Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother” is one of the best-known images of Depression-era California.
Marisa Silver’s Mary Coin is a richly imagined back-story — and after-story — of that photograph. Her book is the focus of the 2023 Our Community Reads, a program of the Friends of the Aptos Library.
Community members read the book and then come together for a series of events presented with the friends of the Capitola, Felton, La Selva Beach, and Scotts Valley libraries, and in partnership with Cabrillo College and Aptos High School.
Mary Coin is one of the thousands of Oklahomans displaced by the Dust Bowl. She — and her many children — end up in the migrant camps of California, where photographer Vera Dare encounters her and captures an image that takes on a life of its own. And in the present, college professor Walker Dodge finds that the photograph might have significance in his own life.
NPR called the book “… a fresh angle on the Great Depression and a lesson in learning how to really look and see … remarkable, quietly heroic yet very human characters.”
Goodreads summed up: “In luminous prose, Silver creates an extraordinary tale … a reminder that a great photograph captures the essence of a moment yet only scratches the surface of a life.”
All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Doors open half an hour before programs begin.
This year’s Our Community Reads events will take place in person and via Zoom (H for hybrid, P for in person only, and Z for Zoom only.
To register: Go to www.SantaCruzPL.org and click on Calendar at the top of the home page. Scroll the Calendar page to the event you want to attend, and click the link for the name of the event. You will find registration instructions.
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Thursday, Jan. 26 at 10:30 a.m.
Passionate Readers Book Discussion (H)
A spirited discussion of Mary Coin, led by Marjorie Bowles. La Selva Beach Library, 316 Estrella Ave., La Selva Beach
Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 10:30 a.m.
Capitola Book Discussion Group (Z)
led by Dian Duchin Reed
Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.
A Talk with the Author (H)
From her home in Los Angeles, Mary Coin author Marisa Silver talks about creating the fictional world of an iconic image.
Watch online at home or join us in the Ow Family Community Room of Capitola Library, 2005 Wharf Road, Capitola, with moderator Geneffa Jonker, Cabrillo College English professor.
Sponsored by Friends of the Capitola Library.
Sunday, Feb. 5 at 3 p.m.
Concert: Songs We Sang in the Great Depression
“Going Down the Road Feeling Bad,” “Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime,” “If You Ain’t Got the Do Re Mi” (In-person only).
Join local singers Aileen Vance, Bob Reid & Judi Jaeger, Jack Bowers & Vicki Coffis at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, 2402 Cabrillo College Drive, Soquel, for a live concert of songs that deepen our understanding of the world of Mary Coin and millions of other Dust Bowl migrants.
Host Julie Olsen Edwards
Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 5:30 p.m
Workshop: “Our Community Writes” (H)
Here’s your chance to create flash fiction, mini-essays, or poetry based on the world of Mary Coin.
Using evocative prompts and plenty of encouragement, writer June Langhoff and members of the Monterey/Santa Cruz chapter of Shut Up & Write will focus on the joy of the creative process at Fireside Room, Scotts Valley Library, 251 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley. Writer fuel will be provided.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Scotts Valley Library.
Thursday, Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m.
Panel: “The Photographer’s Eye” (H)
Fireside Room, Scotts Valley Library, 251 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley.
Local photographers Shmuel Thaler, Kevin Painchaud, and Mary Altier will talk about their work, show examples, and contrast their experience with that of earlier photographers like Dorothea Lange.
Moderated by Jim Bourne, whose photographs are on exhibit in the library through March 2023. Refreshments served.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Scotts Valley Library.
Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m.
Hands-on Art Event
In-person only at Live Oak Grange, 1900 17th Ave, Santa Cruz
Using the medium of collage, participants will create an “extended” pencil drawing using a photo of the Dust Bowl era to which a six-word memoir is added for deeper meaning. Presenters Jo-Neal Graves and Sharon Ferguson, Open Studios artists and art educators, will provide background information, drawing pointers, memoir development, and lots of encouragement.
No prior skills necessary to be successful.
Thursday, Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Panel: “Farm to Table: Smooth Road or Bumps Along the Way?” (H)
Temple Beth El Social Hall, 3055 Porter Gulch Road, Aptos
Panelists will compare the working conditions of today’s farmworkers to the conditions of the Depression era, look at labor issues from a historical perspective, and show how best practices are being applied in today’s farming.
Dr. Ann López, Executive Director of the Center for Farmworker Families, Dick Peixoto, owner of Lakeside Organic Gardens, Peter Shapiro, author of Song of the Stubborn One Thousand: The Watsonville Canning Strike, 1985-87 .Alicia Bencomo Garcia (Professor of Ethnic Studies, Cabrillo College), moderator.
Sponsored by Friends of the Aptos Library.
Sunday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m.
Film: “The Grapes of Wrath”
In-person only at La Selva Beach Library, 316 Estrella Ave., La Selva Beach.
Topsy Smalley, Librarian with a special interest in Steinbeck, introduces John Ford’s classic adaptation of the immortal Steinbeck novel.
Sponsored by Friends of La Selva Beach Library.
Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m.
Film: “Dolores”
In-person only at Garden Room, Museum of Art and History, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz.
A documentary about Dolores Huerta, co-founder—with César Chávez—of the precursor to the United Farmworkers Union. Introduction by Jerry Kay, longtime friend of Ms. Huerta.
Come a few minutes early to view a video display of the work of Aptos High School students, whose class assignment was to redesign the book cover for Mary Coin or use art to tell the story behind the photo. Student work will be judged by members of the Bookshop Santa Cruz staff and awards given to the top work.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Aptos Library.
Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m.
Reading in the Redwoods
In-person only at Felton Library Community Room, 6121 Gushee St., Felton.
Book group discussion of Mary Coin led by April Zilber.
Sponsored by Felton Library Friends.
Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m.
Music & Film: The Depression, the Dust Bowl, and Dorothea
In-person only at Felton Library Community Room, 6121 Gushee St., Felton
During the 1930s, music painted a vivid picture of a nation in crisis. Felton’s own Patti Maxine, along with Alison Steele of Sugar by the Pound, will play songs of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.
The music will be followed by the short documentary “Dorothea Lange, An American Odyssey,” a portrait of the photographer portrayed as Vera Dare in Mary Coin, best known for her work documenting and humanizing the plight of migrants and farm workers in the 1930s. Refreshments served.
Sponsored by Felton Library Friends.
Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Reminiscence: A Universal Language (H)
Rio Sands Hotel, 116 Aptos Beach Drive, Aptos.
A personal glimpse into the life of Dorothea Lange—portrait photographer, witness to the Great Depression and the Japanese Internment, visual chronicler of the Irish Country people—as told by her son Daniel Dixon.
Presented by Dixie Dixon, widow of Daniel and herself a photographer.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Aptos Library.
Thursday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Trivia Night
In-person only at Steel Bonnet Brewing Company, 20 Victor Square, Scotts Valley.
The ever-popular Trivia on Tap, hosted by the Santa Cruz Public Library’s Victor Willis, poses challenging questions from Mary Coin. Book groups may participate, or fly solo. Beer available for sale, a food truck out front or eat elsewhere in Victor Square.
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NOTES: This calendar is as accurate as was possible at the time of printing. For the most up-to-date Our Community Reads information, go to www.FriendsofAptosLibrary.org
There might be a photographer present at in-person events. If you do not wish to be photographed, please inform the photographer or a member of the Friends.
Expand your mind, engage your senses, challenge your creativity, and be a part of the Our Community Reads community! The more events you attend, the more enriching the experience will be, which explains the Passport: To encourage participants to attend as many events as possible.
- Those who attend 12 events will win a “Grand Prize.”
- There will be “runner-up” prizes for those who attend 10 or 11 events.
- At each in-person event you will receive a stamp in your passport.
- For virtual events, you will get a write-in code.
Pick up your Passport at library branches or when you check in at the first event. The Friends’ website (www.FriendsofAptosLibrary.org) will tell you how to turn in your Passport at the end of the season.