A book club can have several goals at once, including the social aspect of getting together with others in a relaxed setting and the focused activity of discussing various elements of a particular book that everyone in the group has (mostly) read. A recent survey by BookBrowse of over 5,500 individuals engaged in book clubs across the country reported that survey responders highlighted both the value of discussion focused on the chosen book AND the social nature of the group. In the latest session of our yearlong CHWB Book Club, you’ll join Dr. Annette Kelly, an avid reader, and the recently retired board president of Neighbors Network, who aims to help you do both!

For our December selection, we’ll be reading “Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR” by Lisa Napoli.

Back in the 1970s, a pioneering non-profit called National Public Radio came along and the door to serious, meaningful journalism cracked open. And in walked four remarkable women. The rest is history.

Journalist Lisa Napoli wonderfully captures the lives and contributions and challenges of these four very different women:

• Cokie Roberts, born into a political family, familiar with the halls of Congress, yearning for public service.
• Susan Stamberg, the first woman to anchor a nightly news program.
• Linda Wertheimer, daughter of shopkeepers from New Mexico, who fought her way to a scholarship and a spot on the air.
• Nina Totenberg, the network’s legal affairs correspondent, who found a new way to cover the Supreme Court.

The book is based on extensive interviews and the author’s own deep connection to news and public radio, and it’s a captivating telling of one of the most significant eras in journalism.

Read “Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR” by Lisa Napoli and make plans to join the CHWB Book Club for a lively discussion led by Dr Annette Kelly.

Special Note: Participants are asked to borrow or purchase the featured book prior to the program’s start date. Book clubs work well when participants have read the book, but this is not a requirement. Being open to the opinions and reflections of others is important, as is staying on topic. Other elements of a “good” discussion: making room for everyone who wishes to speak, being attentive when others are speaking, not interrupting, or arguing, and encouraging less talkative members to join in.

This program is presented by Dr. Annette Kelly and hosted by the Winter Park Health Foundation.

About the Program Presenter

Annette Kelly recently retired as the board president of Neighbors Network, a local non-profit, whose mission is the independence, engagement, and connectedness of older adults in our community. She is also a retired nurse practitioner and nursing professor with experience locally as the former CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association. She was the former assistant professor of Nursing at Florida Southern College. Kelly is an avid reader who has been married 58 years and enjoys spending time with her four children and four grandchildren.