Retired journalist to read from trilogy

GREENFIELD — Retired Greenfield Recorder reporter and editor Richie Davis will read from his trilogy as part of Greenfield Community College’s Senior Symposium.

His program, titled “Community Journalism: True Tales from Extraordinary Lives,” will be held Tuesday, April 9, at 2 p.m. at the John Zon Community Center, 35 Pleasant St.

Davis will read from his newest book, “Flights of Fancy, Souls of Grace,” as well as his two earlier collections of Recorder feature stories, “Inner Landscapes” and “Good Will & Ice Cream.” He will also recount his more than 40 years of reporting and editing, and discuss the important role that newspapers play in community life.

Advance registration, which costs $10, is required online at bit.ly/3U0DCIV.

Davis, who will also read from his story collections at Hatfield Public Library on Wednesday, April 10, at 6 p.m., covered energy, the environment, and a host of other regional and local issues at the Recorder from 1976 until his retirement in 2019.

April 9: Virtual talk withNational Book Award winner

GREENFIELD — In partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium, the Greenfield Public Library invites residents to a virtual conversation with National Book Award winner Colum McCann on Tuesday, April 9, at 2 p.m. He will be joined by Diane Foley, the inspiration behind the book “American Mother.”

“American Mother” is the story of a mother who, in the course of confronting her son’s killer, gets to the elemental heart of violence and forgiveness. Foley is the mother of Jim, a freelance journalist captured and beheaded by ISIS in 2014. Seven years later, Foley gets the chance to spend three days with her son’s murderer in a Virginia courthouse, inspiring her to tell her story.

For more information and to register, visit libraryc.org/greenfieldpubliclibrary.

‘Planning for Medicare’ program set for April 12

GREENFIELD — Join Rory Joyce, outreach coordinator of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, for “Planning for Medicare” on Friday, April 12, at 11 a.m. at the Greenfield Public Library.

“Planning for Medicare” is geared toward individuals approaching Medicare eligibility. Topics covered include health insurance information outside of employer-sponsored coverage, such as an explanation of Medicare, the Medicare enrollment timeline, Medigap and Medicare Advantage plans available to early retirees, and COBRA.

For more information, contact Lisa Prolman at librarian@greenfield-ma.gov or call 413-772-1544.

April 12: ‘Of Seasonsand Singing’

GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Community College Community Chorus will present a full performance, “Of Seasons and Singing,” on Friday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew. Margery Heins will conduct and Meg Reilly will accompany at the piano.

The program includes madrigals and rounds about the pleasures of singing was well as other music on the subject, including the sacred motet “Cantata Domino” by Giuseppe Pitoni (1657-1743), the traditional spiritual “I’m Gonna Sing” and the well-known Quaker hymn “How Can I Keep From Singing” in an arrangement by Vermont composer Gwyneth Walker.

The four seasons are represented by “Sing to Me,” in which contemporary Arkansas composer Andrea Ramsey creates a setting of a springtime poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919). “I Am the Rose of Sharon” by William Billings will be performed by the full chorus alternating with soloists and small ensembles. Nancy Blickenstaff, soprano soloist, will sing American composer Samuel Barber’s “Sure on This Shining Night” (1941). The 19th-century English poet Henry Chorley wrote the words Sir Arthur Sullivan set in his autumn quartet “The Long Day Closes.” Winter is represented by “Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind” composed by John Rutter, setting poetry from Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.”

The GCC Community Chorus is a new program this academic year. This is the group’s first hour-length concert; a preview of “Of Seasons and Singing” was given at GCC in March. Heins also directed the college’s previous choral ensemble, the GCC Chorus. Anyone who is interested in singing membership is welcome to attend the concert and obtain information or contact Heins at heins@gcc.mass.edu.

The concert is free, with donations welcome. For disability accommodation at the church, email heins@gcc.mass.edu or call 413-773-3925.