Member Victoire Sanborn, who, along with Cheryl Kapec, Marcia Phillips and Carol Mazur, is a member of "Janites on the James", took her penchant for on line research into a series of blogs on Jane Austen. These have attracted considerable interest worldwide; she is cited on college course reading lists, linked to other blogs, and gifted by publishers with books for reviewing. What she has discovered is fascinating, and the insights she offers on the world of Regency England are as interesting as the very current technology she is using. Come see and hear what she has been doing with the perfect Nineteenth Century Author in the Twenty-first Century. And for a preview, go to her blogs: http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com and http://janitesonthejames.blogspot.com. You'll come away with a recipe for wassail, a review of a new book, or an understanding of the Bennet's financial distress.

-Marcia Phillips
EF Chair

In keeping with the Jane Austen theme we have planned an old fashioned English Christmas spread. We will have Christmas pudding, meringues, and Wassail. But we do need additional items to supplement those already planned. Please email me at bookie002@yahoo.com and volunteer to bring something to balance out the menu.

-Kathy Kelley
Hospitality Chair

It was so good to see so many at the Wine Tasting Fundraiser in November. Through your efforts we have once again been successful in supporting the Educational Foundation of AAUW. And I hope to see you again on Dec. 11 for our program meeting at the Bon Air Library – “Jane Austen in the Information Age”. You may have read the Sunday Flair section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch on October 14 – it was a good primer about Jane Austen—and the Janites. And our own Janite, Marcia Phillips, had a response in the October 21 Flair2 section.

And speaking of dates, it’s that time of year for new calendars, and so you will have something to record early in the process take a look at our calendar of programs in this newsletter for the first 6 months of 2008. Note especially the dates for the annual state convention. According to the Winter 2007-08 Vision (which I hope that you will take some time to read) there will be a Leadership Development Conference as part of the convention and it sounds very exciting.

We had a very good year in 2007, welcoming new members and working together to provide valuable information and programming to our branch. I know we will continue working together in 2008 to make a positive difference in the lives of women and girls.
Looking forward to it,
Mary Farrell
Branch President

The sixth annual wine tasting celebration was a huge success!

Many of the attendees reported this was the best party we have had yet. One said that, for her, the wine tasting is the beginning of the holiday season. It’s a true sign of success when a fundraiser becomes a noted social event!

This year, the Board had decided to raise ticket prices slightly, and send members 6 tickets rather than 5, since so many couples attend. The result of these changes was that we raised more money -- $1895, with some still to come in. Our costs were slightly higher, with printing and decorations, about $450. This makes our net results higher than ever, $1445.

About 18 members brought food, which includes donations from Laurie Coulter for shrimp, as she was unable to attend. The room looked very celebratory, with party lights and fall décor around. Once again, we dispensed with the overhead lights, and the ambience was highly festive. The five wines were delicious, with a great French sauvignon blanc, an Italian primitivo, a grape very similar to zinfandel; a French St. Emilion, a great red burgundy; a California Gewurtztraminer, the perfect Thanksgiving wine; and we started with a blanc de noirs, sparkling wine, which started the party perfectly. A good group helped Carol set up, and another helpful crew did a quick and thorough cleanup afterwards. Many thanks to all, including several husbands, who helped make this a great success. As former Branch member Marilyn Herbert said recently, “I always thought that even if the event didn’t raise money, it is still a great event for us, because so many in the Branch participate, and it showcases us so well.” I certainly agree with her.

-Marcia Phillips
EF Chair

Diane Setterfield’s remarkable first novel begins like a reader’s dream: a bookseller’s daughter returns to the shop one night to discover a letter from England’s best-loved writer – a woman whose life is shrouded in rumor and legend. Reading the strange missive from the famous Vida Winter, Margaret Lea is puzzled by its invitation to discover the truth about the author’s mystifying past. Later that evening, unable to sleep, ... Margaret reads it straight through. Not long afterward she is standing in the opulent library of Miss Winter’s Yorkshire home, transported by the romance of books into a mysterious tale of her own.

Only five short chapters into Setterfield’s deft, enthralling narrative, her readers too have been transported....Yet The Thirteenth Tale has just begun. Commissioned by Miss Winter to compose her unvarnished biography, Margaret is soon swept up in the tragic history she must unravel – a story stranger and more haunting than any the celebrated author has ever penned, encompassing a grand house, a beautiful yet doomed family, passion, madness, ghosts, and a secret that holds readers spellbound until the very end. Richly atmospheric and deeply satisfying, Setterfield’s debut revives in all their glory the traditions of gothic and romantic suspense exemplified by the works of Wilkie Collins, the Brontës, and Daphne du Maurier. Old-fashioned in the best sense, it’s an urgently readable novel that’s nearly impossible to put down.

Bon Air AAUW Book Group routinely meets on the third Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. All Bon Air members and their guests are welcome.For more information about the Bon Air Book Group’s selections, click here: http://aauwbonairva.org/book selections 2007.html.

-DeAnn Hubicsak
Book Group Coordinator

• December 20, 2007
  The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
  • Hostess: Carol Mazur
  • Discussion leader: Marcia Phillips
• January 17, 2008
  Works by Flannery O’Connor
  • Hostess: Dori Buckley
  • Discussion leader: Cheryl Kapec
• February 21, 2008
  Fall On Your Knees, by Ann-Marie McDonald
  • Hostess: Marcia Phillips
  • Discussion leader:
• March 20, 2008 – Women’s History Month
  A Life In Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII, by Sarah Helm
  • Hostess and Discussion leader: TBA
• April 17, 2008
  DESERT QUEEN: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell – Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia, by Janet Wallach
  • Hostess and Discussion leader: TBA
• May 15, 2008
  Empress Orchid, by Anchee Min
  • Hostess: Gina Turner
  • Discussion leader: TBA
• June 19, 2008
  Selection TBA
  • Hostess and Discussion leader: TBA
• July 17, 2008
  Selection TBA
  • Hostess: Cheryl Kapec
  • Discussion leader: TBA
  Return to Contents

The Gourmet Group will have its Christmas dinner on Saturday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m. The theme is Williams Sonoma. Contact Carol Mazur at 272-8460 for more details.

-Carol Mazur

January 12

New Visions / New Voices
Tuckahoe Library Saturday Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm

February 16

Museum Tour and Luncheon Dooley Mansion tour followed by lunch at a local restaurant Saturday Time: TBA

March 11

Literacy in Virginia
Speaker: Barbara Gibson, Virginia Literacy Foundations and Institute
Annual Business Meeting and election of officers for 2008 - 2010
Tuesday Bon Air Library

April 11-13

State Convention and Leadership Workshops
Roanoke, VA

April

Branch Program Date, Location, Time: TBA

May 8

“What do you intend to do with the rest of your life?”
Speaker: Rita Ricks Annual Banquet and Installation of Officers
Tuesday Positive Vibe Café, 6:30 pm

June

Crossover – “Old Board / New Board” and planning session
Date, Location, Time: TBA

This article begins a new feature in Bon Air Byline - - a profile of an individual who has been a member for a while. Here's hoping you'll enjoy getting better acquainted.

Anyone who attends our Book Group regularly knows that Dori Buckley is a reader with a capital "R". She enlivened our September session on the biography of Willa Cather with extensive research notes that shone multiple lights on both Cather's complex personality and her artistic credo.

Dori grew up in a home where books were essential and reading was strongly encouraged. She clearly remembers the first time she was able to read independently. A poem? A story? No, the Sunday comics...in particular the strip, "The Little King." Eventually, what drew her to Bon Air AAUW was our Book Group.

Dori's love of reading fostered her love of history and her interest in travel and archaeology. But a career in archaeology was not encouraged for young women, so Dori majored in Secondary Education at Boston University.

However, Dori lived her ultimate travel fantasy when she and her family were posted to post-war Japan. She reveled in the opportunity to live in a non-Western culture. There she taught English as a Second Language to "delightful, well-behaved" Japanese-American children who would later be moving to the U.S.A.

Dori also achieved "flextime" in her professional life well before the term became a corporate buzzword. She did substitute teaching in Fairfax County, and she served as an ESL teacher for Vietnamese adults. Her already well-educated students impressed her with their willingness to encourage one another. Later, Dori served as a secretary in the Guidance Department of the Richmond Public Schools where her part-time schedule left her plenty of time for travel.

The next time you see Dori, ask her about her travels. She ought to write a book.

Pat Mallahan
V.P. Membership

Be sure to visit our branch website at http://aauwbonairva.org. You will find a great list of resources: the schedule for the branch book group and the gourmet group; a page of links guiding you to information about government, reproductive rights, literature, libraries, books; current and archived copies of the branch newsletter; information on membership, public policy, Education Foundation, Legal Advocacy Fund, Eleventh House, and much, much more. Comments or suggestions? Contact Maggie King at maggie.king@yahoo.com.
Maggie King
Webmaster

AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research.
AAUW Member Helpline 800-821-4364
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