Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Grandmother Moon: Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason book talk in Torrington

Grandmother Moon: Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason book talk in Torrington

Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason (Schaghticoke/Ho-Chunk), an educator, traditional storyteller and author, will read from her new book Grandmother Moon, inspired by her grandmother, Indigenous educator Trudie Lamb Richmond, who lived on Schaghticoke land along the Housatonic River in Kent.

Provided

The story comes full circle when educator, traditional storyteller and author Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason (Schaghticoke/Ho-Chunk) comes to Litchfield County to read from her new book, Grandmother Moon, inspired by her grandmother, Indigenous educator Trudie Lamb Richmond, who lived on Schaghticoke land along the Housatonic River in Kent.

On Saturday, April 18, from 2-4 p.m., the Torrington Historical Society at 192 Main St. will host the book talk and sharing of traditional stories.

Lamb-Cason was named 2024 National History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the first Indigenous person to receive the honor, and is now the Assistant Director of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Brown University. She will speak about the importance of oral tradition for Indigenous communities and of her efforts to write down the stories.

Provided

Lamb-Cason shared her story with the publication:

“The Northwest Corner is not just where my grandmother lived; it is our ancestral homelands. Our reservation was established near Kent in 1736. My grandmother grew up in Newtown and spent her childhood returning to Schaghticoke, visiting family and learning from her grandparents. In the early 1980s, she built her home on the reservation with my grandfather, and that is where I spent so much of my own childhood—learning with and from the land and waters that have sustained our people since time immemorial.

“As a historian, storyteller and educator, every moment with her was a teachable moment … and as her eldest grandchild, she felt a strong responsibility to impart as much as she could to me …

“A brief trek in the snow became ‘Wunneanatsu, what animal print do you think that is? Yes, you’re right, that’s Rabbit. That reminds me of a story about how rabbit got such long ears.’ …

“‘Wunneanatsu, do you hear the birds singing? That one sounds like blue jay. Let me tell you a story about how the birds got their songs.’

“My grandmother and those teachings guide everything I do; as an author, a storyteller, a relative and teacher; they inform my pedagogy and instructional style but also how I view and navigate the world. Grandmother Moon became an opportunity to honor her and her legacy of centering Indigenous ways of knowing in western academia and educational landscape. It was a way to carry her teachings forward for my children and future generations. It is, at its heart, a love letter to the woman who gave me so much. Essentially, my grandmother is and always will be everything I want to be when I grow up.”

Copies of “Grandmother Moon” will be available and the author will sign books. Native baskets from the collection of the Torrington Historical Society will be on display during the event.

Please register to reserve a spot: torringtonhistoricalsociety.org

Latest News

Plans to revitalize Norfolk’s Infinity Hall unveiled

Infinity Hall, built in 1883.

Jennifer Almquist

Nearly 200 people packed the wooden seats of Norfolk’s historic Infinity Hall on Thursday, May 14, as David Rosenfeld, owner and founder of Goodworks Entertainment Group, a live entertainment and venue management company, unveiled ambitious plans to restore the restaurant and bar, expand programming and reestablish the venue as a central gathering place for the community.

Since the Norfolk Pub closed on Jan. 31, 2026, the need for a restaurant and evening gathering place has become paramount, and for years residents have wanted Infinity Hall to be more engaged with the community.

Keep ReadingShow less

May Castleberry’s next chapter

May Castleberry’s next chapter

May Castleberry at home in Lakeville.

Natalia Zukerman
Castleberry’s idea of happiness is “looking at a great painting.”

May Castleberry is a ball of sunshine and passion, though she grew up an introverted child, moving with her family from Alberta to Colorado to Texas, finding comfort in mountains, books and wide-open skies. Today, the former art book editor and museum curator has found a new home in Lakeville, where the natural beauty of the Northwest Corner continues to captivate her. Whether walking with friends, painting, reading or visiting beloved local libraries in Salisbury, Norfolk and Cornwall, Castleberry has embraced the region since making her move permanent in 2022, bringing with her a remarkable career shaped by a lifelong love of books and art.

Castleberry grew up in the world of books, and especially art books, and she credits her artist mother, an avid art book collector, with igniting her passions. Castleberry’s high school art teacher in Dallas understood how to teach students to channel their imaginations into books and art.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hoarding 
With Style: Sarah Blodgett’s art of collecting

Sarah Blodgett has turned her passion for collecting into “something larger.”

Photo by Sarah Blodgett

There is something wonderfully disarming about walking into a space where nothing feels overly polished, overly planned or pulled from a catalog — a place where history lingers in the corners, where color is fearless, where the objects on the shelves have stories to tell and where, if you are lucky, a cat named Cinnamon may be supervising the entire operation.

That is the world of Sarah Blodgett.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Dr. Paul J. Fasano

Dr. Paul J. Fasano

SHARON — Dr. Paul J. Fasano DDS, of Brewster, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully after a long illness on May 10, 2026, in Boston.

Born in Boston to Philip and Laura (Stolarsky) Fasano on Dec. 13, 1946, he grew up in Dorchester with his two brothers Philip and William.Paul attended the Boston Latin School and graduated from Boston College in 1968.He later completed Dental School at New York University in 1972.

Keep ReadingShow less

David Niles Parker

David Niles Parker

KENT — David Niles Parker, 88, of Middletown, Connecticut, passed away at home on May 6, 2026.

Born January 20, 1938, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, the first child to Franklin and Katharine Niles Parker, David graduated from Wellesley High School, received his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University, studied at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and earned his master’s in education from Harvard.

Keep ReadingShow less
Janet Andre Block is ‘Catching Light’

Artist Janet Andre Block in her studio in Salisbury.

L. Tomaino

What do Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano concertos and a quiet room have to do with Janet Andre Block’s work? They are among the many elements that shape how she paints, helping guide her into the layered, luminous worlds she creates on canvas.

Block makes layered oil paintings in rich, deep, misty colors. She developed her technique as an undergraduate at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and then at New York University, and also time spent in Venice earning a master’s degree in studio art.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.