Cokie Roberts Talk

Cokie Roberts, senior news analyst for National Public Radio and ABC News political commentator, will be speaking at a brunch at the Farm Neck Golf Club Café in Oak Bluffs Friday, August 14 from 10 a.m. to noon.

Slow Fish — the pleasures of eating seafood harvested in a sustainable manner — is the topic of a Menemsha Fisheries Development Fund lecture on Wednesday, August 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Public Library.

Development fund president Warren Doty will talk about the growing slow fish movement, an offshoot of the international Slow Food organization that originated in Italy. Like it’s counterpart, the pleasures of eating well are at the core of slow fish and it’s stated mission to educate, promote and protect.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, creator of the 1969 Freedom Seder, will discuss eco-justice and related issues on Friday, August 7, at 6 p.m. after Shabbat services at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center.

Identified by Newsweek Magazine as one of the 50 most influential American rabbis, Rabbi Waskow founded and directs The Shalom Center, a prophetic voice in Jewish, multireligious and American life. The center applies Jewish and other spiritual thought to the issues of peace, justice, healing the earth and to the celebration of community.

Friday Conversations

On Friday, August 14, at the Oak Bluffs senior center, Bob Hayden will announce and describe the upcoming Black Inventor’s Showcase which will be held at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs on August 21 and 22. His talk will begin at 10 a.m.

Feeling older? Wiser? Harvard professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot will discuss her new book, The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk, and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50 on Thursday, August 13, at 7:30 p.m. the Vineyard Haven Public Library. It is free and all are welcome.

As director of alcohol and other drug services at Harvard University, Ryan Travia sees himself as a community organizer.

On Wednesday, he is coming to speak with parents in the Vineyard community, where in June, tragically and not for the first time, teen drinking fueled a fatal car crash.

His presentation is Alcohol 101, in which he reports on current trends in young adult alcohol use, based on research findings from AlcoholEDU, an online program used at colleges and universities nationwide.