Ithica New York

Suitcase full of secrets: Exhibit sheds light on psychiatric hospital

BLACK & WHITE GALA FUNDRAISER
» What: Appetizers, cocktails, entertainment and admission to The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic exhibit
» When: 6-9 p.m. Saturday
» Where: Port Huron Museum, 1115 Sixth St.
» Cost: $40 per person or $75 per couple. Tickets are available through the sponsoring organizations: the museum, (810) 982-0891; St. Clair County Community Mental Health, (810) 985-8900; Sanilac County Community Mental Health, (810) 648-0330; The Arc of St. Clair County, (810) 982-3261.

open house
» What: For clients of Community Mental Health in St. Clair and Sanilac counties and The Arc of St. Clair County
» When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 29 in the museum
» Cost: Free with a ticket, available at the sponsoring agencies

"We wanted to help provide information to the community," said Jim Johnson, executive director of Sanilac County Community Mental Health. "About not only the experience that people have had related to being institutionalized, but to promote the idea that people have the potential to do so much more, and the diagnosis of a mental illness shouldn't prevent people from being in the community, that people can and do succeed in spite of a mental illness.

Amazon Names Ithaca College Author's Debut Novel a 'Best Book' for ...

ITHACA, NY — “ Ten Thousand Saints ,” the debut novel by Eleanor Henderson , has been earning across-the-board praise for its vivid descriptions of 1980s-era New York City and sensitive portrayals of youthful rebellion and family dynamics. The book was released on June 7 by Ecco Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Henderson, an assistant professor of writing at Ithaca College, is currently on tour promoting “Ten Thousand Saints,” which was listed by Amazon.com as one of the “ Best Books of the Month ” for June and included on the recommended summer reading lists of the “Los Angeles Times” and “New York Daily News.” “BookPage” cited it as a “vibrant debut” and “O, the Oprah Magazine” called it an “irresistibly rich and engrossing novel.”

Moving back and forth between gritty New York City and small-town Vermont, the characters in “Ten Thousand Saints” — including drug-dealing parents and “straight edge” teens — struggle to create their own identities when life around them is turned upside down. As “Publishers Weekly” describes it, “What results is an odyssey encompassing the age of CBGB, Hare Krishnas, zines and the emergence of AIDS.”

Henderson joined the Department of Writing in the School of Humanities and Sciences in the fall of 2010, where she teaches courses in creative and academic writing and historical fiction. She earned her B.A. in American literature/creative writing from Middlebury College and M.F.A in fiction writing from the University of Virginia.

“I began writing ‘Ten Thousand Saints’ about 10 years ago,” said Henderson. “Since then it’s traveled through many drafts and many states. It wasn’t until about three days after I was hired by Ithaca College that I finally sold the novel. I think IC was my lucky charm, and I feel very grateful for their faith in my book.”

Her short story “The Farms” was a Pushcart Prize nominee and was selected for “The Best American Short Stories 2009.” Her fiction has also appeared in “Agni,” “North American Review,” “Ninth Letter” and “Columbia,” among other publications. Her nonfiction has appeared in “Poets & Writers,” where she was a contributing editor, and “Virginia Quarterly Review,” where she was the chair of the fiction board.

Charter and ordinances of the City of Ithaca, New York, as amended and in force on July 1, 1897, with the special acts of the legislature relating to said city, together with the regulations and by-laws of the Board of Health and Board of Sewer Commissioners

History of the First Presbyterian church of Ithaca, New York, during one hundred years, The anniversary exercises, January twenty-first to twenty-fourth, 1904

Zoning ordinance of the City of Ithaca, New York, 15 June 1961, as amended thru April 1965

Ithaca, New York, New York, Ithaca Hours, Cornell University, History of the New York State College of Forestry, Trails in Ithaca, New York

The Phi Delta Kappan