Arts & Culture

Today on Valley Writers Read, Nelson Varon brings us a story called, "Fixing Things", about a writer who secures a book deal only to lose it when he loses his cool with his boss.

Sept. 29 marks the beginning of the American Library Association's annual "Banned Books Week," a commemoration of all the books that have ever been removed from library shelves and classrooms. Politics, religion, sex, witchcraft — people give a lot of reasons for wanting to ban books, says Judith Krug of the ALA, but most often the bannings are about fear.

"They're not afraid of the book; they're afraid of the ideas," says Krug. "The materials that are challenged and banned say something about the human condition."

On this edition of Valley Writers Read, Barbara Link brings us a story called, "Leaving" about a woman named Mary Agnes Lone Hill who lives with her grandmother on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. When she is relocated to an Indian school in Nebraska, she has a hard time embracing the native culture.

Jean Ray Laury was one of Central California's most accomplished and acclaimed artists. She helped to revolutionize the world of quilting, taking it from the world of traditional arts and crafts and into the world of modern art. She died in March 2011, but shortly before her passing, she visited Valley Public Radio to record her story about life growing up in a small town in Iowa, Growing Up In Doon.