For Book Clubs
Bastrop Literary Knights Book Club Discussion Guide
First, thank you for choosing Bastrop Literary Knights for your book club. We are honored by your selection and hope you enjoyed learning about the 129-year history of the Bastrop Ladies Reading Circle and its social, civic, and cultural impact on the community of Bastrop, Texas. Bastrop Literary Knights represents ten years of research and writing. We hope you find its 365 pages well worth the time you invest in reading them. The following may help spark a thoughtful discussion of the book. If you have additional questions you would like us to address, please email us at bastropliteraryknights@gmail.com.
Happy reading!
Glenda, Brenda, and Robbie
1982 photo of four former presidents at a meeting of the Bastrop Ladies Reading Circle at the home of President No. 46 Oline West.
Pictured (l-r): Presidents Nos. 22 and 41 Marguerite Haynie, No. 44 Agnes Hasler, No. 38 Betty Gurwitz, and No. 42 Mary Belle Gore
About the Individual Reading Circle Members
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Why do you think Sarah Jane Kimball Orgain left no money in her will to her granddaughters, Genery Orgain Spears and Eva Orgain Spears, while leaving $10,000 each to their brothers, Roy, Murray, and Edward Kimball?
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Although Drusilla Johnston Orgain was among the wealthiest and most “studiously refined” Reading Circle leaders, why do you think she was an effective leader for Bastrop’s more practical “municipal housekeeping” initiative?
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Consider the details of Katie Thompson Price’s funeral arrangements: cremation; burial in her husband’s grave; and services conducted by the Rev. John Phillips of Calvary Episcopal Church rather than by the minister of the Methodist church to which she and J. B. belonged. Who do you think made these arrangements—Katie herself, her son Ralph Price, or her aunt Mary Jane Gill—and why?
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Alice Taylor Haynie, the Reading Circle’s sixth president, died by suicide in 1905. Based on the book’s historical context, what factors may have contributed to her decision?
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Why do you think Frances Green Miley accepted the Reading Circle’s nomination and election as vice president, yet worked so hard to avoid serving in the role?
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Social norms in the 1950s and 1960s differed greatly from those of today. Why do you think Nell Nash Jones and her daughter, Nell Jones Herndon, went to such lengths to conceal the Nash family history?
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Whose story resonated most with you, and why?
Bob Parvin photo of members of the Bastrop Ladies Reading Circle
holding a 1994 book selection, standing on the front porch of
Joyce and Lamar Wigington, 1302 Hill Street, Bastrop, Texas.
About the Bastrop Ladies Reading Circle Organization
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What made the Bastrop Ladies Reading Circle a noteworthy subject for this book? Why do you think the Reading Circle struggled to make the town’s first public library successful?
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Why was the group more successful in launching the Bastrop County Historical Society Museum?
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Did the Reading Circle make the right decision to leave the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1976? Why or why not? Did it leave too soon, too late, or at the right time?
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How might the club have developed differently if it had remained a member of the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs?
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The book states that whether the Bastrop Ladies Reading Circle was “a flawed institution has never been the question.” In your view, how was the Reading Circle flawed, and what redeeming qualities did it possess?
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What best explains the longevity of the Bastrop Ladies Reading Circle: its ability to evolve with changing times, strong leadership, or some combination of the two?
BASTROP LADIES READING CIRCLE
120th Anniversary Photo — October 13, 2017
Standing L:R: Judy Harvell (2015), Rita Fredericks (2011), Donna Wilkes* (2015), Nina Guinn (2011), Carlene Tomlin (1999), Doris Oldfield, Treasurer (2015), Glenda Dayton*, President (2016), Brenda Uptain, Secretary (2015), Kathee Mazac* (2009), Laurie South (2014), Peggy Green (2016), Terry Conrad (2003), Ellen Newbold (2016), Dorothy Berkner* (2007), Raylene Welch (2015).
Seated L:R: Betty Gurwitz* (1961), Maribel Rozendal* (2001), June Wilson* (2011), Cathy Smith (2004-2012), Joan Russell* (1991), Pat Kessler (2017), Barbara Harp* (2004), and Kaye Sapikas (2017).
Not shown: Michelle Adams (2011), Joan Bohls* (2011), Jean Helmick* (1998), Mary Lucas (2013), Carol Kysar (2013), Helen Nelson (1989), Becky Nichols (2017), Nancy Payton (2013), Susan Duffy Smith, Vice President (2011), Nancy Williams (2013), Betty Weaver, Honorary Member (1999), and Fredia Egger, Life Member (1977).
Parenthesis indicates year member joined. Asterisk indicates a former president.
Photo by John Chandler
About the Book: Bastrop Literary Knights
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What was the most surprising or striking thing you learned from the book?
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Did the book change your perspective on anything? If so, what?
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What unanswered questions do you have about Bastrop Literary Knights?
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Which topic, person, or event would you most like to learn more about, and why?
