32 Times of Brunswick | Winter 2011

reAl Men reAd

At Brunswick, Real Men Read, and we mean that literally and figuratively. When Joan Huenemann Michie, Lower School librarian and storyteller, came to Brunswick five years ago, she had been thinking about how the whole Brunswick commu-nity might demonstrate to the boys that all kinds of men enjoy reading. “One of my concerns is the femi-nization of reading in our culture,” said Mrs. Michie. “Women have book clubs, but where does that leave our young men? I’m also concerned about the ‘dumbing down,’ in terms of quality, in much of the popular writing for boys. The phrase ‘Real Men Read’ came to me and I thought it would be meaningful to invite men at Brunswick to read to the boys and discuss books they enjoy.”

On the docket for this year’s readers are Ali Al-Maqtari, Upper School Arabic and French; Dave Aylward, Pre and Lower School athletics; Marcus Chioffi, Middle School history; Alexander Constantine, Upper and Middle School Choral Director/Middle School Theater Direc-tor/Upper School Musical Director; Tim Coupe, Pre and Lower School tech-nology; Fanning Hearon, chair of Mod-ern Language Department and Upper School Spanish; Carter Hempleman, Lower School assistant teacher; Chuck Redahan, King Street maintenance fore-man; José Resendiz, Lower School chef, and Paul Withstandley, Upper School Spanish teacher and senior class dean. “I sat with a third grade class and shared the first real novel I remember

reading (Alive, the story of a South Amer-ican college soccer team’s plane crash and their survival),” said Tim Coupe. “I talked about the various genres of books I especially enjoy including satire, politics, religion, fantasy, and especially time travel. As a computer teacher, I also discussed new tech devices like Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad for reading.” “There are so many good stories out there that you’re sure to find something which you’ll like,” he continued. “Reading for me is daily sustenance,” Alexander Constantine told the boys after sharing a book about ghosts. “Reading replenishes my senses, ignites my creativ-ity, and helps me to maintain my spiritual and emotional balance. When you open a book, you open countless doors.”

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33Winter 2011 | Times of Brunswick

’ W I C K S N I P P E T S

1. José resendiz2. Tim Coupe 3. Dave Aylward 4. Ali Al-Maqtari5. paul Withstandley6. Chuck redahan7. Alexander Constantine8. Fanning Hearon7

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