Author: Renee Garris

Professor of Humanities, art lover, world traveler, and yogini.

Another Look At Life in Germany in WWII

Underground in Berlin –  Marie Jalowicz Simon I find that people who are interested in World World II and the Nazi war machine think everything that needs to be said has been said.  Then along comes a book like Underground in Berlin and you realize there is still much to learn from those who survived and there…

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Vietnam – Popular Culture Versus Reality

Vietnam – the last moments of a painful evacuation The war in Vietnam has been termed a travesty in the otherwise glorified military success of the United States.  There have been multitudes of books and movies created about the events in Vietnam with varying degrees of truth and inaccuracies. It is these half truths and outright…

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Nina Simone – High Priestess of Soul

                  “Sometimes I sound like gravel and sometimes I sound like coffee and cream,” Nina Simone- child piano prodigy, singer, song writer, civil rights activist. She would record more than 40 albums before the end of her life ranging from classical, blues, R&B to pop and gospel….

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American Ballet Theatre Opens 75th Season

 Polina Semionova A Diamond Anniversary American Ballet Theatre opens its 75th season this month at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. And on May 15, PBS will celebrate with a new Ric Burns documentary, part of the network’s award-winning “American Masters” series. The program will chronicle ABT’s journey, from humble beginnings to international…

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40th Anniversary of Saigon, Vietnam Falling

We have just passed the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese troops.  While many, many books have been written about the American experience in Vietnam from a variety of perspectives, the day passed without any fanfare here in the United States.  To be sure there were celebrations and parades in Vietnam…

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