Thursday, September 27, 2012

Long Novel Weekend 2012 Recap


Good discussions, good leaders, good participants, good accommodations, good food, and good weather all combined for a great weekend discussing Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield.  This year we met at Vallombrosa Retreat Center in Menlo Park, a very quiet, peaceful setting encouraging thought and discussion.  I must admit that while I missed the remote and rustic atmosphere of our previous LNW location, the availability of private rooms at Vallombrosa is a definite improvement over the dormitory rooms at Walker Creek Ranch. 

The discussion rooms provided had plenty of light and good acoustics.  There is very little walking to do as our rooms, dining hall, meeting rooms, and parking are centralized.  And there is plenty of room to walk, strolling through the lushly landscaped grounds.  Louise DiMattio informs us that next year we have exclusive use of Vallombrosa so we will have room for more participants.


Many thanks go to our leaders who all received excellent ratings: Jennifer Anderson, Chris Hammer, Jim Hall, Louise DiMattio, Rudy Johnson, Claudia O'Callaghan, Sheri Kinsvater and Louise Morgan.  Special thanks to Breda Courthey for being backup leader for all three sessions and for providing Plum Pudding Flambe and sweets for Saturday night.  And a hearty thanks to our event coordinator Louise DiMattio and registrar Tracy Oliver for organizing such a successful weekend.

Anew participant at Long Novel Weekend, Jim Baird, wrote two excellent reports:  A report on the discussions, click here, and a report on the talk delivered by our Saturday evening guest speaker Jane Smiley, click here.

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