Mary Hanel, the former history librarian at the Santa Clara City Library retired three years ago this month, but she’s as busy as ever. She attends lectures and programs at Santa Clara University through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. And, as a board member and docent volunteer at the Harris-Lass House Museum, she’s helping organize … Read more
In February of this year, at the age of 34, Mike King was diagnosed with autism. He’d seen psychologists before, like, that time in grad school when he was prescribed anti-depressants. But it wasn’t until he was seeing an MFT (a marriage and family therapist), while going through a divorce, that he was referred to … Read more
Liz Hoshiko always meant to attend one of those Paint Nites you hear a lot about these days. What kept her from connecting with her inner Monet and a glass of merlot? “Them,” she said, pointing at her boys, Sam, 7, and Isaac, 5. “Childcare,” she said, without needing to explain further. But on a … Read more
Part science fair and part otherworldly comic con with a steampunk top-hats-and-fishnets flair, the 12th annual Bay Area Maker Faire at the San Mateo Event Center this past weekend wowed audiences of all ages–especially the youngest attendees who could be overheard mispronouncing the event name with enchanted glee as the “Maker Fairy.” The event drew … Read more
While attending Purdue University on an academic scholarship, Gaston Tamboura, a Senegalese immigrant, found his passion for teaching. A fellow student had spotted him working on their calculus homework and remarked how difficult it had been. By the time Tamboura finished explaining it to her, she marveled, “Wow. It’s that easy?” Soon after he organized … Read more
Last week, on a bright spring afternoon with a breeze that carried the prickly scent of fresh-cut grass, a crowd of 80 gathered at Mission City Memorial Park cemetery. No one came to grieve the loss of a recently departed loved one, but rather to hear the stories of early Santa Clara residents whose lives … Read more
The acts ranged from a vocal performance of Fly Me to the Moon to a rapper spitting rhymes for an original song called Fly Away. One contestant played a Chopin waltz on piano while another did a dance routine to Bottle Pop by the Pussycat Dolls. No, this was not the line-up for the upcoming … Read more
Now in its third year, the nonprofit Friends of Children with Special Needs (FCSN) will present its annual Special Needs Talent Showcase at the Santa Clara Convention Center Theater on Saturday, March 18, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Anna Wang, event organizer and vice president of FCSN, co-founded the nonprofit in 1996 with nine other … Read more
For Franciso Jiménez, Santa Clara University Professor Emeritus and author of a series of autobiographical books about his life as an undocumented migrant child, springtime meant cotton season was over. But work continued “topping carrots”–chopping the leafy green stems off carrots–or “thinning lettuce”–going down a dirt row and uprooting every other bunch to allow the … Read more
On Friday night, the air at the Santa Clara Books Inc. shop was heavy with the delectable aroma of fresh-baked cookies as first-time author Irvin Lin spoke about his new cookbook Marbled, Swirled, and Layered. The 43-year-old San Francisco-based food writer was born in St. Louis. The son of Taiwanese immigrant parents, Lin recalled that … Read more