Clark Hosts Virtual Book Talk with Filmmaker Oct. 12

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 12 p.m., the Clark Art Institute presents a virtual book talk with author and filmmaker Alan Govenar.

Govenar joins Olivier Meslay, Hardymon Director of the Clark, in a conversation about his novel, Boccaccio in the Berkshires.The event takes place via Zoom.

Govenar’s novel provides a take on human interactions in the time of COVID. Where Boccaccio’s short stories told tales of ten people sheltering in a villa outside Florence to escape the Black Death (a bubonic plague pandemic in the 1300s), Govenar chronicles the contemporary story of ten asymptomatic pandemic survivors who shelter together in an Italianate mansion in the Berkshires. They form unexpected bonds as they tell each other stories to cope with the bizarre conditions of the modern world. 

Govenar is an award-winning writer, poet, playwright, photographer, and filmmaker. He is the founder and president of Documentary Arts, a non-profit organization that advances essential perspectives on historical issues and diverse cultures.

Govenar is a Guggenheim Fellow and the author of more than thirty books, including Paradise in the Smallest Thing, Stoney Knows How: Life as a Tattoo Artist, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Untold Glory, Texas Blues, Stompin’ at the Savoy, Everyday Music, Texas in Paris, Osceola: Memories of a Sharecropper’s Daughter, and A Pillow on the Ocean of Time.

The event is free and open to the public. Advance registration for the Zoom transmission is required. Registrants will receive an email with a private Zoom link prior to the event.

For more information and to register, visit clarkart.edu/events. Copies of Boccaccio in the Berkshires are available through the Clark’s Museum Store.

 


Tags: Clark Art,   film,   

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Williamstown Board of Health Hears about Bed Bugs at Highland Woods

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Health Tuesday discussed efforts to remediate a bed bug infestation at a senior apartment complex.
 
Will Raymond was before the board at its monthly meeting to raise awareness of the bugs' presence at the Highland Woods apartments, an income- and age-restricted 40-unit building constructed on land donated by Williams College and opened about 10 years ago.
 
Raymond said that Pittsfield's Hearthway, Inc., manager of the apartments, has been trying to treat what he characterized as a "low-grade" infestation of the insects, which feed on human blood.
 
"Hearthway has tried to treat this with their vendor, Orkin, in April, again in June and another spraying two or three weeks ago," Raymond said. "They upped the treatment to take the outlet covers off the walls and get some kind of insecticide into the walls, because the problem is the migration of the bed bugs from unit to unit to unit."
 
Raymond said he has a friend living at Highland Woods who has an allergy to bed bugs, causing her pain.
 
"I'm just asking for some follow-up," Raymond said. "[Health Inspector Ruth Russell] maybe can ask them for specifics: What insecticides have they used in the past, and are there alternative treatments they could consider if they're needed?"
 
Board Chair Devan Bartels and Russell confirmed that the town's health agent has been working with Hearthway on the issue.
 
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