Alan Nyiri

Photographer Alan Nyiri will be signing copies of his new book “Cornell: Tradition, Inspiration and Vision,” featuring campus landscapes and architecture, at The Cornell Store during Reunion Weekend. Shown: Schoellkopf Stadium at sunset.

Reunion book signing

Terri Halbreich David sifted through 600 letters written during WWII between her parents, Lester ’37 and Shirley Halbreich, for her book “Mail Call: The Wartime Correspondence of an American Couple, 1943-1945.” David will be among the authors at the Cornell Store’s 19th annual Reunion Weekend Book Signing, Saturday, June 8, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Authors confirmed for the event include photographer Alan Nyiri with his new book, “Cornell: Tradition, Inspiration and Vision,” and Richard Penner, professor emeritus at the School of Hotel Administration, with 
”Cornell University.” Nyri, who also published “Images of Cornell” in 1999, will also be signing June 7 from noon-3 p.m. and until 3 p.m. on June 8.

Faculty authors will include Karl Pillemer, professor of human development, ”30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice From the Wisest Americans”; Fredrik Logevall, the John S. Knight Professor of International Studies,
 signing his recent Pulitzer Prize-winning Vietnam history, ”Embers of War,” and two other books; Dan Schwarz, the Frederic J. Whiton Professor of English, ”Endtimes? Crises and Turmoil at the New York Times, 1999-2009”; Nerissa Russell, professor and chair of anthropology, “Social Zooarchaeology”; 
Karl J. Niklas, professor of plant biology,
”Plant Physics”;
and Steven Strogatz, professor of mathematics, with three books including 
“The Joy of X.”

Also signing books are Cornell parent Heather Little, with 
”Hello, Big Red!” 

and alumni George Kirsch ’67 and Thaddeus Rutkowski ’76.

Information: http://store.cornell.edu/t-news.aspx

‘Singin’’ on the terrace

Cornell Cinema continues its popular Cinema Under the Stars series with outdoor screenings of classic films on the Willard Straight Hall Terrace, starting June 19 with Stanley Donen’s 1951 musical “Singin’ in the Rain,” starring Gene Kelly (who co-directed as well), Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds.

Screenings are slated for four Wednesdays in June and July, all with a cash bar and complimentary snacks. The rest of the series: Alfred Hitchcock’s 1943 thriller “Shadow of a Doubt” with Joseph Cotton, June 26; Penny Marshall’s “Big” (1988) starring Tom Hanks, July 10; and George Cukor’s 1940 screwball comedy “The Philadelphia Story,” with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart, July 24. All films in the series start at 9:30 p.m. and doors open at 8:30.

Tickets cost $12, $10 for students and senior citizens. Advance tickets for all screenings go on sale June 14 at http://CornellCinemaTickets.com and will be held for pickup the night of the show. Tickets will be sold in person (cash, check or credit card) starting the Monday before each screening, at the Cornell Cinema office, 104 Willard Straight Hall, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Previous terrace shows have sold out and advance purchase is recommended. Information: http://cinema.cornell.edu

Free summer series

Cornell begins its free on-campus summer events series Tuesday, June 25, with the Cornell Savoyards performing Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Ruddigore,” a comic opera in two acts, 7:30 p.m. in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets will be available in the lobby starting at 6:15 p.m.

The series features Friday evening concerts on the Arts Quad, a variety of indoor performances at the Schwartz Center on Tuesdays and lectures on Wednesdays.

The Arts Quad shows premiere with Melissa Cox and Mythica, playing a mix of Celtic progressive rock, newgrass and Americana, June 28 at 7 p.m.

The Wednesday lecture series begins July 10 with Kim Brown Bixler ’91 and “Growing Up in a Frank Lloyd Wright House,” 7:30 p.m. in Alice Statler Auditorium.

Other free events coming up in early July include pianist Xak Bjerken and Boston symphony violist Michael Zaretsky, Tuesday, July 2, at the Schwartz Center; and country-folk duo Hardin Burns, July 5 on the Arts Quad.

For the full schedule, see http://www.sce.cornell.edu/ss/about/events/index.php

Starry nights

Take a stargazing tour of the night sky and see planets, galaxies and other celestial wonders at Fuertes Observatory on North Campus.

Public viewing nights on Fridays at the observatory, from 8 p.m. to midnight, are hosted by Cornell Astronomical Society. Guides will provide insight into what is seen through the telescopes.
The observatory is open every Friday night that skies are clear. Parking is available in the Appel lot across from the observatory on Cradit Farm Road.

Information: 607-255-3557 (call ahead to find out if the observatory is open on a given night) or http://www.astro.cornell.edu/CAS/

Folk concerts

WVBR’s “Bound for Glory” will present six live concerts this summer, beginning with Diamonds in the Rough June 23 at 8:30 p.m., live from Anabel Taylor Café. Free and open to all ages.

Diamonds in the Rough is an a cappella trio based in Ithaca and Binghamton; with singers Pamela Goddard, Jim Blake and Glenda Blake doing everything from traditional ballads to jazz standards.

Singer and storyteller Vance Gilbert brings infectious humor and contemporary songs to Anabel Taylor when he returns June 30.

The series also features Dan Berggren, July 7; bluegrass and folk band Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys, July 14; Eric Garrison, returning after about 15 years July 21; and the duo Magpie, July 28.

Now in its 46th year at Cornell, “Bound for Glory” with founding host Phil Shapiro, M.A. ’69, is North America’s longest-running live folk concert broadcast. It airs Sunday nights from 8-11 p.m. on WVBR-FM, 93.5 and 105.5, or listen live at http://www.wvbr.com. Information: Phil Shapiro, 607-844-4535 or pds10@cornell.edu.