Jennifer Arnold: Through A Dog’s Eyes
8/24
Decatur Library, 7:15pm
Arnold, founder and executive director of Canine Assistants, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing service dogs for people with disabilities, educates and inspires in this transformative guide to training and celebrating service animals.
Arnold’s new book is a ”must read” for all dog owners and for everyone who loves man’s best friend. ”Through a Dog’s Eyes” is a knowledgeable, compassionate exploration of the intelligence, strength and capabilities of our four-legged friends based on her proven training methods. Her work with dogs is centered on inspiring a dog’s trust and teaching dogs to make choices, as opposed to simply following commands.
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 16, Arnold was encouraged by her father to start an organization devoted to helping people with physical disabilities. Now after 20 years of dog training, she shares her methodology and stories of canine intelligence, sensitivity, language comprehension, and prescience bordering on telepathy. She offers shining examples of the heroism of service dogs, from anticipating seizures to resetting a ventilator switch. Along the way, she emphasizes choice-based, positive-reinforcement-only teaching methods and shares valuable insights that every dog owner should know. Engagingly written with a perfect balance of science and observation, this book--soon to be a PBS one hour special and series--is a worthy tribute to our canine friends.
Blane Bachelor: On Being a Bachelor
8/26
OutWrite Books, 7:30pm
As many in the media know, attention spans are shrinking at light speed these days. Attracting – and keeping – readers has become a top challenge for editors, reporters, writers, and everybody in between. It’s even tougher in the dating/relationship genre, where everybody and their hamster has something to say. That’s where syndicated columnist Blane Bachelor comes in. For two years the internationally published writer wrote a popular column entitled “On Being a Bachelor” for the Atlanta alternative newspaper Sunday Paper. Every week, Bachelor captured readers’ attention and emotion with her humor, wit and insight into matters of the heart (and, um, other organs). ON BEING A BACHELOR is a collection of those columns.
Equally Wed Magazine says: “Blane Bachelor’s writing is laced with acerbic wit, thoughtful human insight, and plentiful charm. She takes you along with her on her romantic trysts and mighty adventures, while sharing wise advice to apply to your own life.” And Corinna Allen, host of CBS Better Mornings Atlanta, calls the book “a gritty, unflinching look into the trenches of single life. A must-read for anyone who’s been there, and, for God’s sake, anyone considering going back.”
Dr. Muhammed Yunus: Building Social Business
8/25
Agnes Scott College, Presser Hall 8:15 p.m.
Dr. Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering work in the field of microcredit, founding Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which provides small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional loans. Dr. Yunus’ first loan consisted of $27.00 from his own pocket.
Since 1983, the Grameen Bank has issued $6.38 billion to 7.4 million borrowers. More than 94 percent of Grameen loans have gone to women, who suffer disproportionately from poverty around the world and who are more likely than me to devote their earnings to their families. The Grameen Bank's approach to microcredit has inspired similar efforts around the world. In 2009 President Obama bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Dr. Yunus to honor his work as a global agent of change.
Dr. Yunus has developed a visionary new dimension for capitalism that he calls "social business." In his new book, Building Social Business, he outlines this concept. Promotional materials for the book state "By harnessing the energy of profit-making to the objective of fulfilling human needs, social business creates self-supporting, viable commercial enterprises that generate economic growth even as they produce goods and services that make the world a better place."
This event is free and open to the public, no ticket required. A book-signing will follow lecture.
