Category: Speaker Announcements (Page 42 of 45)

Patricia Brooks the NY Times food critic for Connecticut will talk about the 4th edition of her “Food Lovers’ Guide to Connecticut”.  The book will hit bookshelves in May and she will bring copies for sale to anyone interested.

She will talk about the regional restaurant changes (e.g. stronger focus on international cuisine, addition of wine lists, wider range of menus, and new words to describe menu options). Patricia will also address the major changes that Fairfield County has experienced as a result of the “California” influence coming from that state’s early Asian and Hispanic communities, immigration reflected in the many nationalities of current owners of town restaurants, and the local residents’ extensive travel to foreign countries.

Joe McGee, of the Fairfield County Business Council,  will speak to us on Connecticut’s Economic Competitiveness.  He will update us on issues and initiatives regarding legislative actions, employment, transportation, and coping with severe weather events. Joe has a wealth of information to share with us.

Arthur White will speak about Connecticut’s “Connecting through Literacy: Inmates, Children and Caregivers” (“CLICC”) project.

This program, conceived by Arthur, deals with two pressing societal challenges:

1) the below average literacy rates of incarcerated parents and their children, and

2) strained, often destructive relationships among families whose composition includes an incarcerated parent.

Children and family members suffer during the incarceration period itself, and then again upon inmate reentry, as the family must readjust to its new structure. Reinforcing the literacy skills of reentering inmates and their children will help to ease their transition, and help the family move forward successfully.

Martin Skala was the coordinator for Arthur

Katie Koroleva was born in Vorkuta City, Russia. Vorkuta is located in the Far North, North of the Polar Circle. The city is best known for its prison with no walls—too cold and too remote to go anywhere. At the age of 8 she and her family moved to Nizhny Novgorod, which is about 5 hours from Moscow. She completed her schooling there including her BA in Public Administration and English interpretation. After college she came to the US, where she has been for the past eight years. After working for Toyota, she currently works in sales for Lexus.

She will present some interesting insights into a youngsters life in Russia as contrasted with life in the US, as well as her view of current Russia.

Kristen Crusato, Southwestern Regional Director for the Alzheimer’s Association Connecticut Chapter, will speak on how to deal with people with Alzheimer’s.

Kristen received her B.A in Communications from the State University of New York at Geneseo, and has 22 years working in the television industry. Her career path began at Cable 6 TV in Middletown, NY. She went on to KCBD in Lubbock, Texas and then spent 9 years at WTNH as an anchor/reporter.

After spending 4 years in San Diego working at KUSI-TV, Kristen returned to Connecticut in 2009, to help take care of her mother who had been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. Kristen went back to her job as the Co-Anchor of Good Morning Connecticut on WTNH News 8. She Emcee’d the New Haven Walk to End Alzheimer’s in 2010 and 2011, and late in 2011 left News 8 to join the CT Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

In her role as the Southwestern Regional Director, Kristen coordinates and implements all Chapter services and programs for those with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, families, professionals, and the general public. She is working towards the mission of a World Without Alzheimer’s, so that other families don’t have to lose loved ones to this mind-robbing disease.

James A. “Jim” Himes the U.S. Representative for Connecticut’s 4th congressional district, serving since 2009, will be our guest speaker. Jim is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services, the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity, and the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises.

Greg Van Antwerp’s passionate second “career” is digging for historical treasures through every estate, garage and tag sale he can find. He will be sharing some of his search techniques and discoveries with us. He also writes a weekly column for Patch titled “The Urban Archaeologist” that is published in a average of 15 Patch towns each week.

Darien CT Chief of Police, Duane Lovello

Darien Chief of Police Duane Lovello was born and raised in Stamford. He attended Stamford High School, earned a Bachelor’s degree  in Criminal Justice from the University of New Haven, a JD degree from the University of Connecticut, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA .

He has been a police officer for over 30 years. Lovello joined the Darien PD in 1981 and was appointed Chief in 2005. He lives in Trumbull with his wife and two sons.

Jim Cameron, SMA member, MetroNorth watchdog, and rail enthusiast, will speak about inter-city rapid transit. He has recent personal experience riding high-speed rail in several cities in the Far East. He will also share his opinions about the future of high-speed rail travel in the U.S.

Karen Nisenson is founder/director of Arts for Healing, Inc. and will speak on how they provide integrated musical and art therapy for individuals with emotional or physical problems.

Arts for Healing, Inc. is located in New Canaan and was founded to serve the special needs population of children and adults living with communication disorders through integrated music therapy and art therapy. Their mission is to break through barriers that isolate them, creating a channel for self-expression through the arts.

Karen holds a M.M. in Piano Performance from the Julliard School and an M.A. in Music Therapy from New York University. She is a certified music therapist and an adjunct faculty member in Music Therapy at NYU where she has taught since 1978. She is also affiliated with the Nordoff-Robbins Center at NYU and has worked in the field of creative arts therapy for 25 years. As a mother of five, composer and musician, Karen brings a wealth of experience to her work.

Art Gottlieb, the noted naval historian who has previously given us fascinating talks on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway, will return to tell us about “The Battle of Britain,” its effect on the English people, and how they coped with it.

“The Battle of Britain” is the name given to the Second World War air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940.   The name derives from a famous speech delivered by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the House of Commons:   “… the Battle of France is over.   I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”

Mr. Gottlieb is formerly Curator of Naval History, and Technical Director of Exhibits at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in NYC.

Gordon G. Chang, a lawyer, author, television pundit, and will speak on the current status of the USA relationship with China.

Gordon writes primarily on China, Asia, and nuclear proliferation and believes we will see discontinuous change around the world in the near future, so he is not into making long-range personal plans. He is author of two books, The Coming Collapse of China and Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World. Gordon is a contributor to Forbes and on December 9, 2012 published an article in Forbes titled Move Over, Michigan, China Is The World’s Next Rust Belt.

Gordon is best known for his book The Coming Collapse of China (2001), in which he argued that the hidden non-performing loans of the “Big Four” Chinese State banks would likely bring down China’s financial system and its communist government and China would collapse in 2006.

He is a regular contributor to The John Batchelor Show, The Glenn Beck Program on Fox News, and CNN. He also appeared as a special guest on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in 2006. In February 2010, he appeared on Al Jazeera English and argued that China does not have a lot of economic leverage over the US, and it is actually the other way around. In November 2010, he appeared on Imus in the Morning to discuss the Yeonpyeong bombing.