Past Activities
The 2004 AGM: Anne Elliot in the City
Jane Davis
The 2004 AGM focused on Persuasion, my favorite Jane Austen novel. Like the Elliots on their way to Bath, I carried a lot of baggage on the plane to Los Angeles. Of course I had to take not one but two editions of Persuasion, as well as the workbook for JASNA Board members and a duffel bag filled with our region's new “I’d rather be reading Jane Austen” T-shirts. Yes, I needed it all.
Business before pleasure: Showing off my own new T-shirt, I was proud to present the Greater Chicago Region's proposal to host the 2008 AGM on the theme "Austen's Legacy". The national JASNA Board greeted our proposal with unanimous approval and enthusiasm, so I turned around to show off the back of the T-Shirt, which says, JASNA Annual General Meeting Chicago 2008 www.jasnachicago.org. We were justifiably confident. "Austen's Legacy" will focus on 200 years of "begging, borrowing and stealing" from Jane Austen. As we approach the 200th anniversaries of the publication of the novels, it is appropriate to explore Austen's impact on two centuries of literary, intellectual and cultural development. Prof. Claudia Johnson of Princeton University has agreed to be the keynote speaker. It will be a conference of considerable variety and we will not ignore the sequels, the movies and the websites.
Many people said how much they look forward to Chicago in 2008. Corinne McArdle, Sandy Gross, and I sold all the
T-shirts I brought. Other Illinois and Indiana |
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members in Los Angeles included: Sondra Bowers, Victoria Carson, the Dunagans (Phyllis, David, and Nancy), Rosemary Feig, Marsha Kremer, Marilyn Morrison,
Angela Nezat, Molly Philosophos, Liz Roob, Yuki Shelton and Suzanne Skooglund.
Before and after fascinating lectures on Persuasion, business meetings continued and I learned a great deal about our parent organization. Did you know: We are a region of national JASNA, which is a 501c3 organization, so when you make a donation to JASNA-GCR, it is tax deductible. JASNA files our tax returns, carries our insurance and makes the AGM possible.
Even for Austen lovers who've read Persuasion many times, there was much to learn about characters, the Navy, Bath and, of course, the romance. Our own William Phillips and Russell Clark presented two breakout sessions: a Readers' Theatre presentation and "The Rise of Public Art." Breakout speakers we've enjoyed at GCR included Elvira Casals and Sarah Frantz. Plenary Speakers Paula Byrne and Isobel Grundy presented a Jane Austen who loved theater and city life and proved Bath was a city of women writers and publishers.
Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club, made us laugh as she discussed reading and writing about Jane Austen. On the final afternoon, we all watched the film with much greater understanding, and heard Kenneth Turan, film critic of the LA Times, and a panel discuss filming Jane Austen. AGM attendees who saw the special screening of “Bride and Prejudice” assigned the Bollywood film four stars. All AGMs conclude with a Banquet and Regency Ball, and members who dressed in period costume did so exquisitely. The final morning we were treated to a splendid recreation of the concert in Bath, secure in knowing that Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth would overcome their differing tastes in music. I hope to see you at future AGMs, especially 2005 in Milwaukee and 2008 in Chicago. |
