The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m., Mesa Main Library, Main Branch, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)

From Amazon.com:

Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is the glass-half-empty follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. While Guns, Germs, and Steel explained the geographic and environmental reasons why some human populations have flourished, Collapse uses the same factors to examine why ancient societies, including the Anasazi of the American Southwest and the Viking colonies of Greenland, as well as modern ones such as Rwanda, have fallen apart. Not every collapse has an environmental origin, but an eco-meltdown is often the main catalyst, he argues, particularly when combined with society's response to (or disregard for) the coming disaster. Still, right from the outset of Collapse, the author makes clear that this is not a mere environmentalist's diatribe. He begins by setting the book's main question in the small communities of present-day Montana as they face a decline in living standards and a depletion of natural resources. Once-vital mines now leak toxins into the soil, while prion diseases infect some deer and elk and older hydroelectric dams have become decrepit. On all these issues, and particularly with the hot-button topic of logging and wildfires, Diamond writes with equanimity.

Because he's addressing such significant issues within a vast span of time, Diamond can occasionally speak too briefly and assume too much, and at times his shorthand remarks may cause careful readers to raise an eyebrow. But in general, Diamond provides fine and well-reasoned historical examples, making the case that many times, economic and environmental concerns are one and the same. With Collapse, Diamond hopes to jog our collective memory to keep us from falling for false analogies or forgetting prior experiences, and thereby save us from potential devastations to come. While it might seem a stretch to use medieval Greenland and the Maya to convince a skeptic about the seriousness of global warming, it's exactly this type of cross-referencing that makes Collapse so compelling. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Join us for a discussion and planning session for educating the "next generation" of Humanists! We will welcome parents and grandparents as well as interested members as we discuss the plans for our Childhood Education program. Share your ideas, interests and concerns. Discover how we can make our organization "family friendly."

The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m., Mesa Main Library, Main Branch, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)

From Amazon.com:

Malcolm Gladwell poses a more provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the "self-made man," he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot." Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky."

Outliers can be enjoyed for its bits of trivia, like why most pro hockey players were born in January, how many hours of practice it takes to master a skill, why the descendents of Jewish immigrant garment workers became the most powerful lawyers in New York, how a pilots' culture impacts their crash record, how a centuries-old culture of rice farming helps Asian kids master math. But there's more to it than that. Throughout all of these examples--and in more that delve into the social benefits of lighter skin color, and the reasons for school achievement gaps--Gladwell invites conversations about the complex ways privilege manifests in our culture. He leaves us pondering the gifts of our own history, and how the world could benefit if more of our kids were granted the opportunities to fulfill their remarkable potential. --Mari Malcolm

Once again, we were happy to welcome our HSGP member Chuck Lesher. Chuck was born in Kansas, raised in Colorado, graduated high school in Southern California, and then moved to Phoenix, where he joined the Army. He spent the next four years in Maryland, Germany and Texas. Upon returning to civilian life, Chuck earned a BS in Engineering Mechanics-Aerospace from the University of Wisconsin and a MS in Materials Science from Arizona State University. After graduation, Chuck worked at Space Data/Orbital Sciences Corporation designing, building and launching small sounding rockets and high altitude weather balloons. Later, he served as Quality Assurance Manager for Hybrid Design Associates in Tempe, a small manufacturing company that specializes in harsh-environment electronic assemblies.

Chuck is married to HSGP member Peggy, has three grown children and four grandchildren. He writes Speculative Fiction under his full name, Charles Lee Lesher. His debut novel, Evolution’s Child, was selected as 2007’s Best of the Moon Fiction by the Lunar Library. Check out his website at: http://www.charleslesher.com

Larry Woodruff has developed and teaches courses at ASU's Polytechnic Campus, in Stress Management for Wellness; Substance Abuse and Addictive Behaviors; Program Development and Leadership, and the Instructional Competency Lab in Strength Conditioning. He coordinates the Undergraduate Internship Program for the department, as well as their nationally recognized Spa Management Certification program. He is the department liaison to the Campus Recreation Program, serves as Chair of the Exercise and Wellness Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, and is a member of the School of Applied Arts and Sciences Academic Programs Committee. He represented ASU Polytechnic as a member of the 2005-2006 Healthier Phoenix Initiative Ad Hoc Committee, and as a member of several work groups to develop the 2005 Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan for Arizona.

Mr. Woodruff is a member of the International Positive Psychology Association (charter member); the International Stress Management Association, and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. His areas of expertise include stress management, mindfulness-based stress reduction, selected areas of positive psychology; health promotion and fitness program development, implementation, and evaluation, and exercise equipment and fitness facility design.

The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m., Mesa Main Library, Main Branch, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)

From Publishers Weekly:

Ha Jin, who emigrated from China in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square, had only been writing in English for 12 years when he won the National Book Award for Waiting in 1999. His latest novel sheds light on an émigré writer's woodshedding period. It follows the fortunes of Nan Wu, who drops out of a U.S. grad school after the repression of the democracy movement in China, hoping to find his voice as a poet while supporting his wife, Pingping, and son, Taotao. After several years of spartan living, Nan and Pingping save enough to buy a Chinese restaurant in suburban Atlanta, setting up double tensions: between Nan's literary hopes and his career, and between Nan and Pingping, who, at the novel's opening, are staying together for the sake of their young boy. While Pingping grows more independent, Nan—amid the dulling minutiae of running a restaurant and worries about mortgage payments, insurance and schooling—slowly snuffs the torch he carries for his first love. That Nan at one point reads Dr. Zhivago isn't coincidental: while Ha Jin's novel lacks Zhivago's epic grandeur, his biggest feat may be making the reader wonder whether the trivialities of American life are not, in some ways, as strange and barbaric as the upheavals of revolution.

Jay Strisik is putting together program whereby volunteers from our membership will give a seven to 10 minute presentation on their beliefs and philosophy of life. If you would like to participate, be sure to let Jay know when he asks for volunteers. Some topics might be: "How I became a Humanist/Freethinker/Atheist." "I Was a____________ But I Became a Humanist Because..." "The Way I See the Universe." "My Thoughts on Life and Death." You can probably think of many others. Join us and share your own thoughts!

The AHA Conference was a huge success! Over 326 registered for one of the best run conferences ever (quoting the AHA! Awesome job, everyone!