Book launch event for The View From Third Street Went Great!
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So pleased that more than 40 people from as near as Linnaean Street in Cambridge and as far away as Paris, France, came to the hybrid October 1 launch event for The View From Third Street at the Lincoln Mass. Public Library. Attendees included the daughter of the judge who oversaw the Trial of the Harrisburg Seven; Harrisburg Independent Press (HIP) co-founder Ed Zuckerman and various former HIP staffers; several of my journalism friends, family and friends. Wonderful research librarian Robin Rappaport handled the zoom portion; Marc Kessler and Susan Osgood helped with book sales; Joe Wrinn and Paul Hayre took pictures; friends KBS and others–some from my great writers group The Write Stuff–brought refreshments.
I spoke for about half an hour–folks asked great (tough) questions (like: is this creative nonfiction or a historical fiction? Are you discouraged at the world’s seeming return to times we thought (hoped) we’d never have to live through again? What would you be your advice to a young journalist starting out?). And they graciously laughed at my jokes.
The View From Third Street tells the story of a young journalist’s search for love and truth as she navigates social injustice, a major political trial, and a devastating flood at a tumultuous time of change.
This unconventional memoir draws on the experiences of national journalist Anita M. Harris, who, with college friends, founded a weekly alternative newspaper to cover the Trial of the Harrisburg 7. In that iconic 1972 Pennsylvania trial, nuns and priests stood accused of conspiring to kidnap Presidential Advisor Henry Kissinger and blow up underground heating tunnels in Washington, DC.
By showing how individuals dealt with the clashing forces of history at an earlier time, Harris hopes to support and inspire a renewed quest for freedom and equality, today.
As a fledgling reporter in the early 1970s, author Anita M. Harris and college friends helped found a small newspaper on Third Street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Harrisburg Independent Press (AKA “HIP”) was first conceived to report on the Trial of the Harrisburg Seven– in which anti-Vietnam War nuns and priests were accused of conspiring to kidnap Presidential Advisor Henry Kissinger and blow up underground heating tunnels in Washington, DC,. True story!) Like the many other underground and alternative newspapers of the day, HIP covered civic, consumer, national and international issues–many with parallels in the unrest we are experiencing today.
In this unconventional memoir, Harris traces, from the point of view of Ani, her 23-year-old self, the founding of the newspaper, the trial, and the devastating Flood of 1972, which left 124 people dead. Interwoven, with humor and puzzlement, are stories of Ani’s love relationship, her coverage of poverty and social injustice, and HIP”s reporting on topics ranging from dirty movies to slave labor, heroin sales, racial discrimination; a burgeoning feminist movement, abortion rights and opposition to the Vietnam War.
The book also includes many images and cartoons–giving readers a sense of what it was like to live in those amazing times.
Anita M. Harris is an award-winning journalist, author and communications consultant who resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The View From Third Street is available from Amazon and at the Cornell University Store.
Cambridge Author Anita Harris Addresses Cornell Reunion Class
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On June 12, I had the privilege of introducing the zoom happy hour for classmates who attended the 51st reunion of my graduating class. I touched on some of the incidents I wrote about in my 2015 book, Ithaca Diaries, which is about our four years 1966-1970. Sometimes, I call the book “Gidget Goes to the Revolution” which, in a way, sums up my college experience. But 51 years later, I thought it would be important to reflect on the past as it relates to the present and future–rather a handful for a 10-minute talk–but I think I managed to do it. Here’s a link to the video; the script, which I did not follow exactly, is inserted below.
Hi, I’m so glad to see everyone here, and especially that we’re all still here after this difficult year. I know that some of us are disappointed not to be in Ithaca—but the good part is that friends from far away can be with us. One such friend said he would join in if I provided free drinks…which I am…in my living room. CHEERS!
51st ANNIVERSARY OF GRADUATION 1970 I’m sure you know that this is the 51st anniversary week of our crazy graduation. With those three walkouts, and the demonstration on stage where Morris Bishop, the distinguished historian and leader of the processional hit someone over the head with the baton he was carrying… Many people think that it was Dave Burack—my gov instructor—who got hit over the head …Burack swears it was his roommate…In any case, the demonstrators got hauled off stage and into a cop car…The bear at the top of the mace got bent and has never been the same—nor, I think, have we.
I remember that really well…which is amazing because people were passing a JOINT when we were standing in the graduation processional…and I was definitely stoned.
I WROTE ABOUT THAT IN MY BOOK, ITHACA DIARIES which is based on the journals I kept as an undergraduate: it starts with me arriving at Cornell freshman year carrying the pink suitcase my uncle leon gave me for my bat mitzvah—goes through draft card burnings, demonstrations against the war, the straight takeover, MY LOVE LIFE, WHAT WAS I THINKING Kent State…and ends on graduation day….when, to my amazement, I even led a demonstration.
I WAS ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT ITHACA DIARIES LAST YEAR, AT OUR FIFTIETH but with the pandemic that really didn’t work out. So this year, Sally and Kathy asked me to introduce the social hour– they told me several times to be brief and to keep in mind that this is supposed to be a HAPPY hour. So I’m not going to reminisce a whole lot…I will just move the story ahead a little, wax a bit historical and philosophical, and then we’ll breakout out the drinks. I mean..join the breakout sessions.
*
SINCE ITHACA DIARIES CAME OUT, I”VE BEEN WORKING ON TWO SEQUELS.
THE FIRST SEQUEL IS ABOUT MY FIRST YEAR OUT OF CORNELL— and I imagine that many of us went through similar experiences. After all the turmoil on campus, and changes in the late sixties, I had no idea what to do with myself. (And of course, I was an English major…need I say more?) But as a fledgling feminist, I wanted to prove that I could do things: that anything a guy could do, I could do, too. I got a bunch of short-term jobs.
WEST VIRGINIA First I got a job with the ILR School that took me traveling around the country to several hospitals,; in West Birginia, I had my first look at coal miners with black lung disease.
I WORKED IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN where one of the pols spent his days pretending to read the newspaper while staring at my legs…
THEN I WENT ON A ROAD TRIP cross country with two Brits I didn’t know, whose names I found on a bulletin board. They were both named John John, John, and I drove cross country in a big black buick =–u drive it—and picked up every derelict and druggie, all the way from Miami to San Francisco.
AFTER THAT, I WORKED WITH DISADVANTAGED TEENS IN THE PHILADELPHIA GHETTO…AND FINALLY, I WOUND UP IN HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.
That’s where the first sequel, which I’m CALLING PHILADELPHIA STORIES ENDS.
HARRISBURG
SO, THEN, THE SEQUEL TO THE SEQUEL: HARRISBURG IT TURNED OUT THAT THREE OF OUR CLASSMATES, ED ZUCKERMAN, FRED SOLOWEY, AND VINCENT BLOCKER, WERE ALSO IN HARRISBURG, EACH FOR HIS OWN REASONS. WE AND SOME OTHER PEOPLE ENDED UP STARTING A NEWSPAPER THERE, IN CONNECTION TO A MAJOR POLITICAL TRIAL— IT WAS THE TRIAL OF THE HARRISBURG 8., WHICH HAD AN INTERESTING CORNELL CONNECTION.
HARRISBURG 8 TRIAL BERRIGAN: You may remember Dan Berrigan the anti war Priest, and poet who was deputy director of Cornell United religious work. Anyway, while Dan Berrigan was in prison, Nixon’s FBI Director J EDGAR HOOVER ACCUSED DANIEL’s brother Philip , who was also in prison, of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and blow up underground heating tunnels in Washington DC. Also accused were former ILR Professor Eqbal Ahmad, and six others—mostly nuns and priests. I’m not kidding, I’m not kidding.
So, Ed, Fred, Vincent and I started a newspaper called the Harrisburg Independent Press—or—HIP- around the trial of the Harrisburg 8. That was how I became a journalist, the paper was amazing.
And, for the last few years I’ve been working on a book on my experiences at HIP.
A FEW WEEKS AGO, I WAS WORKING ON THE CONCLUSION. And I started wondering what the heck am I doing, why am I time traveling, going back into the past all the time?
ONE REASON IS PERSONAL : AS WITH Ithaca diaries, I needed to understand on a personal level, just what had gone down, to get things straight in my head, this was such a formative period, in order to figure out what to do next.
BUT ANOTHER REASON IS HISTORICAL/SOCIETAL.
WHEN I FIRST STARTED WORKING ON THE HARRISBURG BOOK, TRUMP WAS JUST COMING INTO OFFICE, AND I FELT THE COUNTRY WAS DIVIDED, much as it was in the late 60s and early 70s. I thought it might be interesting to draw some parallels between the present day divisiveness along the lines of race, poverty, ethnicity, and corruption… and what was going on back then, under the Nixon administration, with race relations, the Vietnam War, dirty tricks and such.
SPIRALS: BROKEN PATTERNS: Then I thought about my first book, it’s called Broken patterns, and it’s about our generation of professional women in relation to our own mothers and grandmothers. It describes a spiral pattern in history—a spiral pattern that I think holds true for Individuals as well.
WHAT DO I MEANBY SPIRALS? HERE I’d LIKE TO PONTIFICATE, A BIT, IF YOU WILL INDULGE ME…
Many of us—myself included—tend to think about progress in a linear way. That is, that to progress, we move forward in a straightforward path toward a goal. But the older I get, the more I see that life sort of emerges in a series of starts and stops—that we get just so far, in moving toward a goal—maybe we reach it; maybe we get blocked… and then, as a society or as individuals, we tend to pull back to reassess, to reintegrate our own pasts, our country’s past, in order to move forward, once again.
TODAY A TURNING POINT IN A SPIRAL I think that now as a society we’re at a turning point in a spiral that’s kind of similar to where we were. 50 years ago. Now, as then, society is divided. Many have moved toward equality but others have been left behind. As you know, there are issues of race, poverty, war, environment, how government should work, what kind of nation we want to be. BUT despite all of the disruptions, the divisiveness, the protests, the violence, I feel heartened that many of us are looking back historically, to understand how we got to this place so that we can regroup to find new ways of doing things. I know that I’m painting with a rather broad brush—but I believe that==or I HOPE that– retreating a bit to reassess, will allow us move forward as individuals, and as a society, once again. END PONTIFICATION
COMING TOGETHER FOR OUR 51st In the same way, coming together for our 50th, or 51st reunion, gives us the chance to look back, to heal, to understand, to figure out where we’re at in order to find new ways to move forward in our own lives. I’m hoping that in our social… er happy hour, we’ll have a chance to catch up, figure out where we’ve been, where we are now, and what adventures come next as we enter this new phase in our lives. TOAST WITH GLASS
One quick reminder—please use chat to catch up/share info or addresses with anyone you want to stay in touch with after the social.
Boston’s vigil for Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life community “heartening”
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I was horrified by the mass shooting in Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue…all the more so against a backdrop of the current climate of hate in the US.
But I was heartened at the showing of support from the individuals, religious people and politicians who attended or spoke at yesterday’s vigil for the shooting victims, held at the bandshell on the Boston Common.
While, of course, the same sort of thing could happen here–and it did, at the 2013 Boston Marathon–I found solace, for a time, in the eloquence and dedication to human rights–especially of Attorney General Maura Healey, Congressman Joe Kennedy, and State Treasurer Deb Goldberg–and of BU student Ariel Stein, a Boston University student who has belonged all her life to the Tree of Life Synagogue, where the deadly shootings took place. “It is up to all of us to love,” she said.
I’m sorry to have missed talks by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Governor Charlie Baker but as one who is generally skeptical about politicians, I felt very glad to live in a state and city that elects responsible leaders–even if I sometimes don’t agree with them.
(I’ve been sending letters and will canvas to encourage infrequent voters to vote in the mid-term elections–and hope that you will do the same.)
–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA. New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a content, PR and digital marketing agency, also in Cambridge.
BIO issues glowing report on US Bioscience Industry
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I’ll be posting more soon about the 2018 Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s International Convention, where I spent the day on Monday, but thought the following press release might be of interest. Despite the glowing industry review, many sessions dealt with difficulties the industry is facing. The release follows.
–Anita M. Harris
A study released on June 5 at the BIO International Convention in Boston shows that the U.S. bioscience industry has reached $2 trillion in annual economic impact while maintaining accelerated venture capital investment and job growth numbers. Among U.S. technology sectors, the bioscience industry has held a leading position as an economic driver and job generator.
The report, Investment, Innovation and Job Creation in a Growing U.S. Bioscience Industry 2018, finds U.S. bioscience firms directly employ 1.74 million people, a figure that includes more than 273,000 high-paying jobs created since 2001. The average annual wage for a U.S. bioscience worker reached $98,961 in 2016. These earnings are more than $45,000 greater, on average, than the overall U.S. private sector wage. The report further shows that since 2014, the bioscience industry has grown by 4.4 percent with four of its five major subsectors contributing to this overall job gain.
For the first time, the biennial report includes a full assessment of the economic impact of the bioscience industry and finds its total economic impact on the U.S. economy, as measured by overall output, totaled $2 trillion in 2016. This impact is generated by the direct output of the bioscience industry combined with the indirect (supply chain) and induced (employee spending) impacts. The industry and its associated economic output support 8 million jobs throughout the entire U.S. economy through both indirect and induced effects.
“This report highlights the enormous economic impact delivered by our industry. This strong performance is due to the vital and wide-ranging collaborations between industry partners, universities, and policymakers that provides a business climate that supports the development of innovative bioscience products and high paying jobs,” said Jim Greenwood, President and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.”
The report also takes the pulse of the broader U.S. innovation ecosystem for bioscience companies and finds it advancing with positive results. The U.S. is experiencing strong gains in bioscience venture capital funding, growth in patents, a recent ramp-up in bioscience-related university R&D expenditures and increasing research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“The bioscience industry is vital to the U.S. not only as an innovation engine that is improving lives, but also as a major economic driver that is consistently generating high-quality jobs and significant economic output across the nation,” said Ryan Helwig, Principal and Project Director with TEConomy Partners.
The state-by-state industry assessment is the eighth in a biennial series, developed in partnership by TEConomy and BIO, presenting data on national, state, and metropolitan area bioscience industry employment and recent trends.
Additional highlights from the industry economic analysis include:
The industry is a major economic driver and is well distributed across U.S. states and cities:
41 states experienced net job growth in the biosciences between 2014-2016
38 states and Puerto Rico have an employment specialization in at least one bioscience subsector
213 of 383 U.S. metropolitan areas have at least one bioscience specialization
Highlights from the analysis of the innovation ecosystem for the bioscience industry include:
Strength in recent venture capital and patenting trends:
Venture capital investments have reached new highs. More than $66 billion in venture capital was invested in bioscience companies during the 2014 through 2017 period, including a new annual high in 2017 at $20 billion invested.
Innovation continues to drive the biosciences, since 2014 the U.S. has increased patent totals in bioscience-related technology classes by nearly 5 percent, or 1.6 percent per year, on average. 2017 had a total of nearly 27,000 patents awarded to U.S. inventors, another new high.
Growth for academic biosciences R&D in 2016
After several years of concerns raised about the declining and/or flat NIH research budgets and the subsequent effects on academic and other research, NIH funding is back on the rise. There have been budget increases sustained each of the last three years.
Across America’s colleges and universities, the pace of R&D spending in bioscience-related research areas has increased. Following a 1.5 percent decline in 2015, academic R&D expenditures in the biosciences increased 5.5 percent to $42 billion in 2016.
The TEConomy/BIO report includes individual profiles for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and can be found on the BIO website at bio.org/jobs2018.
About BIO
BIO is the world’s largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world. BIOtechNOW is BIO’s blog chronicling “innovations transforming our world” and the BIO Newsletter is the organization’s bi-weekly email newsletter. Subscribe to the BIO Newsletter.
About TEConomy
TEConomy Partners, LLC is a global leader in research, analysis, and strategy for innovation-based economic development. Today we’re helping nations, states, regions, universities, and industries blueprint their future and translate knowledge into prosperity. The Principals of TEConomy Partners include the authors of the prior Battelle/BIO State Bioscience Development reports, published since 2004. For more information, please visit http://www.teconomypartners.com.
Anita M. Harris is a writer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, http://harriscom.com.
Women’s March Photos, Cambridge 2018
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Had a great time at this year’s women’s march…Much good cheer; great signage, and a wide range of participants. At about 2 pm, half-way through, a police officer told me that the crowd estimate was 4000…but he believed the number of participants was twice that, and I’d guess even a few more. (Given that there were only about 10 porta-potties, I’d also guess that was many more than the organizers expected). The sound system left something to be desired (from my perch on a monument, I could see the speaker but not hear an understandable word) but I much enjoyed the creativity of the signage and enthusiasm of the attendees.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a pr and content marketing firm in Cambridge.
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Free chocolate tasting Sat Jan 27: Harvard Square!
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This just in From the Harvard Square Business Association…Yes, I stood in line last year and will likely do so again! –Anita Harris
The Legendary 10th Taste of Chocolate Festival in Harvard SquareFriday, January 26th – January 28th, 2018
January 17, 2018 (Cambridge, MA) The wait is over! The Harvard Square Business Association is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated annual Taste of Chocolate Festival. The highlight of this beloved weekend extravaganza is the free Chocolate Tasting Event on Saturday, January 27th from 1pm – 2pm. Please join us on Brattle Plaza (in front of Brattle Square Florist at 31 Brattle Street) for heavenly chocolate treats from some of Harvard Square’s most loved restaurants!Come early! This celebration of all things chocolate attracts hundreds of chocoholics! Bring your dancing shoes (or boots! It’s a great way to burn off those calories you will consume!) – once again, our friends Grooversity will warm the crowd with their infectious and heart stopping percussion combining traditional Brazilian grooves like Samba and Axe with Funk, Rock, Jazz and even Hip Hop.
Special thanks to our sponsor, Getaroundfor supporting this event.
Salsa, Merengue and Reggaeton your way around Winter Carnival with some of Wellbridge Athletic Club’s finest Zumba instructors! Join in the hottest fitness dance craze right here in Harvard Square – see what all the fun is about, and shake off those winter blues! 1:00pm – 1:30pm on Palmer Street, right by the chocolate!
In addition, chocolate promotions and sweet deals are on full display all weekend throughout the Square. Businesses looking forward to welcoming you to the sweetest weekend of the year include:
For more information about this event and all events in Harvard Square, please visit harvardsquare.com.
Anita Harris is a writer, communications consultant and chocolate lover who lives and works in Cambridge.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and content marketing firm based in Cambridge, MA.
CDSC TO CELEBRATE 3 COMMUNITY PEACEMAKERS IN CAMBRIDGE ON OCTOBER 14th
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(Cambridge, MA) The Community Dispute Settlement Center (CDSC) will be honoring three community peacemakers for their work in the courts, at-risk young adults, and high school students. The public is invited to join us in celebrating with community mediators, educators, lawyers and community leaders at the Venture Café in the Cambridge Innovation Center on Wednesday, October 14th. Tickets to the event need to be purchased in advance on CDSC’s web site: www.communitydispute.org
Cambridge Dispute Resolution Center
At the event CDSC will be recognizing the work of: Hon. John Cratsley (ret.), a leader in alternative dispute resolution standards and implementation in the Massachusetts courts; Jon Feinman, the founder of InnerCity Weightlifting of Cambridge, an innovative program that uses fitness training as a tool to reduce violence and promote professional, personal and academic achievement among urban youth; and The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Mediation Team, a resource for the school’s students to develop skills and resolve interpersonal issues fully and peacefully.
CDSC, established in 1979, is a private non-profit mediation and training center, dedicated to providing an alternative and affordable forum for resolving conflict. CDSC promotes better ways to understand and deal with conflict through skilled teams of volunteer mediators, training programs in mediation and conflict management, and broad community outreach. It also collaborates with local schools to create peer mediation programs and skill-building workshops that help youth deal with conflict.
For more information about CDSC or to arrange a training workshop for a school, youth group or organization, please call 617-876-5376, emailcdscinfo@communitydispute.org, or visit the CDSC’s website at: http://www.communitydispute.org.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and marketing firm based at the Cambridge Innovation Center in Cambridge, MA.
