Wednesday, March 8, 2023

March Meeting "The World of Jane Austen Soundtracks"

 

Jane Austen at the Movies
By MGM - source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org


Event:    JASNA CWNY March Meeting
Topic:    "The World of Jane Austen Soundtracks" 
               A talk by Ruth Mudge
When:    Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 1 pm EDT 
Where:  On-line through Zoom, pre-registration required
Registration: Click HERE to register

Lights, Camera, Action! Movie adaptations of Jane Austen's novels have a long history. They have been at times well loved and at times controversial. In these adaptations, acting, dialog, scenery, costuming and many other things are important in determining the success of the movie. Also of importance is the soundtrack. Please join us as Ruth Mudge discuss "The World of Jane Austen Soundtracks" at our next meeting.

The speaker writes:
"Soundtracks are one of the many vehicles used to portray the emotions, tone, era, comedy and more within films. In listening to and comparing musical themes, particularly from adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, this session will uncover the variety of ways that soundtracks interpret Jane’s stories and explores how music powerfully impacts the telling of these beloved stories."

Speaker bio:
Ruth Mudge is a cello and piano instructor in the western suburbs of the Chicago area. She also freelances regularly with local orchestras and ensembles. Ruth has written and collaborated on several soundtrack analysis projects over the past few years, and more recently began teaching soundtrack classes on Zoom, ranging from Harry Potter to The Sound of Music to a series on Jane Austen adaptations.

Please join us online for this musical look at the world of Jane Austen movies.

Monday, February 6, 2023

Admiral Charles Austen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Austen

 Event:    JASNA CWNY February Meeting
Topic:    "Narratives of a Naval Wife: Fanny Austen in Fact and 
               Jane Austen in Fiction" 
               A talk by Sheila Johnson Kindred
When:    Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 1 pm EDT 
Where:  On-line through Zoom, pre-registration required
               To register click HERE

Please join us on February 18 for a special online meeting where Sheila Johnson Kindred will tell us about the life of Fanny Palmer, Charles Austen's wife. 

Sheila writes:"When Fanny Palmer married Jane Austen’s younger naval brother Charles in 1807, she was thrust into a demanding life within the wartime world of the British navy. This talk will provide a vividly personal account of what Fanny was able to share with Jane about her life as a naval wife, information that was arguably contextual and catalytic for Austen’s creation of the naval wives in Persuasion."

About the speaker:
Sheila Johnson Kindred taught for many years in the Philosophy Department of St Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She has lectured on aspects of Jane Austen’s family and fiction in Canada, United States, Bermuda, Australia and England, and published fifteen articles on Austen related topics. She is the author of the prize winning book, Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister: The Life and Letters of Fanny Palmer Austen (2017). (I read this book and found it fascinating).

Sheila blogs on her website Jane Austen’s Naval World at sheilajohnsonkindred.com.

So please join us to learn about someone whose information may have contributed to Jane Austen's work.

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Birthday Luncheon

 

Colonel Brandon mets Marianne after her illness
http://mollands.net/etexts/senseandsensibility/snsillus.html

"Marianne's illness, though weakening in its kind, had not been long enough to make her recovery slow; and with youth, natural strength, and her mother's presence in aid, it proceeded so smoothly as to enable her to remove, within four days after the arrival of the latter, into Mrs. Palmer's dressing-room. When there, at her own particular request, for she was impatient to pour forth her thanks to him for fetching her mother, Colonel Brandon was invited to visit her." Sense and Sensibility ch. 46


A Birthday Lunch, Popovers, Colonel Brandon and the Far East

You are invited to lunch with JASNA-Central & Western New York on  Saturday, January 21 2023 at 10:30 am at The Chatterbox Club, 25 Goodman St N, Rochester NY 14607.  Cost of the luncheon is $40.  Yes!  There will be popovers! 

The luncheon speaker is Celia Easton, who will share her AGM talk on Colonel Brandon and Military Service in India.  

This form allows you to pay online through PayPal.  After submitting the form, click the link to authorize PayPal payment.  You will receive a "PAID" receipt.

Registration
To register and pay please click HERE

Please register by January 14 so that we know how many are coming

Guests should have current boosters against COVID and should wear masks at the event, except while eating.

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Edith Lank: 1926-2023 Founder of JASNACWNY

Edith Lank 1926-2023

Sad news. Edith will be missed by all.

In Memoriam

Edith Lank

Central and Western New York

Edith Lank died January 1, 2023. She was born Edith Handleman on February 27, 1926, in Chelsea, Mass., and graduated from Penn Yan Academy and Syracuse University (Phi Beta Kappa). In 1948, she wed Norman Lank—a loving partnership that lasted until his death in 2011. Having worked for newspapers since her high school years, she created an advice column on real estate in the 1970s that eventually was distributed to more than 100 newspapers. She wrote her last column in 2019. Edith also taught at St. John Fisher College in Rochester and lectured on real estate nationally, appearing frequently on television and radio. She wrote real estate licensing textbooks for New York and New Jersey. She was also an avid bird watcher and certified scuba diver.

For Janeites both in her own region and across North America, Edith was a guiding light for decades. Several years before attending her first AGM in Baltimore in 1980, she founded the Rochester Jane Austen group that later became JASNA Rochester (and that merged with JASNA Syracuse in 2015 to become JASNA CWNY). She also served on the JASNA North American board; was an enthusiastic mentor to younger Janeites; answered the JASNA toll-free hotline (when there was one) for several years; and enlivened countless Rochester meetings and several AGM breakout sessions with her trademark wit and verve. She was also always willing to share her remarkable collection of Austen-related books and ephemera—including a complete set of first editions, an original signature, and Lord Brabourne’s edition of Austen’s letters including family and other annotations—with JASNA members, as attendees at her Chicago 2008 breakout (see Persuasions 30: 76-87) can attest! Much of her JASNA ephemera collection, offering delightful documentation of early AGMs, is now in the JASNA archives at Goucher College.

Edith had several other articles published in Persuasions and Persuasions On-Line:

Annotations on the Bellas copy of the Letters: https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol29no1/lank.html? 

On Darcy Wentworth: https://jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number11/lank.htm

Who was Harriet's mother?: https://jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number7/lank.html

On "lop't and crop't": https://jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number7/lank-2.html

Edith is survived by her sons, Avrum (Dannette) of Milwaukee, WI, and Dov (Constance Smith) of Port Moody, BC, Canada; a daughter, Anna (Michael Mortenson), of Manhattan; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Memorial donations may be made to JASNA, earmarked for the Edith Lank Fund, which was established in 2022 by Edith’s children and announced at the Victoria AGM by her son Dov (David). 





 

Monday, December 5, 2022

Watercolor by Cassandra Austen thought to be Jane
Why didn't you ask her to turn around?

"Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together." 
Letter from Jane Austen to Cassandra 9 January 1796. Jane Austen's Letters 4th ed. Deirdre Le Faye p. 1


 Event:    JASNA CWNY December Meeting
Topic:    "Cassandra at 250: An Appreciation"
               A talk by Marie Sprayberry, JASNA CWNY member
When:    Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 1 pm EDT (2nd Saturday)
Where:  Online through Zoom, pre-registration required

Registration: CLICK HERE


Cassandra Austen was Jane Austen's beloved sister. This month Marie Sprayberry will tell us more about Cassandra. Marie writes:

"Although we're all looking forward to Jane Austen's birthday on December 16, we have another Austen's milestone birthday coming up: Jane's beloved older sister, Cassandra, turns 250 on January 9. Unfortunately, Cassandra is often viewed these days only as the relative who burned many of Jane's letters. But, as usual, the truth is more interesting and more complicated. Join us on December 10 on Zoom at 1 pm to learn more!"

Marie is a life member of JASNA and has spoken at our regional meetings previously. Just a year ago she spoke to us about "Martha Lloyd and Cooking at Chawton Cottage"

Please join us as Marie Sprayberry tells us about someone who was a very important part of Jane Austen's life.



Thursday, November 10, 2022

A Tea Wreath Event

A cozy tea wreath made by you
to keep you warm the winter through

Event:    JASNA CWNY November Meeting
Topics:  Holiday Tea Wreath Workshop AND
              Discussion of the recent JASNA Conference in Victoria, BC
When:    Saturday, November 19, 2022 at 1 pm EDT 
Where:  IN PERSON at Pittsford Barnes & Noble Community Room

Please join us and make a Thanksgiving wreath, an Advent wreath, or an All Seasons wreath.

We'll supply the wreath frame, colorful clothespins, teabags, and a Jane Austen or teapot ornament! 

You bring a decorative bow and scissors.

You can also bring your own teabags in paper wrappers, extra teabags for others to use, or extra bows or ribbons.

After we get started on the wreaths, our members who attended the AGM in Victoria will share their favorite moments with us.

This one has a pretty bow
to brighten a day filled with snow










Monday, October 10, 2022

 October Meeting Cancelled

Our October meeting was going to be a review of the recent JASNA Annual Meeting in Victoria. However, several of our members who were at the AGM will be unable to attend our review.

Therefore, we have decided to combine the October topic with the November meeting. In November we will meet to make tea wreaths and discuss whatever we wish to discuss including the AGM. More about that later.

Thank you for your understanding. See you in November.