Silver City and Grant County represent a mix of cultures. In addition to New Mexico's oft-quoted trio - Mexican, Native American and Anglo, the area received contributions from many groups, such as German Jews, Chinese and Buffalo Soldiers. Southwestern New Mexico ethnicity developed in its own way, unlike other parts of New Mexico. This Lunch and Learn will explore the events, how they differed and how they affect Silver City and Grant County today. Liz Mikols in an amateur historian, who read her first book about Silver City in 1994 and from there she was hooked on history. After retiring from the corporate world she and her Joe relocated to Silver City over a year ago. Now Liz is able to spend time investigating the more interesting facets of Grant County and Silver City. Liz has been a member of the Historical Society of New Mexico for over a decade and regularly volunteers at the Silver City Museum, Liz received a B.A. from the University of California (in biology) and a MFS from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Sex is magical and transcendent. So is food, No wonder the Hindu deities took the admonishment to "Make Love, Not War" as a solemn, but not somber responsibility. Up until Ancient Times, Women possessed the magical ability to bring forth LIFE....seemingly without the aid of male interaction....and were worshipped as Goddesses. A HUGE shift in the cultural zeitgeist occurred when men figured out their role in the procreation process; the jury is still out on the ramifications thereof. To most artists, sex is THE most cherished gift of Life...it is how we know we are ALIVE! That and other appetites, like food and magic...are attributed to be put upon the highest pedestal, not scorned or mistreated. It is no accident that the second most common form in all of art history is the female form. God knew what he was doing! Presenter Paula Geisler has drawn and painted the human form and has taught life-drawing for her entire career. She has served intermittedly as Acting Director of WNMU's Francis McCray Gallery for over 22 years. Some notable exhibits she has supervised include Retrospectives for the Late John Stermer, the Late Dorothy and Francis McCray, and the Late Francis de Buda. She has curated an exhibit by the Western Hemispheres' most accomplished living tapestry artist, Eddie Sulca. She has also curated many state -wide juried shows such as "EROS 89" "EROS 95" (also co-sponsored by the Mimbres region Arts Council.) She has her own gallery, (Common Ground). She has also state-wide juried exhibits. Now that she is retired she speaks on a variety of subjects that capture her interest including feng-shui, or the psychology of Space, Art History, and tropical fish-keeping. In her spare time she is also a filmmaker. Paula resides in the oldest home in Silver City, the John P. Risque House at 102 West Kelly St. in the Downtown Historic District of Silver City.

David A. Fryxell, editor and publisher of Desert Exposure, takes you behind the scenes of "the biggest little paper in the Southwest," exploring everything from the ins and outs of assembling and publishing a successful monthly publication to where all those "Desert Diary" jokes come from. David A. Fryxell has been editor and publisher of Desert Exposure, a free regional monthly publication based in Silver City, since 2003. He was previously editorial director of Writer's Digest magazine, features and business editor at the St. Paul (Minn) Pioneer Press and executive producer of Microsoft's Twin Cities Sidewalk website, among other posts in more than 30 years in journalism. He is a graduate of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD and is listed in "Who's Who in America."

In 1918, as the First World War came to an end, another killing field began. A pandemic, caused by a yet unidentified virus, spread to nearly every part of the world. Many of its victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks. This Lunch & Learn meeting will look at the possible causes of the pandemic, discuss some of Grant County's reaction to the infection, and question if a similar event could take place in the twenty-first century. Doc Campbell is a graduate of the University of New Mexico and holds a PhD in the History of Medicine.

Aldo Leopold was the most influential conservationist of the twentieth century. He spent the first fifteen years of his career in the Southwest. He arrived in New Mexico in the summer of 1909, fresh out of the Yale Forestry School as an employee of the US Forest Service. This is where he started his mingled careers in forestry, wildlife protection, and wilderness preservation. This is also where he met his wife, Maria Alvira Estella Bergere of Santa Fe, and where four of their five children were born. And finally, this is where he began his long intellectual evolution from a human-centered domination of the natural world to a nature-centered humility and forbearance. This evolution culminated in the writing of his great book, A Sand County Almanac. Since its posthumous publication in 1949, it has become probably the most quoted, most cited book in environmental literature. Stephen Fox will discuss Leopold's career, both here in the Southwest and later as well. Stephen Fox was born in Boston and raised in eastern Massachusetts. He went to Williams College in western Massachusetts and got a PhD in American history at Brown University in Rhode Island. Two years of teaching convinced him that he was not cut out for academic life, so he has worked as a freelance historian for the last thirty years. He has written books on environmental history, the advertising business, organized crime, big-league sports, transatlantic steamship travel, and other subjects. His most recent book, Wolf of the Deep, a Civil War naval story, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2007. Two year ago Steve and his wife, Alexandra Todd, moved to Silver City from Boston by way of Florida. He remains a steadfast fan of the Boston Red Sox.

Weather enthusiasts, weather nuts or the just plain weather-curious will discover facts, myths, phenomena, and oddities in this fascinating look at useful (and sometimes useless) information. With his expertise as a retired international airline captain and end user of many weather forecasts, the facilitator will take the students on a journey through the curious world of weather, revealing myths and misconceptions, and sharing some weird phenomena. Come fasten your seat belts and discover a world of fascinating weather. Presenter Eric Walker spent a career in aviation spanning nearly forty years in both military and commercial flying. From propellers to the jet age, he has seen weather phenomena around the world. He earned a Degree in Chemistry from San Diego State University. He has also taught WILL classes including Weather Matters as well as How Weather Changed History.