PROFESSOR BILL FERRIS, FOLKLORIST AND AUTHOR OF GROUNDBREAKING BOOK ON THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA BLUES, WILL speak to the club

Thursday, February 25,  Noon to 2:00 PM

The Harvard Club of the Research Triangle is honored to have Professor William (Bill) Ferris, internationally renowned folklorist and author, be our guest luncheon speaker at the Radisson Hotel in RTP on Thursday 25th, 2010. Also, William (Bill) Friday, President Emeritus of the UNC System--in recognition of his lifetime of service to the citizens of North Carolina--will be present to receive the club’s newly created annual Roland Giduz Harvard Club of the Research Triangle Community Service Award.

Bill Ferris is no stranger to our club, having previously entertained us with his humorous stories and songs he collected over the years growing up in Mississippi. But on the 25th, Bill will deliver a fascinating talk about his new book, Give My Poor Heart Ease, which documents the stories and blues music of African-American musicians and their families from the Mississippi worlds in which Bill grew up. After Bill’s presentation, he will be available to autograph copies of the book which will be available for purchase.

The Book…Give My Poor Heart Ease. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, folklorist William Ferris toured his home state of Mississippi, documenting the voices of African Americans as they spoke about and performed the diverse musical traditions that form the authentic roots of the blues. Now, Give My Poor Heart Ease puts front and center a searing selection of the artistically and emotionally rich voices from this invaluable documentary record. Illustrated with Ferris’s photographs of the musicians and their communities and including a CD of original music and a DVD of original film, the book features more than twenty interviews relating frank, dramatic, and engaging narratives about black life and blues music in the heart of the American South.

William Ferris is the Joel Williamson Eminent Professor of History and senior associate director of the Center for the study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Ferris co-edited the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and is the author of Blues from the Delta. Rolling Stone magazine has named him among the top ten professors in the United States. For more on Ferris, please go to http://history.unc.edu/faculty/ferris.html, or view a brief interview with him at http://www.youtube.com/uncchapelhill#p/u/6/DHNkldOVG8g.

Schedule:

12:00 noon – 1:00 PM Networking and Lunch

1:00 – 2:00 PM Professor Ferris will speak and take questions

Registration: The cost for the dinner and speaker program is $28 (plus a small convenience charge) for each attendee. All members of the public are invited, but you must have a reservation. Please provide your name and contact information (phone and/or email) and the names of your guests as well as any dietary restrictions that should be noted. The deadline for online reservations is noon, Tuesday, February 23.

Mail-in Registration: The cost for the luncheon and speaker program is $28 for each attendee. All members of the public are invited, but reservations are required. To sign up, please send your check (payable to the Harvard Club of the Research Triangle) to Bob Whyte, 103 Cameron Glen Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. Please provide the name of each attendee, your phone number, and any dietary restrictions with your check. Mailed Reservations must be received by February 22nd. .

Online Registration: To make your reservation(s) online, click here. The cost of on-line reservations for this event is the same as for mail-in reservations as described above plus a small convenience charge. February 23 at noon is the deadline for making online reservations.

Questions? Contact bob@bobwhyte.com

Location: Radisson Hotel, 150 Park Drive, RTP.

Heading East on I-40, take exit 280 (Davis Drive) and at top of exit ramp, go straight across Davis Drive onto Park Drive. Follow Park Drive a short distance until you come to a stop sign and then veer to the right up a hill. The hotel will be on your right.

Heading West on I-40, take Exit 280, but take a left at the top of the ramp onto Davis Drive, then take first right onto Park Drive.

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Your Harvard Club Program Committee is hard at work

The Program Committee is working diligently to prepare a full slate of Club events for 2010. Club members can look forward to luncheons, dinners, happy-hour gatherings and much more in the coming months. Do you have an idea for a Club event? Send an email to Program Chair Bob Whyte at cwhyte@mindspring.com. Bob is always looking for volunteers to help plan and coordinate events.

In the meantime, you can join the club or renew your membership. You won't want to miss out on a single event and, as a current paid member, you will enjoy exclusive club member discounts on our events.