This week’s Nonesuch Coffee Talks: Publishing, Chiropractic, Gems & Minerals – a Billion Dollar Business, and Full Bore Mystic in residence

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Tracy Coffee TalkingTuesday, June 9             Clare Christie – Book Talk                                                    Retired teacher and lawyer and now author of several volumes and columnist for the Amherst News, Clare Christie talks about writing and publishing and explores some of the differences between self-publishing and being professionally published.

Wednesday, June 10            Mary-Irene Parker – Chiropractic in Canada           Chiropractor Mary-Irene Parker talks about the state of chiropractic in Canada; including history; education; research and development, and relationships within the health care world.

Thursday, June 11    Hans Durstling  – Gems and Minerals on the World Scale, A Billion Dollar Business and its Potential for Parrsboro  Moncton based gemcutter and jewellery maker Hans Durstling has taught at the Tucson Show and visited and researched Idar-Oberstein several times. In this talk, he’ll give a first hand account of both locations, and point out some possibilities that their development may hold for Parrsboro.

In a picturesque region of forests and castles and valleys and vineyards in Southwestern Germany not far from Luxembourg lies the legendary gem town of Idar Oberstein. With a population of some 30 to 40 thousand, it’s approximately the size of Fredericton New Brunswick. The hills around are Permian age basalt lava containing abundant nodules of agate. Just like the basalt of the Bay of Fundy. Very early the agate began to be processed. The first documented mention of an agate mine in Idar Oberstein dates back to 1354, more than 800 years ago. By a process of natural growth, the initial industry of polished stone attracted goldsmiths, tool-makers, import-and-export businesses, diamond cutters, carvers. Today, the concentration of stone related businesses is downright breathtaking: there may be a thousand or more separate businesses dealing in one aspect or another of precious and ornamental stone.
The Tucson "Electric Park Show", 2006

The Tucson “Electric Park Show”, 2006

While Idar-Oberstein is permanent, in Tucson Arizona the activity is packed into the three weeks of the “Tucson Show” in late January early February. During that time, Tucson is to the world of gems and minerals what Paris is to fashion. Hotel prices triple during the three weeks of the Show, which today is by a very large margin the world’s largest mineral and gem exposition. Its economic benefit to the City of Tucson has been estimated to be in the hundred million dollar range. Here again, just as in Idar Oberstein, Tucson’s present status as the number one exposition was not planned, but grew naturally, over decades, step by step.

Friday June 12        Mark Beebe & Julia Heimer Dadds  – in residence Artist’s Talk Full Bore Mystic, Indiana artists Mark Beebe & Julia Heimer Dadds, will be in residence at Main & Station for the month of June.