Anti-Nuclear, Buy Open Borders, Creative Non-Fiction, Events, Political Activist

Third Place Books reading

Hello, all you Anti-nuclear weapons folk! Come out to Lake Forest Park’s Third Place Books this Friday night at 6 for an outstanding program including a powerpoint overview of the Cold War from its beginning. Anne Stadler, KING 5 TV producer in the 1980s will be on the podium with me. She will talk about the power of TV to break down barriers between enemies and the importance of getting to see, hear and become familiar with the Other in times of sabre-rattling retoric between angry governments.

If you are feeling despair or anxiety about the possibility of a peaceful outcome of the current arms build-up, gathering with people to learn about what we did in the 80s to make a difference. Taking action gives you a reason to believe in a different future. I’ll be sharing from Open Borders: A Personal Story of Love, Loss and Anti-war Activism.

Third Place Books will have Open Borders for sale or you can get the e-reader version where you usually get your books.

Bring your friends. I look forward to seeing you Friday, Jan. 25th at 6 p.m.

Betsy

Anti-Nuclear, Historical Memoir, Political Activist

Radio interview Open Borders

I am so excited to share with you an in depth radio interview with March Twisdale of the Voice of Vashon, 101.9 FM, KVSH. Our conversation was recorded before Christmas and is now part of March’s New Year programming. I recommend it to you because her questions elicited as discussion of the fear generated in Seattle in 1981 when the first Trident nuclear submarine entered Hood Canal. She also bring out the women’s career vs. motherhood issues working their way in my own development. Your interview is airing this week and next, Saturday January 12 / 19 @ 11am and Monday January 14 / 21 @ 12noon. If you can get Voice of Vashon,be sure to listen on 101.9 FM, KVSH.

If Vashon Island, WA will not reach you. March produces a podcast. The link is below. Download it for entertainment on your next long walk. Then buy the book and share it with your family and friends. Give it to your local library. And thank you for your interest in preventing nuclear war in 2019.

Betsy Bell Interview – PPP071

Third Place Books talk and signing

Friday, January 25th, 2019 at 6 p.m., Lake Forest Park’s Third Place Book will present Betsy Bell, author of Open Borders: A personal story of love, loss and anti-war activism. On the program with her will be Anne Stadler, author of an essay included in Open Borders. Bell’s is the story of how a middle-aged wife and mother finds herself in a world on the brink of nuclear destruction. Anne’s is the story of creating the first Space Bridge simultaneous television broadcast between the US and the USSR, 1985. A powerful presentation about ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things to prevent nuclear war. An inspiration for our time.

https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/auth-event?page=1

Anti-Nuclear, Political Activist

What can I do to prevent nuclear war?

One question has come up at all four of the book launch events since Open Borders came out Oct. 16th: what can I do to prevent nuclear war? The question is slow to surface as audience members old enough to remember begin to relive the frightening times in Seattle in the 1980s when children were practicing duck and cover in their classrooms and bomb shelter signs appears on the walls of buildings downtown.

What can one do? Get involved in the anti-nuclear weapon movement through Washington Against Nuclear Weapons WANW, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibiltiy, Earth Care not War Fare and Ground Zero to name a few. Find their next meeting on the calendar under the menu tab “calendar”.

Where does the money come from to keep the nuclear war machine going? Following the money may be the most effective way to reverse current policy. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons recently published a study revealing the money path. I encourage you to take a look at their findings. One darling of personal finance and family investment (my husband and I began building our nest egg with a $25 a month contribution back in the 1970s) is Vanguard. In fact, I just counseling my grandson to begin his investment program with a Vanguard account and promised to match his monthly contributions. I was shocked and dismayed to find Vanguard in the top ten of the companies investing in nuclear weapons.

ICAN executive director Beatrice Fihn:If you have been wondering who benefits from Donald Trump’s threats of nuclear war, this report has that answer. These are the companies that stand to profit from indiscriminate mass murder of civilians. We grow less safe while they cash in on chaos by banking on Armageddon.”

What can I do to prevent nuclear war? Call your broker. Then write to the company after you pull your money out and explain why you have left them. Even if your account is only a pittance, your opinion will sting, register a welt that burns the skin. Enough of these welts make even a very large company uncomfortable. Perhaps even uncomfortable enough to change.

PAX

Betsy

Events

Open Borders book signings

October 23rd, 6 – 8 p.m. University of Washington Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105. Meet the author, Betsy Bell, and engage in a conversation about Citizen Diplomacy in the face of nuclear war in the 1980s. Joining her on a panel will be Prof. Eric Johnson of the UW history department and Dr. Roscius Doan, founder of a medical exchange program in Tashkent in the 80s. Please join us.

November 11th, 12:15 – 2 Saint Mark’s Cathedral Shop, 1245 10th Ave. E, Seattle, WA 98102. Meet the author, Betsy Bell, and engage in a conversation about memoire and history with Dick Carter, one of the essayists included in Open Borders and UW Professor Elena Campbell, History Department.

November 14, 6 – 7:30, Homestreet Bank, 4022 SW Alaska Street, Seattle, WA 98116 co-sponsored by the West Seattle Chamber of commerce.

Please pre-order the book at Amazon, Elliott Bay, Third Place Books or the Indiebound store nearest you. If you are interested in reading a proof copy and writing a review on any of these sites, including Goodreads, please notify me for either an electronic version or a hard copy. I’d appreciate your reviews prior to the events. Thank you, thank you.