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The January 25 event is part of Oregon Humanities’ statewide Conversation Project.

What are the stories that shape how we think about growing old? How do we acknowledge the unique differences among aging individuals and separate the true stories from the myths? How do we accept the wisdom of our elders’ experiences while also recognizing new ideas about what it means to age in America? No matter our age, we all hear and tell stories about growing older that reflect our own ideals and fears—and the ideals and fears of our communities.

This is the focus of “How We Grow Old: Stories of Aging in Oregon and Beyond,” a free conversation with Melissa Madenski on Friday, January, 25, 2019 at 5:30pm at City of Springfield, Library Meeting Room: 225 Fifth Street, Springfield. This program is hosted by City of Springfield and sponsored by Oregon Humanities.

Melissa Madenski is an educator who has worked throughout the Northwest in public and private schools. As a Northwest Writing Institute Associate at Lewis & Clark College, she taught graduate core classes and facilitated grants that took writing programs to rural Oregon towns. At the coast, she built library programs for families, taught life skills to incarcerated adults, and prepared young adults—who had immigrated or sought asylum—to enter college-level writing classes. Most recently, she coordinated programs for the Multnomah County Library to assist patrons pursuing personal goals in literacy, including citizenship study, English language practice, improving reading levels, and obtaining GEDs. Her poems and essays have appeared in magazines, newspapers, and anthologies. She raised her family on Slab Creek Road, a neighbor to the Siuslaw Forest where they lived at the edge of South Tillamook County.

For more information about this free community discussion, please contact Laura Keir at 541.726.3684 or lkeir@springfield-or.gov.

Due to the sometimes sensitive nature of these conversations, we do request that prior notice be given if members of the media plan to attend so that we may prepare the participants for that possibility.

Oregon Humanities (921 SW Washington, Suite 150; Portland, OR 97205) connects Oregonians to ideas that change lives and transform communities. More information about Oregon Humanities’ programs and publications, which include the Conversation Project, Think & Drink, Humanity in Perspective, Public Program Grants, Responsive Program Grants, and Oregon Humanities magazine, can be found at oregonhumanities.org. Oregon Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a partner of the Oregon Cultural Trust.

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