Get Down to the Issues — In the Heart of the Sea
On Wednesday, March 21, at 7:00 p.m. panelists Jerry Orlen, Eric Jay Dolin, and Michael Hanna will lead a discussion and conversation with the audience about the major issues discussed in Nathaniel Philbrick’s award-winning book In the Heart of the Sea (chosen by the Wall Street Journal as one of the five most powerful natural disaster books of all time). Please join the panelists in talking about the issues of hunting whales, cannibalism, myths, and societal strata that impacted the fate of the seamen of the Essex and their families. The discussion will take place in the Meeting Room of the library.
THE PANELISTS
Jerry Orlen taught eighth-grade American History in Marblehead from 1967 to 2002. He and two of his team-teaching colleagues created a unit on whaling. As part of that unit several generations of students did extensive research on the whaling industry in New England. Jerry was one of the original members of the Marblehead Public Schools Professional Development Committee, serving as president of the committee from its inception until his retirement. Since retirement he has been a member of the Friends of Marblehead Public Schools Grants Committee, the Veterans School Building Committee, the Marblehead Forever Committee, and a docent at the Peabody Essex Museum. He has continued his interest in teaching by tutoring METCO students at Marblehead High School.
Eric Jay Dolin studied environmental policy at Brown, Yale, and MIT, where he received his Ph.D. The author of The Smithsonian Book of National Wildlife Refuges, Political Waters, and Snakehead: A Fish Out of Water, he has written extensively about wildlife and the marine world. His next book, Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, will be published by W.W. Norton in July 2007. He lives with his wife and children in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Michael Hanna graduated in 1994 from Seattle University with B.A.s in French and Philosophy. He graduated in 1996 from Boston College, where he was a Lonergan Fellow, with an M.A. in Philosophy. He has taught French, Philosophy and Religion for 11 years at high schools and colleges. He is currently the Curriculum Director for Foreign Languages and Social Studies in the Marblehead Public Schools.
