Library newsletter editor enjoys life in The Berkshires

PITTSFIELD – Ross Shuart, the new editor of the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum newsletter, always wanted to be an astronomer.

Even as a seven-year-old, he used to read about planets and the solar system.

He also has a fondness for libraries. That interest, too, developed early in life, as his father used to take him frequently to the Carnegie Library in his native Syracuse, N.Y.

“I’ve always loved books,” he said during a recent interview at the Athenaeum with a Beacon reporter.

So it was natural when he and his wife, Patricia or “Trish,” moved to Pittsfield two years ago, he attended one of the Friends’ thrice-yearly book sales.

“There’s nothing like a book sale to support a library,” Mr. Shuart, a quiet, reserved man, said.

He filled out a library form during that sale and checked a box indicating he would be interested in becoming a programming volunteer. Mr. Shuart had computer programming in mind.

He later found out the Friends meant programming as in finding speakers, planning programs for the public and so forth.

Then, Florian Ptak, chairman of the Friends, called him and asked if he would take on the responsibility of editing the organization’s newsletter.

So, he became editor due to a “slip of the tongue,” he laughed.

The Friends, by the way, is a volunteer membership organization that will celebrate their 75th anniversary next year, Mr. Schuart said. Members raise money to support the library. They fund children’s and adult programs, as well as any other needs of the Athenaeum, such as purchase of a curtain in the auditorium.

Physics and astronomy studies

Mr. Shuart majored in physics at Cornell University in New York and then obtained a master’s degree in astronomy from the University of Arizona in Tucson. There wasn’t a big demand for astronomers, except to teach and do research, Mr. Shuart said.

“There was not too much future in the field,” he added, so he became a software engineer with General Electric and Lockheed Martin for a total of 27 years. The latter company deals with global security, aerospace and informational technology.

During the years he worked as an engineer, Mr. Shuart spent two years at GE Ordnance in Pittsfield, from 1978 to 1980.

Mr. Shuart and his wife, Trish, who grew up in New Hampshire, also lived near St. Petersburg, Fla., for 11 years when he was working for Raytheon. (Key areas of that company are defense technology and training, homeland and border security and cyber security.)

Retired to Pittsfield

Then, they started making retirement plans and had to decide where they wanted to live. They found a house they liked in Pittsfield, in the Williams Street area, and moved here in June 2011.

“So far it’s worked out okay,” Mr. Shuart said. The winters in Pittsfield are milder than the ones he lived through in Syracuse.

Mrs. Shuart saw an ad for a math teaching position at Miss Hall’s School, applied and got the job. She’s still working and her husband is now retired.

The couple has two married daughters, Christine, who lives in Minnesota, and Carolyn, who resides in Connecticut. They have one granddaughter, Eva, three years old.

Mr. Shuart has gray hair and brown eyes, framed with glasses. On the day he was interviewed, he wore a neat, checked shirt and light beige colored jacket.

Editor since the summer

The Friends newsletter comes out quarterly. Mr. Shuart has done two issues so far. His first was during this past summer. He has not had to write any articles to date. Most of the material for the newsletters is provided and his job is to fit the pieces together, he said.

It’s distributed to a few hundred Friends members and copies are also available at the Athenaeum.

More electronic distribution of the newsletter might be good, he said.

“We encourage people to read about our activities,” Mr. Shuart said.

“I’m still sort of the novice in the bunch,” he added, quite humbly.

“It’s an interesting challenge,” he said of his editorial duties. “It’s totally different from what I had in mind.”

Wry sense of humor

Mr. Shuart has a rather wry sense of humor. Regarding volunteering, he said it “keeps you busy, off the streets and out of trouble.”

Volunteering is a good way to meet people, he said.

He likes the sense of community he feels in Pittsfield and in The Berkshires, in general.

Book sale coming up

The next big Friends book sale is coming up. It will be held in the auditorium of the Berkshire Athenaeum on Wendell Avenue tonight (Nov. 15) from 5-8 p.m. for Friends members and then Friday and Saturday (Nov. 16-17) for the general public from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

“Support your library by joining the Friends,” Mr.Shuart said. “You can join at the door.”

An individual Friends membership costs just $10. A family membership is $25; supporter, $50; patron, $100; benefactor, $200; and lifetime member, $500.

“The book sale gives the means to support the Friends and you get something tangible out of it,” he said. “There are some interesting things to read there.”

Mr. Shuart just might be at the book sale, too, looking for classic science fiction books.

Still loves astronomy

He still considers himself an amateur astronomer, researching on the internet and reading magazines, including his favorite one, Sky and Telescope.

He also has a telescope which “lives in the garage,” he said.  He brings it out on clear nights.

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on November 15, 2012. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry