Notice Otis Events presents in collaboration with the Monterey Historical Society
Slaying Dragons: The Liberation of Sue Moody
Presented by author Gail Gelburd
Date:
Thursday, March 21st at 7 PM via zoom AND in person at the Monterey, MA Library, 452 Main Road, Monterey, MA
This event is FREE to all. To register, please visit: www.otispreservationtrust.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
History Talk – Slaying the Dragons: The Liberation of Sue Moody
March 21, 2024, 7:00 p.m. Monterey Library
Contact:
Hilary Harley
Otis Preservation Trust
www.otispreservationtrust.com
617.610.1564
The Otis Historical Commission and Otis Preservation Trust (OPT), in collaboration with the Monterey Historical Society, are co-hosting a talk by Gail Gelburd about her upcoming book Slaying the Dragons: The Liberation of Sue Moody. The 45 minute talk will be held on Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 7:00 pm at Monterey Library, Monterey, MA. A Q and A session will follow the talk. The program will also be available for viewing on zoom. Admission is free but pre-registration is required. [See Photo insets].
In the corner of an abandoned house on the border of Monterey and Otis, sat dozens of cardboard boxes covered with cobwebs. Inside were extensive journals, thousands of letters and many manuscripts written by journalist, author, and poet Sue Moody. These documents were rescued by Gail Gelburd and preserved by the Otis Historical Commission; Gail Gelburd has spent several years researching and telling Sue Moody’s fascinating story.
During the 1930s and ‘40s, Sue Moody was a food editor for major media outlets in the U.S.A. and the International Herald in Paris. While there, she huddled with her young child as Hitler’s army marched down the boulevard beneath her window. Moody wrote about starvation, survival and escaping German occupation. Primarily using Moody’s own words, Gail Gelburd gives insights into 1940s Paris, being female journalist in the mid-twentieth century, and why Moody ultimately found refuge in the Berkshires.
The ephemera that she left behind reveals her personal and professional struggles. During the course of her career, she met the “Unsinkable Molly Brown” and many writers. She describes these people and places in surrealist fantasy, historic fiction and memoir. Moody writes about foods and their origin as well as writing poetry for the local Monterey, Massachusetts paper.
Gail Gelburd is an author, curator, artist and the Co-chair of the Otis Historical Commission. She was a Professor at Eastern Connecticut State University as well as Chair of the Arts Department. As an art historian with a PhD she has published more than 15 books about artists with Abrams, U Penn Press and others. It is always the artist’s story that most interests her; so when Gelburd discovered Sue Moody, an international journalist in her own Berkshire backyard, she felt compelled to tell her story.
Monterey Historical Society and Otis Preservation Trust (OPT) are pleased to be collaborating on this program. OPT works with the Otis Historical Commission to organize and preserve the history and heritage of Otis, MA for future generations by supporting efforts to preserve, restore, repurpose and educate about buildings, monuments, lands and memorabilia of Otis. OPT is a not-for-profit (501c3) organization operated for fundraising and educational purposes. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Otis Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Monterey Historical Society is also a non-profit similarly engaged in preserving local history and telling stories about the rich cultural heritage of the Berkshires.
The event is at the Monterey Library, 452 Main Road, Monterey, MA at 7:00 PM on Thursday, March 21st, 2024. The program will also be live-streamed on zoom. To register for in-person attendance or for streaming on-line, or for more information, please visit: www.otispreservationtrust.com; or www.townofotisma.com. There is no charge to attend this event but pre-registration is required. Donations are welcome.