FUSsa-talk Mailing List: HELP me decide

[Carol Koepp (carolkoepp]

Dear Eat 'n' Meet committee, 

Below is a long series of emails from Paul Loeb, author of Soul of a Citizen, 
who wants to do an event (talk and book signing) at FUS.   I shared it with 
Phil Duran (Summer Assemblies) before I realized he was being very specific, 
wanting April 21.  Phil thinks it looks great.  I sent the first contact email 
to Katy too, but haven't heard anything,  I think she is on a ski trip.  

ANYWAY, what do you think of scheduling him for for April 21 which is an Eat 
'n' Meet Wednesday?  I checked the FUS calendar and just the usual things are 
in the bldg., i.e., choir in lower assembly, so we could schedule an evening 
event in the upper assembly.  Intended audience would be FUS not in choir and 
other UUs in the metro area and DCEH members.

He's also suggesting May 11, but that is a Tues. and the day before our annual 
meeting - not good, I'm thinking.

Your thoughts??

Carol
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Paul Loeb 
To: carolkoepp [at] comcast.net 
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 5:19 PM
Subject: PS--if you want to look at both April 21 and the evening of May 11 
that would be great


Still playing with the option of spending an extra day in Twin Cities which 
would mean shifting to May 11. So if you can check both dates I can then decide


Thanks

PL

 

From: Paul Loeb [mailto:loeb [at] soulofacitizen.org] 
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 12:38 PM
To: 'carolkoepp [at] comcast.net'
Subject: RE: I have a new edition of Soul of a Citizen. Would Mount Curve want 
to host a talk as you did in 2004 with The Impossible Will Take a Little While?

 

Delighted youâre working on it. April 21st would work perfectly, and with my 
current schedule in fact is the only evening slot that would work, since Iâm 
only in Minneapolis for an evening and a day, although I have toyed with 
shifting the city a bit later to open up more space, adjacent to a May 9-10 
Atlanta trip or an additional May 21-22 Chicago trip to do their Green Festival.

 

I think I mentioned it, but I actually have a good team of local Minneapolis 
people from different peace and justice groups who did an excellent date at St 
Joan of Arc in 2007 (about 150 people, roughly the same as my talk for you 
folks last time). And theyâre willing to work on getting people there again, 
whether at Mount Curve or Joan of Arc or (or maybe University Bookstore, which 
is also interested). So they would help in publicizing it. The contact whoâs 
going to coordinate for them is Dick Bernard dick_bernard [at] msn.com   

 

In terms of expenses, Iâd love to get a little bit to help cover my air fare, 
but the groups that brought me in last time might come up with it, and if they 
canât Iâd do it anyway. So that would be a total honor system. If you could 
come up with $100-200 that would be great. If not, no problem, so long as you 
folks were willing to pass the word as much as possible in all your peace and 
justice networks, both inside the congregation and outside.

 

So check back with your committees and let me know if the 21st would work. [And 
if you think those other dates could also work, wouldnât hurt to know that, 
because that would let me spend an extra day in Minneapolis]

 

Look forward to being in touch. Iâm around today if you have any more questions.

 

Paul Loeb
3232 41st Ave SW

Seattle, WA 98116
206 935-9132 Cell 206 240-5903

Paul [at] paulloeb.org

 

From: carolkoepp [at] comcast.net [mailto:carolkoepp [at] comcast.net] 
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 10:58 AM
To: Paul Loeb
Subject: Re: I have a new edition of Soul of a Citizen. Would Mount Curve want 
to host a talk as you did in 2004 with The Impossible Will Take a Little While?

 

Paul - I'm also checking with the social action committee.  We have all our 
programming done for the balance of the program year, but this may be worth an 
evening event.  Would there be expenses for us?  April 21st is a Wed. so it 
could work out well to schedule your talk after one of our Wed. eve. dinners.  
Are you already lined up for the 21st.?

 

Carol Koepp

Social Justice Coordinator

952-893-2383 (h)

612-377-6608 (o)

 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Loeb" <loeb [at] soulofacitizen.org>
To: membership [at] firstunitariansociety.org, minister [at] 
firstunitariansociety.org, sac [at] firstunitariansociety.org
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 11:17:50 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
Subject: I have a new edition of Soul of a Citizen. Would Mount Curve want to 
host a talk as you did in 2004 with The Impossible Will Take a Little While?

Itâs been a while since I spoke at Mount Curve in 2004, when Diana Allen set up 
a talk, co-sponsored with Wellstone Action helped cosponsor the lovely event at 
Mount Curve Unitarian when The Impossible Will Take a Little While came out in 
2004. The Impossible ended up being named the #3 political book of 2004 by the 
History Channel and the American Book Association, won the Nautilus Award for 
best social change book, and keeps on selling with 70,000 copies in print

 

Iâve now spent the past year on a wholly revised edition of my Soul of a 
Citizen book on citizen involvement, whose earlier edition has 100,000 copies 
in print. The new edition comes out March 30. People are finding it really 
powerful, and I thought you might be able to host a talk Iâm working to set up 
when I come through Minneapolis April 21st (Iâm also approaching St Joan of 
Arc, where I had a lovely event in 2007).

 

My talks build off the new edition to tell some amazing new stories and also 
explore the current political time, with its mix of opportunity and challenges, 
disappointment and hope, and the key need for citizens to act to help move 
things forward as they did during the election. I focus particularly around 
what citizen activism means under Obama, and how to get past demoralization.  
Iâve gotten powerful responses and would love to do another event.

 

The updated Soul includes some powerful new stories placed in the context of 
our new political landscape, with its mix of opportunity and challenges. I have 
some great new profiles, like the story of Angie DeSoto that leads off the 
Village Politics chapter. She goes from being âa drunken party girlâ to 
creating and running a major campus sustainability effort at Virginia Tech.  
Iâd talk about Rich Cizikâs powerful work with the evangelical community, and 
Obamaâs buried political genesis as a student activist. Iâve completely revised 
the chapter on political burnout, exploring how citizen activists can keep on 
despite their disappointments. Iâd love to come in to speak when the book comes 
out to talk about what citizen involvement means in the current time. 

 

As you know, the talks and interviews Iâve been giving are based on thirty-five 
years of my work examining the psychology of social involvement. They explore 
how ordinary citizens can make their voices heard and actions count in a time 
when we're told neither matter. They examine how people get involved in larger 
community issues and what stops them from getting involved; how they burn out 
in exhaustion or maintain their commitment for the long haul; what we need to 
learn from the citizen movements of the past; how involvement can give a sense 
of connection and purpose rare in purely personal life. My recent talks have 
also woven in themes from The Impossible and from my Campus Election Engagement 
Project, where I helped colleges and universities engage students in 15 key 
states (our final grants paid for posters encouraging same day registration 
that went out to every community college in Minnesota, including the tribal 
colleges).

 

Between Soul of a Citizen, The Impossible Will Take a Little While, and my 
earlier Generation at the Crossroads, Nuclear Culture and Hope in Hard Times 
books, I've been a keynoter or featured speaker at numerous national 
conferences, including one keynote and two featured talks at the Unitarian 
General Assembly, the American Society on Aging, the American Bar Associationâs 
Equal Justice conference (where I got a standing ovation closing their national 
conference), National Education Association, Education Commission of the 
States, American College Personnel Association, National Youth Leadership 
Council, National Student Coalition on Hunger and Homelessness, major 
environmental conferences, the corporate meeting of Patagonia corporation, the 
national hunger action group Results, and educational gatherings of college 
presidents, provosts and Deans. My talk at the annual provostsâ gathering of 
the American Association of State Colleges and Universities led to their 
establishing the 200-campus American Democracy Project.

 

You know my work well, but in case itâs useful, I'm enclosing some lists of 
comments on my lectures and books, as well as a bio. You can also get more info 
from the Website,  www.paulloeb.org 

 

Thanks for all you do. I'll look forward to being in touch.

 

 

 

Paul Loeb

3232 41st Ave SW

Seattle, WA 98116

206 935-9132 phone or fax
paul [at] paulloeb.org

 

Iâve attached comments on my talks and on the books, and a summary of Soulâs 
new edition. Iâd also be delighted to send an advance electronic exam copy, or 
a Xeroxed copy of the final clean manuscript.