New Osher Special Interest Group

Great Contemporary Biologists Reading Group

We will read and discuss books by preeminent
biologists of the 20th century. Here are some
possibilities:

Author Topic

Jared Diamond – Human Ecology
Edward O. Wilson – Threats to Biodiversity
Stephen J. Gould – Evolutionary Theory
Richard Dawkins – Selfish Genes
James D. Watson – DNA: Molecules to Ethics
Eric Kandell – Neurobiology of Memory
Richard Leaky – Extinction
James Lovelock – Gaia Hypothesis
Carl Sagen – Science vs Myth
Jane Goodall – Primate Behavior
Rachel Carson – Revering the Environment
Christian de Duve – Origin of Life

The group will start at the beginning of Pitt’s spring
term (early January). The books discussed are non-
technical. No previous study of biology is required. If
interested in participating, contact: John Valentich
at jov4 @ pitt . edu ASAP.

Party Animals

John Wilson Quintet

Bus Stop at Fifth and Aiken, Monday, September 17, 9:22am. What a gorgeous day. If this weather’s a result of global warming, bring it on! My 71D bus, packed to the gunwales with riders, rumbles by. Taking the hint, I elect to walk the mile or so to Bellefield Hall. After class I scoot over to the Student Union for the Fall Fling. It’s a not-to-be-missed opportunity to relax and mingle with old Osher friends and meet new ones.

I’m standing there minding my own business, talking to Yousseff Ragheb, when behind me someone says, “Don’t believe a word he says.” It’s Rick Taylor. Geez, you’d think Yousseff could figure that out about me without Rick’s help. I remember reading some of his short stories in a Shifren writing class. Boy, I’d love to have Rick contribute something to the blog.

I find a seat at a table with the Burke’s. Last week I’d nearly tripped over Dave when I backed into him while attempting a Tai Chi exercise. Unruffled, he righted me and smiled when I proffered a “Whoops, sorry.” Dave and wife Marilyn are longtime Pitt Alumni Association members. That’s them talking to Vivian Lawsky–blue top, black pants, back to the camera.

Yeah, lots of new faces here, and a generous sprinkling of instructors, too. It’s good to visit with George Shames again.  George is on the mend after a recent operation.  His recently published novel, “The Company of Truth,” is reviewed by Jane Fraser, President, The Stuttering Foundation, as “a good read and a truthful portrayal of the human and clinical challenges of those who stutter.”

The quintet is playing a Charlie Parker bop anthem. Excellent. Handling the tenor chores is John’s worthy colleague, Jim Guerra. Jim took over as chair of the Jazz Department at Duquesne when John retired.

The food is plentiful and tasty, the room’s festive ambiance percolates with spirited conversation, and bubbles with smiles and laughter. My kinda party.

Thanks Bernie.

Len Z

P.S. If you spot yourself, let us know which pic via email:

rulen.2@gmail.com

and we’ll send it to you as an email attachment.

10 O’clock Jump

Jazz in the Movies: Cathedral of Learning, Room 313, Thursday, September 6th, 10am.

I spotted my favorite seat—last row, next to the window. It was empty. I made a bee line for it.The room was nearly full. Nice turnout. Then John Wilson came through the door. I thought, huh, he’s taking the Reading Genres course too…then I thought, uh oh, something’s wrong here. I punched in the calendar on my cell phone and pulled up my Thursday schedule. Nothing. I pulled up the Wednesday schedule: Reading Genres at 10am, Room 313. I’d missed Reading Genres on Wednesday. Somehow or the other I’d gotten the idea that Reading Genres was on Thursday. Go figure. Hoping to make lemonade out of a lemon, I confessed my screw-up to Pat Szczepanski , and asked her if I could sit in on Wilson’s class. She cut me a break, and I settled in.

This week John screened the musical excerpts from The Benny Goodman/Glenn Miller Story movies.

The utterly fascinating aspect of this class is that John Wilson is a professional jazz musician who has played and hung out with many of the major jazz figures of the last 60 years or so–and he has the anecdotes to prove it. For example, he told us about the time he was in Hollywood with the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra (circa 1955). One day on the Universal lot he ran into an old army buddy who had been hired to compose additional music for the Benny Goodman Story–Henry Mancini.

“At that moment,” John recounted, “he was on his way to the Universal Studios film library, where they had all the scores of every movie Universal ever made. So they gave him the keys and said ‘go help yourself.’ So he spent several days just looking at these scores, getting the feel for the types of orchestration required. He was a little uptight about it, I think, but he did a good job because he was nominated for an academy award. He didn’t win it for this one, he won one later on. But this was a good first attempt for him.”

As a member of Goodman’s band in the late 40’s, John had plenty of opportunity to see Benny in action, so his statement that Steve Allen did a terrific job of mimicking Benny’s fingering and breathing technique was based on eye witness observation.

As for the films themselves, the music was perfectly fine, but John had edited out the love interest scenes, so they seemed more like documentaries. Hey, they probably should have been documentaries in the first place, because what back stories I did see were pretty boring. I did like Jimmy Stewart playing Glenn Miller, but I like Jimmy Stewart in just about anything. For my money though, I’d have cast June Allyson as Benny’s wife and Donna Reed, fresh “From Here to Eternity”, as Glenn’s wife, not the other way around. But I’ve had this thing for Donna Reed ever since FHTE, so I’m biased.

Len Z

ps: Prof. Wilson is handling the A/V chores like a pro now. Practice makes perfect.