity of style matched by the power of its subject.
Anne Cameron was born in British Columbia, in a coalmining community where beating up folks was more a pastime than a crime. When she ran out of books to read she started writing her own. Her father described her as never needing a baby sitter, all she needed was a roll of toilet paper and a pencil stub.

Number 3 Charlotte Perkins "Yellow Wallpaper"

Charlotte Perkins Gilman led a troubled life, loveless relationships with her mother, her father, and her daughter. These led to one of the greatest pieces of feminist literature ever written. Gilman describes her work as “.. not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy”
Tthe story first came out in 1892, prompting a Boston Physician to write "Such a story ought not to be written . . . it was enough to drive anyone mad to read it"
(Also from Charlotte Perkins Gilman try reading ‘Herland’)

Number 4 Evangeline Walton “The Children of Llyr”

The story is that of the years of Bran the Blessed - he who was so vast a man that no house could hold him nor ship bear his bulk - and of the tale of his beloved sister Branwen, his brother Manawyddan, and of his half-brothers Nissyen and the ghastly Evnissen. It is a tale of change and storm, of love beyond death, of high courage, of the end of an era - and the beginning of another. It is epic fantasy in its purest form - marvellous in its compass and power. It is also a story closely associated with Aberffraw where I lived on Ynys Mon.
A scholar from a lively, educated, Quaker family. Walton was able to capture the essence of the ancient tales grouped together as the Mabinogion and turn them into something that retains the meaning and the magic of the times.

Number 5 “Dreaming in the Dark” by Starhawk.

It is a journey, it is a vision and a message. A world of spirituality linked to political and social change.

From an interview with the author: “The core of my spirituality is the understanding that the earth is alive--we're part of a living, interconnected system, a web of life that is sacred. By "sacred," I mean in the sense of what's most important to us, what we stand for, what we want to protect. Deity/spirit/sacred is not something outside of the world, it's immanent and embodied in the living world.”

These might have been on the list, but I have yet to find the time to read them !
Ursula Le Guin “The Birthday of the World”
Marge Piercy “Woman on the Edge of Time”