written by Steve Lopez which was chosen by Carol Branson.
There were nine people in attendance and they were Madeleine, Julie,
Nancy, Diana, Carol, Betsy, Kathy, Janet and Nettie.
Steve Lopez was then a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and he
discovered Nathaniel Ayers, a talented homeless musician living
and playing on the streets of Los Angeles near skid row.
He later learned after great difficulty befriending Nathaniel that he had
been a scholarship winner to Julliard School of music and that he dropped
out due to mental illness caused by the pressures of competing in that
world.
Lopez writes a few articles about Nathaniel and public interest grew.
He received many instruments from philanthropists and his quest began
to try to rehabilitate Nathaniel while luring him with the musical treasure
trove. What ensues is a rocky and arduous relationship between the two
leading eventually to limited trust and a lifelong friendship. At the end of the
book the Nathaniel is off the streets and living in an apartment. We still do not
know if he ever trusted doctors to try meds that could help his schizophrenia.
We do know he played indoors and even had a studio established where his goal
was to use musical therapy to help others.
We watched some u-tubes of Nathaniel playing trumpet, cello and violin.
Carol was very interested in this book because she actually works with the
homeless here in Indianapolis and she feeds them via some church group
at Roberts Park. She says they are all individuals with a personal story and
I got the sense that she has listened to some of these stories. She says that Indianapolis
has a large homeless population. Since there are no longer State run institutions
it is the job of churches and charitable organizations to help these people.
Diana chose a book called "Whistling Past The Graveyard" by Susan Crandall
who is a Noblesville resident. The date was tentatively set for end of July but I will
not be here so let us push it out to August 6 which is a Wednesday.
Nancy Forbush should be the next person to choose unless Marsha
Callahan steps up.
Reminders will be sent.
