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Historical society kicks off fall lecture series
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Sis Soller delighted the crowd of approximately 60 members and guests at the Canfield Historical Society’s Fall Lecture Series with her lecture’ titled “Erma Bombeck” Oct. 13.
By ABBY SLANKER
Sis Soller delighted the crowd of approximately 60 members and guests at the Canfield Historical Society’s Fall Lecture Series with her lecture titled “Erma Bombeck” Oct. 13.
Soller did not consider her talk to be a ‘lecture.’
“I didn’t know I was giving a ‘lecture’ tonight,“ Soller remarked before she started. “I just know that when someone needs a presentation that is light, with no message, I come very highly recommended.”
During her presentation, Soller discussed the American novelist, columnist and humorist Erma Bombeck, who achieved great popularity for her newspaper column that described suburban home life from the mid-1960s until the late 1990s.
Soller read several of Bombeck’s columns and threw in a few stories of her own. She also read several comical passages from church bulletins she has collected over the years.
“I am a graduate of Miami University. My husband and I told our kids they could go to college anywhere they would like, but we only write checks to Miami,” Soller cracked.
Soller had the opportunity to meet Bombeck on one occasion, one which she said she would never forget. Soller corresponded with Bombeck for years and considered her a friend.
Soller shared her favorite Bombeck quote with the audience.
“Erma was known for many of her quotes and sayings, but my favorite is ‘I’d rather laugh to forget than forget to laugh,’” Soller said.
To close her talk, Soller read a Bombeck column on aging and entering a new season of life, which encouraged readers to enjoy life now and to its fullest.
“Erma’s columns were not always humorous,” Soller said. “She was very much like Bob Hope — when they were funny, they were funny, and when they were serious, they were serious.”
Soller received her bachelor’s from Miami University, has been active in art and theater for 40 years and is the founder and president of the Mahoning Valley Watercolor Society.
The next lecture in the Fall Lecture Series will be Tim Brookes with a lecture on Pretty Boy Floyd at the Canfield Historical Society’s Bond House, 44 West Main St., Nov. 10. All lectures are free and open to the public.
For more information, call the historical society at 330-533-3458.