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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/34981/full/34981/writer-to-speak-on-50-year-journey-for-the-class-of-56/ <br /><br /> <b>Writer to speak on 50-year journey for the Class of ‘56</b> <br /> Friday, May 16, 2008 | by <br /><br /><p>Dave Newhouse, a longtime columnist and sportswriter for the Oakland Tribune, will be speaking about his recently published book, “Old Bears,” at the JCC of the East Bay in Berkeley on May 27.<br /><br /> In the book, Newhouse looks into the difficulty of growing older and offers lessons for a younger generation. The talk is part of the JCC’s “Off Page” series.<br /><br /> Newhouse’s book — subtitled “The Class of 1956 Reaches Its Fiftieth Reunion, Reflecting on the Happy Days and the Unhappy Days” — is about his graduating class at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton. It turns out his classmates experienced considerable unhappiness, and tragedy, in their adult years.<br /><br /> Via first-person stories from graduates, the book looks into the difficulty of growing older, such as alcoholism, divorce, blindness, Alzheimer’s and having a child off fighting in a war.<br /><br /> Each chapter is written by one of 28 graduates. Newhouse, who was born Jewish, is one of the 28.<br /><br /> Newhouse said there is virtually no Jewish content in the book, except for a small portion of his chapter, about being sent by the Air Force on a three-year tour overseas, excerpted here:<br /><br /> “Getting away to France’s sugar beet country really matured me, enabling me to finally think for myself, and to make important decisions. Growing up in a Jewish home, I was confirmed, or bar mitzvahed, at 13.<br /><br /> “But I wasn’t exactly the religious type. An Air Force chaplain asked me about attending Jewish services. I didn’t want to be Jewish just because my parents were Jewish any more than I wanted to be a Democrat or drive a Buick for the very same reason. I needed time to decide.<br /><br /> “The chaplain understood my dilemma and he left me alone. You can’t imagine how important he made me feel.’”<br /><br /> Newhouse later said that, because of that experience, he decided not to embrace any one religion, “but I do believe I am a spiritual person.”<br /><br /> <br><br /><br /> <b>Dave Newhouse</b> will be speaking May 27 at 7:30 p.m. about his book “Old Bears” in the “Off Page” series at the JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley. The talk is free. Formore information, visit <a href="http://www.jcceastbay.org">http://www.jcceastbay.org</a> or call (510) 848-0237.</p> <p> </p>

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