Palma explores T.S. Eliot; healthy living workshops

Michael Palma returns to Misty Valley Books on the Green in Chester to discuss the poetry of T.S. Eliot on four Wednesday evenings, beginning Sept. 26.

Michael Palma

The free seminar will begin at 7 p.m. and last about an hour. The final three sessions are Oct. 10, Oct. 17 and Oct. 24. This seminar will focus on the work of one of the greatest and most influential poets of the 20th century. The program is titled “Mixing Memory and Desire,” which comes from the opening lines of Eliot’s most famous poem, The Waste Land. Eliot was born in 1888 and raised in St. Louis. After graduating from Harvard, he spent a year in Paris, then lived his last 50 years in London. He died in 1965.

At the beginning of his career, poems such as “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “Portrait of a Lady” brought a new note of modernism into English-language poetry. With its faultless rhythms and brilliant imagery, his work also revealed a gift for memorable phrase-making: “April is the cruelest month” and “This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper.”

His collection of light verse, “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” was the inspiration for the second-longest-running show in Broadway history.

Palma led the spellbinding and insightful discussions of Robert Frost’s poetry at Misty Valley Books in the summer of 2007.

The public is encouraged to attend all the sessions, which are offered free of charge, but everyone is welcome at any of the evenings. An edition of Eliot’s collected poems is available for purchase at the bookstore. For more information call Misty Valley Books at 875-3400 or visit www.mvbooks.com.

Free Healthier Living Workshops at Springfield Hospital

Sign-up now for free Healthier Living Workshops scheduled to begin Thursday Oct. 4. Classes will meet 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Thursday for six weeks. A free lunch will follow the class.

Healthier Living Workshops assist people living with chronic conditions, such as arthritis, depression, asthma, heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, emphysema, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, etc.

Participants are encouraged to attend all six sessions. Family members and friends who help participants at home are also invited to attend these free workshops. The program offers a variety of fun activities in a supportive atmosphere, including:
• techniques to help deal with frustration, fatigue, pain and isolation;
• breathing techniques and guided imagery to reduce stress;
• exercise for maintaining and improving strength, flexibility and endurance
• appropriate use of medications
• talking with family, friends, and health professionals so they understand your needs
• useful tips to improve nutrition
• how to evaluate new health treatments

These free educational classes will be held at The Meeting House on the hill at the Springfield Hospital Campus. For more information or to register, please contact Michelle Kuusela at 802-885-4371 or e-mail mkuusela@springfieldmed.org.