News acorns

Lincoln’s Shepard discusses book on black Civil War soldiers

Lincoln’s own Ray Anthony Shepard will speak about his book, Now or Never: Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Infantry’s War to End Slavery on Thursday, March 8 at 7 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library. It’s the story of George Stephens and James Henry Gooding, members of the all-black regiment and the war’s first black correspondents. Stephens and Gooding wrote eyewitness reports exposing the dangers and tragedies they experienced on and off the battlefield, as well as the shocking injustices they endured in their own army, providing an intensely personal perspective on the Civil War.

Shepard is the grandson of a slave and was the first African American editor-in-chief of a major educational publishing house. He has taught at Phillips Academy Andover and Brandeis University. Now or Never was picked by the New York Public Library as a “Best Book For Kids & Teens” and included on Kirkus Reviews’ “Best Books (Teens)” list. Copies will be available for purchase and signing.

First Parish hosts climate-change book talk

The First Parish in Lincoln will host a book discussion and Q&A with Rev. Jim Antal, conference minister and president of the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ and author of Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change, on Sunday, March 11 at noon in the church sanctuary (4 Bedford Rd.). First Parish in Lincoln’s Outreach Committee will also share the activities of its new environmental concerns group. In July 2013 Antal wrote and championed the UCC’s resolution to divest from fossil fuel companies. In 2010 he founded NEREM (New England Regional Environmental Ministries), and continues to write the Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast.

Talk by author of book on Walden Pond

The Walden Woods Project and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will host a Stewardship Lecture with Dr. Robert M. Thorson, who will discuss a new guidebook to Walden Pond, on Thursday, March 15 at the Walden Woods Project at 44 Baker Farm Rd. in Lincoln. The reception begins at 7 p.m. and the talk begins at 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. The Guide to Walden Pond: An Exploration of the History, Nature, Landscape and Literature of One of America’s Most Iconic Places is the first guidebook to Henry David Thoreau’s most defining place. Thorson is a professor of geology at the University of Connecticut and is the author of several books on Thoreau and his landscape. For more information, click here or email education@walden.org.

Job search group continues through March

The Networking and Job Searching Group, an open drop-in group to exchange ideas and tips on employment opportunities, has been extended through March 28. It meets on Wednesdays from 10 a.m.–noon in the Lincoln Public Library Tarbell Room. For more information, contact Mary Stechschulte at steckstudio@yahoo.com.

Meet electric car owners

Learn about electric vehicles from Lincoln owners and go for a ride on Wednesday, March 14 from 6:30–7:30 p.m. in the Hartwell School parking lot. The event happens immediately before the Green Energy Committee forum, which will look at articles on the Town Meeting warrant that address sustainability.