Friday Favorites: Jan. 9
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- January
- 9
Melvin Burruss, president of the African American Men of Westchester , will be the host this year of the 11th Annual African American Literary Tea, sponsored by the Westchester Library System. He says is very honored to promote reading and libraries on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, just a day before the inauguration of President Barak Obama.
The Literary Tea to be held at Abigail Kirsch’s Tappan Hill in Tarrytown, kicks off a month-long celebration of African American history, literature and culture throughout the county’s 38 public libraries. It is co-sponsored by the Westchester County Chapter of The Links, Inc.
The featured authors are Kimberly Seals-Allers, Asha Bandele, Tonya Bolden, and Kimberla Lawson Roby. Honorary Chairwoman of the tea is Cheryl Brannan, president/CEO of Sister to Sister International, Inc. For more about the tea, you’ll have to wait till next week when I write about it The Journal News, so keep watching. Some tickets are still available for this WLS event and I can tell you from past events the tea and treats are very elegant and the book talk is inspiring and thought-provoking. 
But, back to Mr. Burruss, an attorney in Manhattan who lives in Peekskill. We chatted with this afternoon about books and literature. He is a real avid reader and says reading “helps a person become independent and a self-learner.” And, he adds, you can “derive meaning and please from reading.
Burruss is head of a White Plains-based organization, African American Men of Westchester, which was formed in 1987 to bring awareness to the homelessness of African Americans, particularly military men. The group strives to promote stronger families and the value of education and training. Earlier on Jan. 19, AAMW is giving out the 8th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Youth Awards in Tarrytown.
For his personal reading, Burruss says nowadays he reads lots of legal journals and publications to remain current in his field. But he has some favorite books and here is a brief list of his favorites:
•”Hawaii” (Random House, 1959 ) and “Chesapeake” (Random House, 1978) by John Michener because he likes that the stories offer a historical perspective on the lives of people. This helps us “understand why things are as they are today,” he adds.
•The Foundation Series, epic science fiction tome covering nearly 500 years by Isaac Asimov. He predicts the future by using the law of mass action on a large scale. The stories are of course science fiction, but Burriss says they are clever and really encourage him to think about things in new ways.
•”Wandering Jew” by Eugene Sue about the mythical legend of the man who was destined to wander the world forever because he refused Jesus a resting place. Burriss says he likes how it describes Europe as it once was and how the Jesuits came into being . The book was written in 1844 or 1845 (sources vary here) and is available in different editions, both parts 1 and 2. Amazon.com notes that some readers list it as one of the top 100 books of all time.
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on Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 6:25 pm by Barbara Nackman.
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