Howland Center presents Dar Williams, Jonathan Rose in forum on Beacon's future
BEACON -- Two speakers, Dar Williams and Jonathan F. P. Rose, will keynote a community conversation at 8 p.m. Sept. 19 titled "Beacon: the City We Love; the City We Want to See," at the Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main St.
The event is free, but seating is limited and advance reservations through Brown Paper Tickets are recommended. This is a special book-signing event and forum with two authors who have published works on the well-being and development of communities, though both are better known for other achievements.
One is Dar Williams, a traveling troubadour and one of America’s leading folksinger-songwriters. Her book, “What I Found in a Thousand Towns,” is out in September, and she will be signing it for purchasers. The other is Jonathan F. P. Rose, a planner, developer co-founder of the Garrison Institute and author, who will also be signing his book, “The Well-Tempered City.”
Williams, a Hudson Valley resident, has devoted one chapter in her book to Beacon. "The authors' travels and experiences will help cast light on the road ahead for Beacon and other communities as their residents chart paths to more positive futures," said Craig Wolf, Howland president.
How does a community revive itself and find a path to vitality and prosperity, and do it with fairness to all? The community of Beacon is no stranger to this and finds itself in the advanced stages when progress begins to have impacts that prove the truth of the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for—you might just get it.” Williams has played and stayed in literally hundreds of communities that provided the food for thought that grew into the book, which is subtitled, "A Traveling Musician's Guide to Rebuilding America's Communities--One Coffee Shop, Dog Run, and Open-Mike Night at a Time." She puts the emphasis on the positive and envisions the Beacon event as "a great fun evening of music, conversation, and book signing."
Rose founded and heads the New York-based Jonathan Rose Companies, which does development, planning, investment and has a philosophy to "support the well-being of communities by creating environmentally, socially, and economically responsible projects and plans that equalize the landscape of opportunity for their residents, and improve the balance of humans and nature. His "Well-Tempered City" book is subtitled, "What Modern Science, Ancient Civilizations, and Human Behavior Teach Us About the Future of Urban Life." The presenters' talks will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Peggy Ross, a member of the Beacon City Council.
A reception with refreshments will follow.