Councils and Regional Contacts (by state)
The Great Books Foundation maintains the largest book-group registry in the United States. Many of these groups are affiliated with a city or regional Great Books council.
Great Books councils are independent volunteer organizations that support Great Books groups in a particular area. Currently there are ten councils serving book groups in the United States and Canada:
Chicago Area Great Books Council
Great Books Council of Delaware
Houston Great Books Council
Long Island Great Books Council
New England Great Books Council
Pacific Northwest Great Books Council
Philadelphia Great Books Council
San Francisco Great Books Council (serving Northern California)
Tampa Bay Great Books Council
Westchester (NY) Great Books Council
The councils provide support by:
- Publishing newsletters and maintaining websites with information about local groups and events.
- Periodically hosting leader training in Shared Inquiry™.
- Organizing retreats and other special events that feature book discussions (for example, the Wachs Summer Institute).
Please call us at 800-222-5870 if you would like to correct or add a name to the list below, which includes not only councils but also other regional contacts. Please feel free to contact the Great Books Foundation or any of these individuals or organizations for information about starting or joining a local group or council. For more information on council programming, visit www.greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org.
CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Great Books Council
(serving Northern California)
Marge Johnson, President
rudymargejohnson(at)comcast.net
925-846-6084
San Diego Great Books Council
Frank and Sandy Spalding
sspaldin(at)att.net
858-755-8978
Ralph Purves
rpurves(at)cox.net
619-440-5625
Regional Contacts
Los Angeles
Gunnar Portanova
vportano(at)pacbell.net
310-273-5691
DELAWARE
Great Books Council of Delaware
Cyra Gross
cyra711(at)aol.com
302-475-3914
Regional Contacts
Ocie Bernstein
ocie.bernstein(at)comcast.net
302-633-4088
FLORIDA
Tampa Bay Great Books Council
Sara Cohen, President
saradacinteriors(at)aol.com
813-985-4515
Regional Contacts
Gainesville
Don Smith
smithdc2(at)bellsouth(dot)net
352-376-0044
Miami
Peter Lamar
cplamar(at)yahoo.com
305-205-4425
(Prefers contact by e-mail)
Orlando
David Felesky
dfelesky(at)hotmail.com
407-859-1203
ILLINOIS
Chicago Area Great Books Council
Jack Hatfield, President
jackhat1(at)aol.com
630-375-0881 (evenings)
630-375-0676, ext. 5 (days)
NEW YORK
Long Island Great Books Council
Grahme Fischer, President
ligb(at)verizon.net
631-361-3401
Westchester Great Books Council
Sharman Propp, President
spropp(at)aol.com
914-944-0618
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Great Books Council
John Dalton, President
jd5258875(at)aol.com
610-608-7711
Helen McGrane, Coordinator
hmcgrane(at)yahoo.com
Wachs Great Books Summer Institute at Colby College
The Colby Committee sponsors the Wachs Great Books Summer Institute each August at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. For information, please contact:
Thomas and Carol Beam
Great Books Summer Institute at Colby College
824 Thomas Road
Lafayette Hill, PA 19444
phone 215-836-2380
agreatbook(at)aol.com
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