At 1 p.m., Saturday, April 20, Shirley Burman will speak about the history of women in the railroad industry. This event is sponsored and hosted by the SCC Railroad Club and will be held in the Sacramento City College Student Center. Burman is a documentary photographer and historian who received the Fred A. and Jane R. Stindt Photograph Award for her “‘accomplishments as a railroad photographer, especially the documentation of women’s contributions to railroading’” in 2012. In 2013, she received the Hall of Fame Award at Winterail. She is the first woman to receive this award in the organization’s 35 years.  About the award, she said that she hadn’t been thinking about the award becaus

If you thought last year’s National Poetry Month celebrations were hot in Sacramento, you haven’t heard about the happenings this month. Carlos Alcalá kicked the month off at the Sacramento Poetry Center on Monday, April 1, with some light verse. The Book Collector is offering a generous discount on all poetry books until April 30. Did you know that they have the largest collection of chapbooks by local area poets? Stop by and ask Debbie to show you the collection. Look at these highlights for the rest of the month. How many events will you attend? Head to Folsom on Wednesday, April 3, when Verse on the Vine features Indigo Moor. The Sacramento Poetry Center’s Literary Lectures series

The Norman Rockwell exhibit opened at the Crocker Nov. 10 and will close in less than one month. During its run, several special events have taken place. Perhaps you met Rockwell’s models, enjoyed some concerts, watched the film, “Stagecoach,” or participated in several studio art classes. The final special events take place this month and begin this weekend with the world premiere of “Big Dreams, Small Shoulders,” a multi-media performance piece based on Rockwell’s painting, “The Problem We All Live With.” Deborah Pittman composed the music and collaborated with other artists to create this piece. Pittman, a musician and professor of clarinet at California State University, Sacramento w

On Saturday, Jan. 5, Sandy Thomas will teach three separate introductory self-defense workshops for women. In each two-hour workshop, women will learn basic defense techniques that may be used against an unarmed assailant, and each attendee will learn the five weapons every woman possesses and the four offensive target areas on the would-be assailant. Each workshop is appropriate for women of all ages. The workshops are affordable at $25.00 for each session (only one session is required), and Thomas donates 20% of each fee to the Sacramento Poetry Center, which is where the workshops are held. Bring a friend, sister, mother, daughter or co-worker and learn some important defense techniqu

If you're like many people, you may have forgotten one or two gifts, but never fear. With several shopping days left before Christmas, Book Talk can guide your car to some interesting stops. Maybe you'll even find a gift for yourself. Books make wonderful gifts, but you don't have to buy the titles listed on the top ten or bestselling lists, and you really don't have to buy those gift books that weigh more than an old-school laptop. In fact, you don't even have to buy new books. Consider shopping at one of the many used book stores in the Sacramento area. Several are affiliated with various Friends of the Library, including the newest storefront in Rio Linda at 440 Elkhorn Blvd. This sto

On Thursday, Nov. 29, at 6:30 pm.Crocker artist-in-resident and musician Deborarh Pittman will discuss the original performance piece, "Big Dreams, Small Shoulders," based on Norman Rockwell's "The Problem We All Live With." Pittman composed and collaborated with other artists on this project that will have its world premiere at the Crocker Art Museum on January 13, 2013. Thursday's discussion will be an interactive panel discussion where Pittman and the other artists will discuss their creative process and challenges. They will also present scenes from "Big Dreams, Small Shoulders," and they will answer audience questions. Space for this Thursday's 'til 9 event is limited, so arrive ear

The long-awaited exhibit, “American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell,” has opened for a nearly three-month run at the Crocker Art Museum. Four years of planning have resulted in a fabulous exhibit, organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachuset, that includes many familiar pieces, such as “Girl at Mirror” and “Problem We All Live With,” and also many pieces that show Rockwell beyond the familiar role of illustrator. “Murder in Mississippi” is one of those pieces. At the preview event, this writer noticed several moist eyes from attendees who were moved by the painting that depicts three men in a barren, sepia-colored landscape littered with rocks. To the right,

There is almost nothing better than looking over the shelves of books on topics as far-ranging as a memoir about a former doctor who saved a cat by climbing atop a fire truck in the middle of a busy parking lot and nearly getting arrested to books on how to finish your deck, with or without the hot tub, to novels with shirtless guys on the front or those wonderful classic shorts that Murakami never writes. I love bookstores. I love small bookstores and large bookstores and those in-between. I look for bookstores in every city I visit. I’m not alone. There are people, and you know who you are, that plan their vacations around the opening of bookstores. Speaking of new bookstores, there’s

On Saturday night, the 24th Street Theatre sold out the single night performance by the Eric Bibb String Band. Longtime fans, like Abe Sass, who listened to Bibb and Bibb’s father, were there. First-time Bibb concert attendees like Bob and Joyce Stanley were also present. Bibb and his stagemates gave the audience what it came for — and more, as in the case of young Nate and his mother, who travelled from outside Yuba City to the 24th Street Theatre, hoping to secure tickets. Young Nate first saw Bibb in Grass Valley. The last ticket Saturday evening was sold to a person two people ahead of Nate. Audience members who had already been seated might have missed seeing the man in the orange s

On Sunday, Aug. 5, a special screening of two of writer/director Tom Wyrsch’s documentaries at the Crest Theatre offered history, laughter and memories for those who had spent time in the Fun House, sampled enchiladas at the Hot House or had experienced indoor saltwater swimming. Both “Remembering Playland at the Beach” and “Sutro’s: the Palace at Land’s End” were shown. Wyrsch was on hand before and after each film to answer questions from the audience that ranged from whether the Hot House ever reopened to why he shot the film in 4:3 instead of widescreen. He was also asked whether he used film or digital. Digital was used for the shooting of both films, he explained, and he then spoke