OAKLAND
Local writer Susan Kiyo Ito will appear at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Montclair Library to discuss her recent memoir, “I Would Meet You Anywhere.” A book signing courtesy of A Great Good Place for Books will follow the event.
Having grown up with adoptive Japanese American parents, Kiyo Ito says she only knew that her birth mother was Japanese American and her father was White. In her 20s, though, she began her search for answers, history and an identity by looking for and ultimately meeting her birth mother.She says this was just the start, however, of an often fraught relationship between the two as Kiyo Ito continued to grapple with and finally find some peace-of-mind and self-understanding.
“I Would Meet You Anywhere” was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award, shortlisted for the Saroyan Press for International Literature and named a best book of 2023 by Library Journal.
Kiyo Ito previously co-edited the literary anthology “A Ghost At Heart’s Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption,” and her writings have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. She teaches at the Mills College campus of Northeastern University in Oakland.
For more event information, visit bit.ly/3z2W2B6 online or contact the Montclair Library at 510-482-7810. This program is being co-sponsored by the Friends of Montclair Library (FML) and the Oakland Public Library system.
The Montclair Library, which is part of Oakland’s library system, is at 1687 Mountain Blvd. in the Oakland hills’ Montclair district.
— FML
PIEDMONT
Firefighters put out blaze at hard-to-access, secluded home
The Piedmont Fire Department was dispatched to a fire at 140 St. James Drive May 21 at 1:04 a.m. after a Piedmont police officer smelled smoke there while on patrol. Firefighters arrived at the scene within minutes to find fire burning on the house’s main floor.
The building is at the end of a long private drive too steep to for a fire engine to navigate, which is common in Piedmont. Firefighters carried hundreds of feet of hose up the hill on foot to reach the house and were able to extinguish the fire before it spread from the room of origin.
Officials have no comment on a possible cause, as the investigation of the fire and its cause is ongoing. While the fire was controlled in less than an hour, firefighters worked several more hours to ensure any hidden pockets of fire were fully extinguished.
“Earlier that day, our crews trained on a similar situation involving very long access roads. In this situation they did an excellent job building on that training to perform a fast and effective firefight “ said Piedmont fire Chief Dave Brannigan. “This is a good example of the many secluded properties in Piedmont. Homeowners are urged to keep access lanes free of parked cars, trash bins and vegetation at least 3 feet back from the roadway and 15 feet clear overhead.”
— city of Piedmont
Donations can help those in need in Africa, Latin America
Recent contributions to the Piedmont-based Lantern Projects charity organization in March and April provided much-needed supplies to people in need in the developing world. All funds received by the organization go to the projects, and every donation really helps.
Lantern Projects is accepting donations now to fund school uniforms in Kenya (project #494), a school playground in Cameroon (project #495), food relief and deworming medicine in Haiti (project #496) and costumes and uniforms for a ballet school in Cuba (project #497).
Tax-deductible donations in any amount (please identify which project number is being funded) can be made online at lanternprojects.org or sent by a check payable to Lantern Projects at 51 Glen Alpine Road, Piedmont, CA 94611-3522.
— Lantern Projects
OAKLAND
County Hall of Fame inducts founder of girls STEM group
Scientific Adventures for Girls (SAfG), an Oakland-based nonprofit group dedicated to empowering girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), is thrilled to announce that Courtenay Carr Heuer, the group’s executive director and co-founder, has joined the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame as a Science-Tech-Engineering inductee.
SAfG offers STEM programs for girls in transitional kindergarten through sixth grades at 23 East Bay Title 1 elementary schools with a mission to empower and support the next generation of STEM professionals.
Carr Heuer joins a distinguished group of women who have been recognized for their remarkable achievements, dedication to making a difference in the lives of others and leadership in their fields. This year’s nine inductees will join more than 270 previous inductees (starting in 1993). Ms. Carr Heuer’s induction is a testament to her dedicated, unwavering commitment to advancing gender equality and empowering ALL girls to pursue careers in STEM.
For more information about SAfG and its initiatives to empower girls in STEM, visit scientificadventures.org.
— SAfG
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