
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
kwent2@unm.edu
March 28, 2006
UNM Libraries Put Great Conversation on the Menu
Mark your calendar to attend UNM Libraries' Second Annual “Tables of Content,” a one-of-a-kind event that is already becoming a campus tradition. At 6 p.m. Saturday, May 20, 2006 the evening will bring together notable artists, writers, scholars, and politicians from diverse fields to lead engaging discussions on their areas of expertise. A gourmet meal will accompany the conversations in Zimmermann Library's gorgeous, historic West Wing. Tickets are $125 per person and will benefit the Center for Southwest Research/Special Collections.
Twelve table hosts will are featured at this year's event. Following cocktails in the Raul D. Dominguez Memorial Garden, the Library's outdoor courtyard, guests will be escorted to Zimmerman's west wing for a full-course gourmet meal, accompanied by conversation led by the table host of their choice. The hosts for this dinner include Ted Garcia, General Manager & CEO of KNME TV 5/DT 35, a multi-award winning public television station serving northern and central New Mexico.
George Gumerman, Senior Scholar at the School of American Research has spent more than thirty years researching the archeology of the southwestern United States. He has authored or edited more than twenty books. His research interests include the evolving cultural complexity and past human adaptation to the southwest environment.
Fred Harris, Former US Senator from Oklahoma (1963-1973), past chair of the National Democratic Party, and former presidential candidate in 1976. Harris later moved to New Mexico and joined the UNM faculty in the Political Science Department. He was elected chair of the NM Democratic Party in 1998. Harris is the author of 18 books, many of them on political subjects, and a series of mystery stories set in depression-era Oklahoma.
Stan Hordes is an author, whose most recent book “To the end of the earth: A history of the Crypto Jews in New Mexico” has just been released. He is a former state of New Mexico historian, and a UNM Professor whose expertise includes the experience of Crypto-Jewish, genealogy, and southwest history.
Michael Kelly is the Director of University of New Mexico Libraries' Center for Southwest Research/Special Collections. As director he oversees collections of personal papers from New Mexico politicians, public figures and private collectors in a wide variety of fields.
Nelson Martinez is a former reporter and news anchor with KOAT and KOB. He is also a well-known local mariachi singer.
Estévan Rael-Gálvez is the New Mexico s tate historian. His doctoral dissertation “Identifying Captivity and Identity: Narratives of American Indian Servitude” focused on the meanings of American Indians and their unique legacy and identity in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. He is currently working on a manuscript for this project.
Edward L. Romero is the f ormer ambassador to Spain and Andorra and one of the co-founders of the National Hispanic Cultural Center. He also founded Advanced Sciences Inc. an international environmental engineering and waste management corporation.
Betty Sabo is a renowned painter and sculptor, with bronze sculptures on permanent display at the Albuquerque Museum, Botanical Gardens, and University of New Mexico.
Alisa Valdes Rodriguéz is the author of “The Dirty Girls Social Club” and other award-winning novels. She was recently voted one of “Time Magazine's Top 25 Most Influential Hispanics.”
Judith Van Gieson is an award-winning mystery writer. In one of her two mystery series, the protagonist Claire Reymier is a buyer of rare books for the University of New Mexico library.
Christopher Wilson is an historian and the J.B. Jackson Professor of Cultural Landscape Studies. His specialty is southwest architecture and historic preservation. He is the author of “The Myth of Santa Fe: Creating a Modern Regional Tradition” and “Facing Southwest: The Life and Houses of John Gaw Meem.”
Attendees of last year's Tables of Content banquet describe the evening as a “night to be remembered,” “just wonderful” and “the best fundraising event I have ever attended.” One guest marveled, “I joked with Mayor Chavez over wine, enjoyed unforgettable tales from Tom Chavez and got gardening tips from xeriscape guru, Judith Phillips during appetizers and hung on Rudy Anaya's every word over dinner – if the University Libraries keeps this up – it will be the event everyone looks forward to all year.”
Sponsors for Tables of Content include RMCI, Inc., Belew's Office Furniture and Supplies, and support from Albuquerque Printing Company, Aramark Dining Services, Dr. Richard G. Beidleman, Dr. Charles Cutter and Dr. Susan Curtis, French's Mortuary, Daniel T. Kelly, Jr. Probus Security Guard Company, Inc. Nancy Meem Wirth, Xerox of New Mexico and Xerox Global Services.
To make a reservation, please visit the website at http://elibrary.unm.edu/development/TOC/ or call (505) 277-4241or e-mail admin@unm.edu.
The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.
www.unm.edu