Moby-Dick Marathon, New Bedford, MA
posted November 29, 2014 7:38 AM   RSS | iCal | +googleCal

Fri January 2 at 7:00 PM, New Bedford Whaling Museum and environs
18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, USA (Map & Directions)
The New Bedford Whaling Museum hosts the 19th annual Moby-Dick Readathon the weekend of January 2-4. I think it's a great way to start the New Year and I'll be there most of the weekend. Would love some MeFite company for breakfast/coffee/reading/event-going.
I've linked to the main event page and to the full program in the FPP. Some of the highlights:
  • Philip Hoare, author of "The Whale" (excellent examination of the relationship between humans and whales) gives a keynote Friday night at 7, then kicks off the actual reading part of the readathon on Saturday, January 3 at noon. So I think he gets to say "Call me Ishmael," and deservedly so: he's a very engaging and enthusiastic speaker and knows his whales.
  • Bring your nerdiest Melville questions to the Stump the Scholars hour on Saturday at 10 a.m.
  • Two Children's Mini-Marathons for kids age 8 and up.
  • Father Mapple's sermon will be read in the Seamen's Bethel by a real live Reverend!
  • Group singing of "The Ribs and Terrors of the Whale" in a chapel (presumably the Seaman's Bethel chapel) led by members of the New Bedford Choral Society and organist Dwight Thomas.
New Bedford's downtown is very charming - several good restaurants and coffee shops. The Whaling Museum itself is well worth a look in its entirety.

If any other MeFites are thinking of going, I'd like to get breakfast or coffee with you! Or we can just sit and read together, or sing along with the New Bedford Choral Society. Options abound. I'll be in and out of the readathon and I'll definitely be at Philip Hoare's keynote as well as the opening lines at noon on Saturday.

Getting there: I'll probably be taking the Peter Pan bus from Boston and the bus station is downtown, not far from the museum. New Bedford is not difficult to navigate by car but the time of year makes me leery of driving.

For anyone who can't make it, there will be a livestream. See the first link in the FPP.

Introverts welcome. I'm a loner who likes occasional company, so reading in companionable silence for a while or just a quick breakfast meetup both work for me.

I'll subscribe to this thread to keep up to date on comments, or just MeMail me if you wish.
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