MONDAY, MAY 26 

Tilden Nature Center Open House A day of critters, crafts and fun for the whole family. Nature stroll at 11 a.m., visit with a snake at noon, nature games at 1 p.m., and songs and crafts at the farm at 2 p.m. 525-2233. 

A Day at the Races Fundraiser for Friends of El Cerrito Music at 11:15 a.m. at Golden Gate Fields. Cost is $35, $17 for children. Includes valet parking, reserved seating, food, and activities. For information call 237-2836. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group, for people 60 years and over, meets at 9:45 a.m. at Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave, Albany. Cost is $3.  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

Free Boatbuilding Classes for Youth Mon.-Wed. from 3 to 7 p.m. at Berkeley Boathouse, 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Classes cover woodworking, boatbuilding, and boat repair. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

TUESDAY, MAY 27 

State Assembly Candidate Forum on health care, education, housing, immigration, safety and youth, at 7 p.m. at The Way Christian Center, 1305 Univesity Ave. Open to all. Sponsored by Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action. 665-5821. 

“California’s Water Problem” and why global warming will only make the problem worse with Kristina Ortiz, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, at 7:30 p.m. at the El Cerrito Democratic Club, at El Cerrito United Methodist Church, 6830 Stockton St., near Richmond Ave. To reserve childcare call 375-5647. 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit Sibley Volcanic Preserve. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

“On Safari in East Africa” A slide show by photographer Mary Ann Bisowkarma at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“Green Your Career” Workshop at 6 p.m. at Language Studies International, 2015 Center St. Cost is $45. 415-824-5718. 

Masquers Playhouse Auditions for “The Petrified Forest” by appointment Tues. and Wed. at 7:30 p.m. at Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. For detailed character descriptions, see the Masquers website at www.masquers.org. For an audition appointment or more information, contact Marti Baer,mareta7210@gmail.com; 415-385-7210.  

Berkeley PC Users Group meets at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St. MelDancing@aol.com 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

CopWatch Training on”Know Your Rights” at 3:30 p.m. at People’s Park. 548-0425. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577.  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

Sing-A-Long Group from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Albany. 524-9122. 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 28 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Walk in Lakeside Park Meet at 9:30 p.m. at the large spherical cage near the Nature Center at Perkins and Bellevue, Oakland, for a birding walk around the lake.  

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. and the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Can We Fix California’s Cut-Everything Budget?” with Keith Carson, Alameda County Supervisor at 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers meeting at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, corner of MLK. All welcome. 548-9696, 486-8010. 

“Women Philosophers” with H.D. Moe on the insights & Weltanschaunng of Babette E. Babich at 1 p.m. at Humanist Hall 390 27th St., Oakland. 528-8713. 

“The Mind is a Liar and a Whore” A film by Antero Alli at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

After-School Program Homework help, drama and music for children ages 8 to 18, every Wed. from 4 to 7:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $5 per week. 845-6830. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, MAY 29 

“Global Unions: Innovative Strategies from Cross-Border Labor Campaigns” A panel discussion on how unions can confront and address the implications of globalization at noon at UC Berkeley Labor Center, 2521 Channing Way, near Telegraph Ave. 642-6371. http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu 

“Teaching Race in Biblical Studies” A panel discussion at 3 p.m. at Bade Museum, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. Lecture on “Job’s Wife: A Minority Report” with Choon-Leong Seow of Princeton Theological Seminary at 6 p.m. For information call 849-8239. 

CopWatch Training on ”Know Your Rights” at 6 p.m. at the Grassroots House, 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Baby & Toddler Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a..m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. 

FRIDAY, MAY 30 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Eric Klinenberg on “Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America’s Media” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 524-7468.  

Burma Update with Nyunt Than, president of Burmese American Democratic Alliance at 7 p.m. at Newman Hall/Holy Spirit Parish, 2700 Dwight Way at College. Donations accepted for the victims of the cyclone. 649-8772. 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

SATURDAY, MAY 31 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-EB-PARKS. 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour “McGee Tract” led by Paul Grunland and exploring three historic neighborhood tracts, from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. For reservations call 848-0181. 

Berkeley Garden Club Plant Sale featuring perennials, succulents and some veggies, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 547 Grizzly Peak, at Euclid. 845-4482. www.berkeleygardenclub.org 

Celebrate Schoolhouse Creek and learn about restoration plans and progress at the creek mouth in Eastshore State Park, Berkeley, with Friends of Five Creeks, with a bug hunt led by Cal Bug People at 10 a.m., a short interpretive walk at 11:30 a.m. followed by bring-your-own picnic, make art with natural materials with environmental artist Zach Pine in the afternoon. Free, but numbers limited. Register for one or all events at 848-9358. f5creeks@aol.com  

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Remembering 1948” Personal narratives, poetry, and music by Jews and Palestinians about the events surrounding the founding of the State of Israel at 7:30 p.m. at Kehilla Community Synagogue, 1300 Grand Ave., Piedmont. Suggested donation $10. 547-2424. www.kehillasynagogue.org 

“Art Saves Lives” 2008 Oakland Youth Arts Festival with exhibits, art making, and performances from noon to 9 p.m. at the Oakland Musuem of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. www.museumca.org 

Workshop on Arts and Crafts Embroidery with Ann Chaves of Ingelnook Textiles. All day in Oakland. For information and to register email itextiles@earthlink.net 

Self-Defense Workshop for women and girls from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Rockridge Library. To reserve a space call 251-0559. 

Party for Socialism and Liberation with speakers and workshops, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Intertribal Friendship House, 523 International Blvd., Oakland. Near Lake Merrit BART/AC Transit 82, 82L, 801. Suggested donation $10-$20, no one turned away. 415-821-6171. www.pslweb.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 1 

Nature Sleuthing for the Whole Family Learn how to recognize the evidence animals leave behind with Meg Platt, naturalist, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Farm Tales and Songs for the whole family at 1:30 p.m. at the Tilden Little Farm, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Home Greywater Systems Slideshow & Tour Learn about the permitted greywater system at the Ecohouse, at 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. Cost is $15. Registration required. 548-2220 ext. 242. http://ecologycenter.org 

Build It Green Home Tour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. around Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Tour guidebook, which serves as admission ticket, is $30. 845-0472. www.builditgreen.org 

Women’s Daytime Drop-In Center 20th Anniversary Celebration with music and live and silent auctions, at 7 p.m. at The Berkeley Yacht Club, 1 Seawall Drive. Tickets are $25-430. 548-2284. www.womensdropin.org 

Soul Sanctuary Dance Community dance benefit for Ashkenaz, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. Donation $5-$20. www.soulsanctuarydance.com  

Berkeley Rep’s Family Series, a monthly theater workshop for the entire family from 11. a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, Nevo Education Center, 2071 Addison St. Free, but bring a book to donate to the library at John Muir Elementary School. 647-2973. 

Bringing City Children to the Redwoods Fundraising dinner and silent auction at 6 p.m. at Hs Lordships Restaurant, 199 Seawall Drive, Berkeley Marina. 232-3032. www.yesfamilies.org 

Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Congregation Netivot Shalom, 1316 University Ave. To sign up go to www.bloodheroes.com  

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Tom Morse on “Mind and the Origin of Appearance” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000 www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 4 to 8 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Ecstatic Dance East Bay A sacred freeform journey of dance and movement, every Sun. morning at 10:30 a.m. at Historic Sweets Ballroom, 1933 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $15. www.ecstaticdanceeastbay.com 

CITY MEETINGS 

Mental Health Commission meets Thurs., May 22, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., May 22, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. 981-7410.  

Council Agenda Committee meets Tues. May 27, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., May 28, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., May 28, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., May 28, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5434.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., May 28, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484. 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., May 28, at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.

MONDAY, MAY 26 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Musica ha Disconnesso at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Open dance floor. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, MAY 27 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The New Deal and the Berkeley Parks” An exhibition at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., through June 9. 981-6107. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Craft Kills: New Directions in Craft Practices in the 21st Century” with Jennifer Scanlan, associate curator at the Museum of Arts and Design in NY at 7 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. www.museumca.org 

Jennifer Firestone and Gloria Frym, poets, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Dave Newhouse on “Old Bears” at 7:30 p.m. at the JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Courtableu at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Randy Craig Tio at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Lulo Reinhardt Latin Swing Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 28 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Madeline Kunin reads from Pearls, Politics and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Adam Leith Gollner describes “The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 2201 Shattuck Ave. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wilde Irish Concert to Save the Hill of Tara with Michael Balck, Melanie O’Reilly, Sean O Muallain and others at 7:30 p.m. at Gaia Arts Center, 2116 Allston Way. Tickets are $15-$20. 644-9940. 

Sheldon Brown Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Eliyahu & Qadim Middle Eastern music at 8 p.m. at Strings, 6320 San Pablo Ave., Emeryville. 653-5700. 

The Heptones, Johnny Clarke, Samy Dread, reggae at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $18-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Flutopia at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. www.lebateauivre.net 

Conjunto Rovira at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Supertaster at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Santa Cruz River Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Taylor Eigsti at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, MAY 29 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Karen Volkman and Paul Hoover, poets, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Kala Artists in Residence Talk with Lisa Levine, Mary Shisler, and Susan Wolf at 7 p.m. at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. http://kala.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Big Jazz Band Bash fundraiser with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School Jazz Band and the Berkeley Jzz School Middle School Project Band at 7:30 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School Auditorium, 1871 Rose St. at Grant. Free, but bring your checkbook!  

From the Top, classical music showcasing young musicians, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$40. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Project Greenfield, world jam, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $8. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Big Cheese & Jive Rats! at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Country Joe McDonald Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. 843-0662. www.cafedelapaz.net 

Scoop Nisker at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Courtney Janes at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Speak the Music Beat boxing with Butterscotch, Soulati, Syzygy, Eachbox and many others, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Charles Wheal at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Otis Taylor: Recapturing the Banjo at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, MAY 30 

THEATER 

Berkeley Rep “”No Child...” Wed.-Sun. at 2025 Addison St., through June 8. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. 

Altarena Playhouse “On Golden Pond” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through June 21. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Brookside Rep “Franz Kafka’s Love Life, Letters and Hallucinations” Thurs.- Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., through June 29. Tickets are $16-$34. 800-838-3006. www.brooksiderep.org  

Impact Theatre “‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid. Tickets are $10-$15, through June 7. 464-4468. 

Masquers Playhouse “The Full Monty” Fri. and Sat. at 8, selected Sun. matinees at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond through July 5. Tickets are $20. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Shotgun Players “Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at The Asby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through June 22. Tickets are $17-$25. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Theatre de la Jeune Lune “Figaro” through June 8 at Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St. Tickets are $13.50-$69. 647-2949. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Steven Saylor reads from “The Triumph of Caesar: A Novel of Ancient Rome” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books, 2201 Shattuck Ave. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

Volt War Issue Anti-war poetry reading with Dennis Philips, Donna de la Perriere, Leslie Scalapino, Maxine Chernoff and many others at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Girls Chorus “Dance On, My Heart!” ar 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $12-$24. 415-863-1752. 

Marvin Sanders, flute, selections from Telemann “Twelve Fantasias ”at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Tickets are $10. 848-1228. 

Bay Area Classical Harmonies with The Kymata Band at 7:30 p.m. at The Pro Arts Gallery, 550 Second St., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$18. 868-0695. www.bayareabach.org 

Venezuelan Music Project “Canto, Fulia y Tambor” at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $14-$16. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Audra McDonald, soprano, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

Michael Smolens’ Kriya Jazz Octet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Baguette Quartette, Parisian café music, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Adrianne at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Scoop Nisker at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Antioquia at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

What it Is at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Otis Taylor: Recapturing the Banjo at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square,. Cost is $18-$22. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, MAY 31 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Portraits of Palestinians from the Nablus and Jenin Regions” by Berkeley resident Larisa Shaterian. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Photolab Gallery, 2235 Fifth St. Exhibit runs to July 12. 644-1400. www.photolaboratory.com 

“Art Saves Lives” 2008 Oakland Youth Arts Festival with exhibits, art making, and performances from noon to 9 p.m. at the Oakland Musuem of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. www.museumca.org 

“Reflections of Me and My World 2008” The ArtEsteem annual exhibition. Opening reception at 3 p.m. at ASA Academy & Community Science Center, 2811 Adeline St., at 28th, Oakland. 652-5530. 

“Art of the Cotton Mill Studios” Paintings, sculpture, photography and mixed media by Keiko Nelson, Bill Stoneham, Elizabeth Tennant and Susan Tuttle at 1091 Calcot Place, Unit # 116. 535-1702. www.thefloatcenter.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Field of Mirrors, An Anthology of Filipino American Writers” with editor Edwin Lozada and several authors at 3:30 p.m. at Eastwind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. www.ewbb.com 

Larissa Brown on “Knitalong” on knitting together for a common goal, at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Nuccia Focile, sporano, Paul Charles Clarke, tenor with the Berkeley Symphony Orhestra at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $48. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

La Peña Community Chorus at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15-$17. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Jules Broussard Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sambo Ngo, African, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

The Refugees: Cindy Bullens, Deborah Holland & Wendy Waldman at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Annual Middle School Invitational, a showcase of middle school jazz bands, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Rivka Amando at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

George Cotsirilos Jazz Trio at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Jinx Jones Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Tom Scott; Cannon Re-Loaded at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SUNDAY, JUNE 1 

CHILDREN 

Charity Kahn and the Jamband, rockin’ music, at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

FILM 

Video Works by Lynn Hershman Leeson from noon on, with the artist in a virtual conversation. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Trevor Paglen “The Other Night Sky” Artist talk at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Danny Quynh and Danny Dancers at 3 p.m. at Expression Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. www.expressionsgallery.org 

Cascada at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Soul Sanctuary in a benefit for Ashkenaz at 10:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is tba. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Howard Wiley: A Tribute to Dexter Gordon at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Tom Rush at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $30.50-$31.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Tom Scott; Cannon Re-Loaded at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com

Singing “Trouble in Mind,” an old janitor with a pushbroom introduces himself and the school he’s sweeping up, Malcolm X Vocational High in the Bronx, and a cast of characters who range from a broker-turned-new teacher (“she saw an ad in the IRT, offering a lifetime of glorious purpose”) to various “at-risk” African-American and Latino students, their driven principal and the visiting teaching artist for a drama project, Nilaja Sun. 

But all the characters—janitor, kids, principal and visiting artist—are Nilaja Sun herself, who wrote and now performs her solo piece, No Child ... on the Berkeley Rep Thrust Stage. 

There’s nothing new about representations of teachers working with “education-proof” students. There have been commercial successes like Up the Down Staircase (both book and movie) or Dead Poets Society, and the realer (and wryer) pages of James Herndon, a UC alumnus, detailing such classrooms in the Bay Area of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Starting with The Way It Spozed to Be, teacher-student encounters have made bestsellers and good box office at least since Goodbye, Mr. Chipps.  

And solo acts are even more familiar fare these days, especially autobiographical material with a dose of contemporary social relevance. 

What makes Sun’s No Child ... stand out is the slightly laconic framing device of the narrative, which gives her high energy performance a crisper, less sentimentally personal edge, emphasizing the remarkable tempo and articulation of her delivery, as she whirls through the poses and physical routines of her subjects, seeming always to pirouette gracefully back into character as herself, dispensing with the need for her own exposition. 

That’s handily filled in by the old janitor, folksy and canny, who’s seen it all since the ’50s, when it was Robert Moses High, mostly Italian kids, no other Negro janitor (and he later looks ahead, averring it will be “St. Tupac Shakur Prep” someday, in the tongue-in-cheek wish-fulfillment denouement of the show), watching them all come and go: “In the ’60s it was the Panthers with their breakfast program ... asking me, ‘How’re you going to fight the Man today?’ and I’d say, ‘With my broom and ammonia,’ and they laughed—they all gone now.” 

Sun comes to the class after a funny, one-way scene with her landlord, promising the rent after the class is through, wading through his nostalgia for the discipline of the days of Pope Pius XII with “after going to Catholic schools for 13 years, I didn’t even know I was black until I was in college,” wishing him “a happy Lent ...” 

The cowed “new teacher,” the ex-broker, welcomes her to the classroom with demoralized and demoralizing platitudes, skittering nervously around the room, apologizing for asking the kids to knock off the verbal abuse. 

Sun explains to them they have six weeks to “analyse, memorize and perform” a play, Our Country’s Good, “a play-within-a-play-within-a-play” (as the evening spills out before us) about Australian convicts two centuries ago. “No, it’s not Raisin in the Sun.” 

“We gotta read? Oh hell no!” the students protest. Not only read, Sun asserts, but create community. “The last time I created a community,” one student blurts out, “a cop came.” 

But she succeeds in getting them to think of themselves as stageworthy, somehow, despite the fact none has ever even seen a play, much less been up on stage. Public speaking is everybody’s greatest fear, Sun declares, even greater than death. “They never lived in the ‘hood,” avers a student. 

The terminology’s a bit thick for them, too: “Thespian? I ain’t no Rosie O’Donnell!” 

Somehow it all works, at least a little, until the “new teacher” quits, is replaced by a Russian teacher who can only bark at them—and the students act out, once again seeming proud they’re so recalcitrant, “the worst class in the school.”  

Sun tries to quit, saying she just needs a break to be an actor, get health insurance, pay the IRS ... but the kids end up drawing her back, and the hysterical one-woman sketch of the show they put on, despite a Latino kid (whose mother Sun explains the project to as “uno spectacolo”) not showing up to rehearsals because his brother’s been killed, and the lead missing the curtain because he has to babysit, is a polyphonic “spectacolo” indeed.  

The story and even the insouciant, whirlwind performance of No Child ... place it firmly in the category of inspirational and exemplary experiences. But the real stakes involved, the real dangers to these young lives are always shown to be present, albeit sketched in quickly without much pathos, never overwrought, the humor both playing off of and free from stereotype. 

Sun herself is as quick as her hip-hopper charges—she has to perform them, after all, not just valorize them—but she also sees them with a smiling, slightly jaundiced eye, as when she introduces a runthrough with: “First the tableau.” Tableau? “Yeah, I thought first you might want to see them in a frozen, nonspeaking state for awhile.” 

NO CHILD ... 

Through June 1 at Berkeley Repertory  

Theatre, 2025 Addison St. $33-$69.  

647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org.

Berkeley’s Wilde Irish Productions is banding together this Wednesday with the Irish arts community in a benefit to ‘Save Tara,’ the legendary hill in Ireland, “one of the most culturally and archaeologically significant sites in Northern Europe,” threatened by a new motorway.  

Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has declared the destruction of Tara “ruthless desecration.” Musician and singer Michael Black, of the Irish Black Family, Celtic jazz singer and songwriter Melanie O’Reilly and Irish dancers, singers, guitarists and harpers join members of Wilde Irish’s theater company at the Gaia Arts Center, Allston near Shattuck, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. $15-20. 

For more info, 644-9940 or wildeirish.org 

I never talked about my appearance until I got on stage. Pretending I was normal, it took a long time faking to make it,” said David Roche, the facially disfigured inspirational comedian, who will perform a benefit show, The Best of David Roche, Thursday May 22 at 7 p.m. in the Redwood Gardens Community Room on Derby for the upcoming SuperFest International Disability Film Festival. “I found out disfigurement, and carrying around feelings of inadequacy, are fairly normal experiences.” 

Roche has performed at the Clinton White House and the Olympic Arts Festival in Sydney. He’ll appear at the Kennedy Center in June. He’s appeared twice on Paula Zahn’s CNN program, been featured in four films (including a documentary about him, The Perfect Flaw) and in a chapter of Anne Lamott’s bestselling book, Plan B. His own book, The Church of 80 Percent Sincerity, titled after his best-known routine, just released by Penguin, will be available at the benefit. He’ll perform bits from The Church of 80 Percent Sincerity and Catholic Erotica. 

Roche was born in Indiana with a benign tumor on one side of his face. During infancy and childhood, he was subjected to surgeries and radiation therapy. “The face is considered the locus of human personality,” Roche said, “and it’s not. Young black males, attractive women—a lot of people are judged by their appearance alone. All that’s filtered through religious or cultural experiences. It’s one reason why all ages, people from all kinds of places respond to me.” 

Roche settled in the Bay Area in 1971. “I always wanted to be a performer,” he said, “It was a deeply hidden thing; I thought, ‘I don’t have the right to.’ Then I quit drinking, and my creativity opened up. I took a class from Lee Glickstein, who said, ‘Don’t tell jokes, just tell the truth about your life—that’s what’s funny.’ It took about five years to do my one-man show.”  

He quit his day job in 1997 to focus on his stage career. 

“I can’t recall ever having a heckler,” Roche said. “But especially in the early years, I’d get what I considered an unusual reaction, to the point of being bizarre: ‘David, you’re so brave, you changed my life’—and I’d think, Get a life! I’d internally block the compliment. Then I started to get it. I’m a symbolic persona. People need inspiration. I started to believe them.” 

Roche spoke about his particular feeling for Berkeley and what he would bring to the benefit show. “I love it that they’re selling my book at Cody’s. Berkeley’s the home of the disability movement and culture. These are my people. I didn’t know I was disabled until Cheryl Marie Wade, the doyen of Culture! Disability! Talent! told me I found my home. Redwood Gardens is at the original location of the California School for the Blind. There’s lots of meaning to my being there.”  

“At this show I’ll go full tilt,” Roche said. “I feel the permission to ‘go there’ a bit more, even though I expect an audience not all disabled.” Talking about that special type of humor often noted as particular to the disabled, Roche said “It comes from our life experience. It helps that culturally I’m an Irish American. There’s that darkness to Irish humor, ironic shadowy stuff—‚bitterness, even. But there’s that style ... Someone just said to me, ‘You have the gift’—such an Irish way of councilment! Dark experiences cast a shadow over humor, but that enriches it.” 

THE BEST OF DAVID ROCHE 

7 p.m. today (Thursday) at Redwood  

Gardens 2951 Derby St. Fully accessible and ASL interpreted. $10-25 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. 

I trust most of us aren’t fool enough to go hiking the range in the hot spell we’re enduring as I write this. It’s the stuff of the grimmest neo-Old West movies: merciless sun, tantalizing shimmer of mirage (“Don’t you listen to him, Dan/He’s a devil, not a man/And he paints the desert sand/With wa-ater…”), hot wind blowing dust from the east; wait, haven’t we done that rather recently?  

Oh yeah, and water rationing. There’s a mere faint hollow slosh in the ol’ canteen, Dan. It ain’t lookin’ so good on the back forty. 

A row of willows and/or alders in the distance promises a creek. More prominent, and more classically Western, is a row of cottonwoods. You might even get a hint of its presence from a greater distance, the way sailors got a promise of land when they saw gulls. (Saw seagulls? Really, they’re land gulls, bound, unlike albatrosses and similar pelagics, to land masses where they can find fresh water.) On a breezy day, cottonwoods earn their name by casting masses of fluff afloat on the air and water, sailing for miles if the wind’s strong enough. 

It’s not obvious when you see the fluff that it’s anything more than Mother Nature’s little dustbunnies. No surprise though, really: like a lot of strange devices they’re seed transport.  

I was amused a week or so ago to watch mallards, including ducklings, noshing on the little fluffbergs that had sailed down to Putah Creek from the cottonwoods in the UC Davis Arboretum. The ducks must have some way to extract the seed from the conveyance, because they kept at the ones they nabbed and worked them over from one end to the other with their bills, rendering the piles flat and damp, though still floating. They had the damp listless look of used chewing gum, but they were still buoyant enough to float. 

Cottonwoods are members of the genus Populus, sisters to the Lombardy poplars planted in cities and parks and to Populus tremuloides, the quaking aspen of the mountains.  

The pre-European people in California used the cottonwood, of course. It would be among the woods burned as fuel, but it doesn’t make good lumber and I guess would be a bit too soft and absorbent to make good tools. They’re on record as having used mostly the inner layer of the cambium ring to make skirts—it comes apart into tissue—thin strips if you work it right. You’d have to do that carefully if you didn’t want to kill the tree, but then a tradition of conservation would help keep the tree stock in good numbers. So would a relatively low population, compared to how many humans live here now, that is; California is supposed to have been one of the most heavily populated paces in North America before Columbus. 

Young cottonwood shoots were split and twisted into cordage. This is the sort of “low”-tech elegance we tend to be mystified by, as our string is made in a string factory; our ropes, in a rope factory; our houses and boats are held together by nails made in a nail factory and by welds, well, they must come from a weldwell, right? Unless you’re a cradle gourmet, you might remember the moment when you realized that you could make ketchup or mayonnaise, that it wasn’t extruded by some mysterious condiment synthesizer into those bottles.  

Those elegant Ohlone tule boats were bundled and held together by tree fibers, and so were floors, walls, and roofs—“mats”—and ladders, the sort of thing you might find now as art objects in a Japanese or “tribal” antique shop. Building your house of straw and sticks might sound like poor strategy to Europeans, but anyone caught in a house of bricks during an earthquake would have a different take on that. 

That cambium layer makes nutritious stock fodder, too, as European-descended travelers learned from the people they met in western North America. When the grass was under a few feet of snow, deer and elk could be seen stripping the trees, so when the nations east of us on the plains and in the mountains got horses, they knew this strategy already.  

Maybe it’s my advanced age, or my fortune in living on the cusp of centuries and technologies. Looking at such mysterious “folk” know-how on one hand and electronics-geek tech on the other, I’ve come to appreciate that what we tend to call “primitive” is just an artifact of our angle of view.  

The fact that I use Google more than I use what little I’ve learned about how the landscape writes signs and invitations—what trees live by water; what grows in saltmarshes and what in freshwater—is pure happenstance. Who knows? It might even be temporary. 

If the Indiana Jones films were never exactly realistic, they were at least grounded; they were rooted in archaeology, in the earth—in the discovery of things ancient and mysterious, yes, but always terrestrial. Jones himself was grounded too, an unlikely hero by turns deft and incompetent, benefiting from equal doses of intelligence and dumb luck. And that made him all the more charming and his adventures all the more appealing. For the wide-eyed child in the audience, there was no need to conjure images of outer space, of aliens or monsters or supernatural powers; all you needed was a hat, a jacket and a rope. The fantasy was all the more effective for containing the illusion that it was within reach.  

Throughout the first three films, producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg kept the series fairly close to that essential premise. As much as possible, they kept Indiana Jones’ feet on the ground, or at least somewhere beneath—in tunnels, in caverns, in crypts and caves. And that’s precisely where the latest installment loses its footing. 

As entertainment, it’s good enough. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is pleasant viewing for two hours, with all the ingredients you expect from the series: ultra-villianous villians who, despite all their diabolical powers, simply can’t shoot straight; mysterious rites and riddles encoded on crumbling parchment; plenty of self-effacing humor, even if it isn’t always all that humorous; and that familiar, charming self-awareness, an attitude that shamelessly embraces the inherent absurdity of the whole enterprise. 

The series began as a throwback to the old serials that accompanied the feature each week at movie theaters across America. It was both an homage and a modern update of those cliffhangers of yesteryear, a wild, silly ride through unlikely scenarios, with thrilling action and an utter lack of pretentiousness. It’s hard to expect series to retain its allure through one sequel much less three, but with nearly 20 years passing since the last film, expectations run abnormally high. So while there’s really not all that much to complain about—it’s still better than much of what passes for action entertainment these days, and takes itself far less seriously—Crystal Skull still manages to lose sight of one of the franchise’s essential charms. 

Almost from the start, there’s something not quite right. There are hints of the supernatural waiting at the heart of the mystery, and the plot always seems poised for a plunge into Erich Von Daniken territory. But there’s always the hope that the inherent pragmatism of the character and his creators will reign in the excesses and that the solution will ultimately prove to be terrestrial in origin.  

And yet, after two hours of chases that are three minutes longer than you’d like and four minutes longer than necessary, fight scenes with so many punches thrown that it seems there’s a quota in place, and three—count ‘em, three—waterfalls through which John Hurt never loses his grip on the prize, we come to an absurdly un-Indy-like ending that almost renders the hero obsolete during a spectacularly unspectacular special effects sequence. As a swirling paranormal maelstrom of destruction swirls overhead, Jones stands small and silhouetted in the immediate foreground, a mere observer of digital effects that are meaningless, emotionless and, despite all their fury, dramaless. Cast in shadow and virtually inanimate, Indiana looks, for all intents and purposes, like one of us, like a member of the audience just a few rows ahead—and just as irrelevant to the action on screen. 

Despite the whirlwind of gimmickry that has been added to the formula, it is the old standbys that still deliver—the snakes, scorpions, quicksand, and, in one of the film’s most effective sequences, a swarming colony of man-eating ants. Lucas and Spielberg could have saved themselves a great deal of trouble had they stuck with the creepy-crawlies and stayed clear of the close encounters. 

Sick and tired of bad news? Longing to read something uplifting? Not feel-good sentimentality or fantasy but the story of a crisis faced with integrity, resourcefulness, and unity by victims who win, not a fairy tale “victory” but understanding and progress and influence beyond what anyone expected? That’s the story I just finished reading in DES Voices: From Anger to Action by Pat Cody. 

If you’ve lived in and out and around Berkeley for more than 30 years, you knew Pat Cody as the virtually invisible co-founder and partner in Cody’s Books on Telegraph—usually in the back office managing the business, or writing articles for the business division of the Economist to help make up the chronic deficit typical of independent bookstores. Or you might have gone to school with one or more of her four children: Martha, Anthony, Nora and Celia. Some of you medical folks would have worked with her in the Berkeley Free Clinic, which she co-founded in the late sixties. We all ran into her at anti-war demonstrations. 

Fewer of us knew her as co-founder of a 30-year-old international movement that started with a personal tragedy. 

In 1971, on a back page of the San Francisco Chronicle, Pat read a short item titled “Drug Passes Cancer to Daughters.” Pat’s heart sank as she recognized the name “Stilbestrol,” the drug she had been prescribed in 1956 to—supposedly—prevent miscarriage when she was carrying Martha. Further articles brought more bad news about the effects of DES (diethylstilbestrol). In addition to abnormal vaginal tissue, some DES daughters had uterine, ovarian or tubal malformations, rendering them incapable of bearing children. They were at higher risk for life-threatening ectopic pregnancies. At the time, few doctors knew anything about DES, let alone the special exam needed to recognize signs of trouble. Unlike the foreshortened limbs of thalidomide children, this damage was hidden until it manifested itself in some health crisis. 

From 1938 to 1971, an estimated 4.5 million women in the United States had been given DES, resulting in births of over 2 million DES daughters at risk for reproductive malfunction, cancer, and a number of other health problems. Yet the first warnings about DES dangers, and doubts about its effectiveness, were published back in 1939, only a year after this synthetic estrogen was created. In 1953, before Martha was even conceived, a definitive landmark study had concluded that DES was ineffective in preventing miscarriage.  

Nevertheless, its use continued to spread to Europe and Australia. In South America it was sold over-the-counter! In 1971, even after articles in medical journals confirmed its harmful effect, some doctors were still prescribing it. Uses of DES went beyond the discredited claim that it prevented miscarriage: DES became an additive in livestock feed. In Australia, well into the eighties, it was given to girls who showed signs of growing too tall to “find boyfriends.” (Surprise! Many of the prescribing doctors in Australia owned shares in the company that imported DES from the U.S.)  

In 1974 Pat gave Martha the frightening news, then found an informed doctor who confirmed that Martha had pre-cancerous genital tissue. Pat and Martha wept, paralyzed with grief and fear. 

But not for long. Pat called a meeting—where else? on the mezzanine of Cody’s Books on Telegraph. About a dozen people came, some of them health professionals Pat knew from her work at the Free Clinic and on the Berkeley Health Advisory Board. The meeting ended with the group naming themselves DES Information Group. They soon learned that similar groups were forming in other parts of the country. They joined to form DES ACTION, soon an international network of affected women. 

During the thirty years of DES Action, more bad news kept coming out: DES mothers suffer higher rates of breast cancer; some DES sons manifest genital abnormalities; there are some signs that effects of DES may persist to the next generation—grandchildren. 

The good news is the 30-year struggle pursued by DES Action. Pat’s book gives details of incessant, effective work that stands as a model to be studied by anyone wanting to organize grass-roots action. This work breaks down into overlapping categories: research, education, fund-raising, legal action, legislative action. 

“We all had to learn to read medical journals,” Pat writes, and keep up on the latest findings. It was like learning a new language, but it wasn’t as hard as historical research that included prying information out of medical records withheld by doctors from the very women affected. “There seem to have been an unprecedented number of fires destroying records in medical offices during the sixties and seventies,” writes Pat, with a sarcastic tone unusual for her. 

Thus, education began with self-education in order to spread information to other women. But it went far beyond the women affected, to education of doctors (many of them still in denial, through fear of liability suits), to lawyers, supplying them with legal packets on which to base suits against pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly, major manufacturer and promoter of DES. (Many of these cases have been settled out of court, with confidentiality gag rules. “That’s why,” Pat writes, “DES remains a ‘silent epidemic.’”) 

Many stories in the book illustrate the coming together of research, education, and informed action. Here’s a favorite of mine. 

In 1996 the Eli Lilly company (still making DES at the time) co-sponsored a dinner to honor professionals in women’s health, among them three prominent members of Congress. Pat writes, “DES Action members wrote to all the prospective honorees asking them not to accept or attend.” All three legislators—Schroeder, Waxman and Snowe—declined the honor and issued statements to the press backing DES Action. They stayed home, but DES Action members showed up in an informational picket in front of the hotel where the banquet was held. They passed out leaflets to the attendees, urging them not to let Eli Lilly use their presence to “white-wash their image.” Pat writes, “We heard later from a Washington insider that the story of our picket was ‘all over D.C.’” 

DES Action, wisely, has never gotten hung up on fund raising—grantsmanship is an activity that can swallow up time and much of the money it wins. Nevertheless, DES has been awarded modest grants based on clearly stated purpose and need. Mostly it depends on private contributions and many hours of volunteer work. With its slim budget DES has progressed from attending conferences to convening conferences, from advising legislators to creating legislation mandating funding for DES education and research—passed by the House of Representatives in 1992. 

I asked Pat the secret of the DES Action record of results and respect from agencies like the Center for Disease Control and the National Cancer Institute. She gave me a one-word answer, “tenacity.” Example: in 1978, when a small delegation from DES Action went to see the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, they were told his appointment calendar was full. “They said, ‘We will sit here until the Secretary can see us.’ By the end of the day the Secretary had agreed to set up a federal DES Task Force.” 

It’s tempting to quote more such anecdotes, or to reproduce the superb bibliography of books and articles referenced to back up every assertion, or the long lists of people Pat insists on crediting for their help, or quotations from articles about DES. But by far the most moving voices in this book, quoted anonymously, in italics, are excerpts of letters from DES daughters, mothers, sons, fathers, husbands, doctors. These letters tell not only of fear and pain, guilt and frustration, but of learning to talk back to doctors, to question, to take charge of their own health care. (They created echoes in my mind of the abuse, threats, and insults from bullying doctors I endured throughout my menopausal decade for my refusal of Hormone Replacement Therapy—now discredited as useless and harmful.) 

Big media is always telling Pat that DES is “old news,” obsolete for the next generation. We can’t be sure of that. We can be sure that medical hubris, pharmaceutical companies’ greed, and bio-technology tampering with the wider environment continue to pose risks in the name of “progress.” This book not only provides an impressive model for effective grassroots action, it’s also a great story. Pat calls it “my adventure story, an adventure in opening doors to understanding research and then using that knowledge to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, as the saying goes.” 

DES Voices (232 pages, $9.95) is  

available on line from www.lulu.com. 

Don’t forget to check out www.desaction.org.