U of M Professor, Dr. Ralph Williams To Speak On Shakespeare's Sonnets

The Friends of the Grosse Pointe Public Library announce the second lecture in their Classics Books Lecture Series. University of Michigan professor emeritus, Dr. Ralph Williams will speak on Shakespeare's Sonnets on Thursday, February 17, 2011, 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Grosse Pointe South High School, 11 Grosse Pointe Boulevard at Fisher Road in Grosse Pointe Farms. Admission is $10 at the door for the general public. Friends members, students and teachers with identification have free admission. (There are no presales.) For further information, contact Donna Di Sante at dmdisante@att.net or 313-881-2258.

The focus of Professor Williams' lecture will be on Shakespeare's Sonnets 1-12, 15, 1 8, 29, 30, 34-36, 46, 73, 98, 129, and 144.

About the Speaker
A popular teacher and dramatic speaker, Professor Williams received the University of Michigan's annuAl Golden Apple Award in 1992. In 2008 Professor Williams was selected as Michigan Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching. Upon his retirement in 2009, after a 39-year career, he was awarded the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Golden Apple Award.

Ralph Williams, was an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of English in the Department of English, Language and Literature at the University of Michigan. He has studied 15 languages including Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, and uses Italian, French, and Latin, especially frequently.

He specializes in Medieval and Renaissance literature, Shakespeare, literary theory, comparative literature and Biblical studies. He has taught such wide-ranging courses as The Bible in English, plus the literature of Chaucer to Frederick Douglass, to the works of Primo Levi and the Memory of Auschwitz.

Professor Williams was Associate Chair of the Department of English (for the second time) from 1999 to 2002. He also served from 1996 to 1999 as Director of the Program on Studies in Religion. While Associate Chair of the English Department, he was instrumental in creating and developing the Royal Shakespeare Company Residency program at the University of Michigan and continues to be involved with their annual visit. He has worked closely with the University Musical Society to further the activities of the RSC Residency.

The Classics Books Lecture Series was started by Grosse Pointer Mary Beth Smith, Secretary of The Friends of the Grosse Pointe Public Library and a trustee of the Library Board. Upon moving to Grosse Pointe from New York City, she sought out lectures on classic literature similar to ones she had enjoyed in New York. According to Smith, there were no such continuing education courses available in Metro Detroit or Ann Arbor. When she approached local universities, she found that the University of Michigan English professors were eager to share their knowledge.

The Classics Books Lecture Series starts with the early classic books in literature and finishes with the modern. Esteemed professors from the University of Michigan Department of English present stimulating talks on a variety of classic selections. The talks are always interesting and allow time for audience discussion. Everyone from teenagers to octogenarians and beyond enjoy the lectures. According to Smith, "One does not have to have read the books to enjoy the Classics Books Lectures, because the professors bring so much information about the authors, the times in which they lived, comparison to other pieces of literature, insights into how and why the works were written, et cetera. We need to appreciate the past to make the best of the future. Our speakers are all notable scholars in their literary period."

Membership in The Friends of the Grosse Pointe Public Library is $25 for individuals and $30 for families. The price of membership pays for those who wish to attend the lecture series, while supporting The Friends and their activities. For more information about The Friends see the website at www.gpfriends.org

The 2011 "Classics" Books Lecture Series continues with the following lectures:

· Thursday, March 3, Professor Gregg Crane will lecture on Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.
· Thursday, March 24, Professor John Whittier-Ferguson will lecture on writer D. H. Lawrence: Women in Love, sequel to The Rainbow
· Thursday, April 28, Professor George Bornstein will lecture on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea
· Thursday, May 5, Professor Enoch Brater will lecture on playwright Arthur Miller's last four plays: Finishing the Picture, Resurrection Blues, Broken Glass, and Mr. Peter's Connections

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