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Our Next Event
Olympia Snowe - Fighting for Common Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress
May 20 2013 4:00 pm
May 20 2013 5:00 pm
A veteran of some forty years in public office, at both the state and federal levels, Senator Snowe built a reputation as a moderate always ready to work for bipartisan compromise. But with Congress increasingly mired in deadlock and polarization, Snowe, writing out of both frustration with the stalemate and a belief that the system can work, has issued this call for a citizens movement to hold elected officials accountable.
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Monday, May 20, 7:00 pm
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Tuesday, May 21, 10:30 am
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Tuesday, May 21, 4:00 pm
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Tuesday, May 21, 7:00 pm
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Wednesday, May 22, 10:30 am
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Wednesday, May 22, 7:00 pm
A Dog, A Nursing Home, and The Meaning of Virtue
Every so often a book comes along that is just so unusual and so meaningful that we feel compelled to write about it. Such is the case with Sue Halpern’s sixth and latest work, A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher.
Halpern is an editor at The New York Review of Books, freelance journalist, and scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College whose previous books have ranged from a study of butterfly migrations to the science of aging and memory. In her new book, the protagonist is a six-year-old Labradoodle named Pransky, and the supporting cast consists largely of octogenarians who live in a county-run nursing home in Vermont. The story starts with Halpern looking for new ways to engage Pransky while her husband is on the road and her daughter has gone off to school. Halpern decides that she and the dog (who spends most of her days running leash-less in the woods and fields of the Green Mountains) should train to become a therapy team at the local nursing home.
Halpern is a gifted storyteller, and the tale of Pransky’s
transformation from free-spirited pet to well-mannered therapy dog,
beginning with a devious strategy Halpern dreams up to help her pooch
pass the certification test, provides enough humor and entertainment to
make for a great book. But beyond the surface story, Halpern is really chronicling a deeper journey: Over three years of visits to the
nursing home, she and Pransky negotiate new terrain—the landscape of
aging, where simple acts of kindness reveal worlds about our own
humanity. Sprinkling in elements of philosophy, morality, and ethics
(subjects about which Halpern has written previously), Halpern recounts
how her own assumptions and presumptions about the elderly and infirm
are challenged as she and Pransky make their weekly rounds. Moreover,
it is Pransky, the open-minded, generous, and nonjudgmental canine, who
turns out to be her greatest moral guide and teacher.
A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home is compassionate and profound—a work uplifting in its honesty and integrity. Not only do we encourage you to read this book (and we’re confident that anyone who reads it, dog-lover or not, will fall in love with Pransky), we hope you’ll join us for an event with Halpern at Politics & Prose on Wednesday, May 22 at 7 p.m.
Dogs (and humans) welcome.
- Brad and Lissa








In the first volume of the first authorized biography of the late
British Prime Minister, Moore, a veteran journalist and political
columnist, draws on extensive interviews with his subject, her family,
and her associates, as well as on letters, diaries, and other documents.
The result is a detailed look at Thatcher’s public and personal life,
from her childhood to her entry in Parliament in 1959, from her bold
challenge to Edward Heath for Tory leadership to her victory over
Argentina in the Falklands War, from her difficult position as a woman
in a traditionally male role to her remarkable rapport with Ronald
Reagan.
The debate continues: did FDR do everything possible to save European
Jews during the Second World War? The authors, both American University
history professors, examine the public debate as well as consult newly
available primary sources, finding that the president was both
compassionate and pragmatic, doing what he could on behalf of the Nazis’
victims.
Politics
& Prose is hiring a full-time accounts payable assistant, but
would consider a strong part-time candidate. In addition to accounts
payable matters, responsibilities include handling co-op advertizing,
organizing mail, and performing other projects/tasks as needed. The
ideal candidate would be someone who pays attention to detail, accuracy
and timeliness; possesses strong organizational skills; is proficient
in Excel; works well with little supervision; and is able to handle
multiple tasks and take on new ones as needed. Bookselling and
accounting/bookkeeping experience is preferable, but not
necessary. Great independent bookstore environment, benefits. Send
cover letter and resumé to Ron Tucker,
How
many rings were forged by Sauron in J.R.R. Tolkein’s Middle Earth?
Excluding monuments, what is the tallest building in D.C.? Put on your
thinking cap, grab a drink, and join us for 










at Sixth & I
at Sixth & I
at Sixth & I
at Sidwell Friends School
