Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502040019
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The participants were members of the Blue Ridge Area Thinkers, a branch of the Neighborhood Salon Association, which was begun by and for subscribers to the Utne Reader, a bi-monthly magazine that describes itself as "the alternative Reader's Digest."
The Utne Reader reprints articles from a variety of media as well as producing its own staff-written material. Recent stories have profiled an MTV host and identified 100 visionaries for the future.
"It's not stuff you read in Newsweek," said BRAT president Kurt Navratil.
The magazine has a circulation of 300,000, which translates into about 780,000 readers. The subscripton price is $18 per year, and single copies are available at newstands and bookstores. Many of those readers are politically active and, according to statistics supplied by the magazine, more than 90 percent voted in the last election.
The Neighborhood Salon Association began four years ago, after the magazine published an article entitled: "Salons: How to revive the endangered art of conversation and start a revolution in your living room." The "salon" in the title refers to the conversational evenings held in fashionable homes in Paris during the 18th century.
The association now involves more than 20,000 people in the United States and Canada. They meet in each other's homes in groups of 10 to 20.
The Roanoke-area group is 2 years old, Lucy Lee said, and draws members from Roanoke, Shawsville, Christiansburg and Martinsville. Most meetings are attended by fewer than a half-dozen people, she said, but during the winter more tend to show up.
Lee joined the group when it started because "I find it harder and harder just to have natural conversation," she said.
"We're all busy, and everyone has their own agenda," she said. There is no time for leisurely conversation, and "I miss that. People are not very good at talking anymore."
"That was one of my frustrations," said Navratil, who joined in 1993. Most of his other conversations seem to center on work and gossip, he said.
Deb White of Roanoke joined after Navratil told her about the group. She enjoys the conversation and the fellowship, she said.
"I'm seeing a sense of community" among the members, said Lisa Cottingham of Shawsville
"I just like a good discussion," said Richard Alphin of Roanoke.
One of the benefits of the association is that, before they join, members generally have not met before, Navratil said.
"They're not so prone to gossip," he said, and because the groups are not associated with any religion or political movement, members "can say things more freely. Everyone is less guarded. They say what they think."
Some groups can be fairly rowdy, often to the point where they must take turns speaking by passing around a special stick. Whoever has the stick can talk. Everyone else has to be quiet.
The Roanoke group is "real polite, almost too polite," Lucy Lee said. In fact, whenever someone speaks, the rest of the group falls into a respectful, almost reverent, silence.
The members of BRAT "are really interested in what other people have to say," Lee said.
The NSA has no rules about how a meeting should be conducted. "Every group is different," Navratil said.
Sometimes, he said, the conversation turns into "a gripe session," and that's "more fun."
Lee admitted that it sometimes is hard to keep the group on the subject, which bothers some members, but not others.
There are no limits on the topics, which are chosen by the host and have included subjects such as "How do you define 'soul'?" "Friendship," and "What is there to look forward to?"
Members of the Roanoke group range in age from the early 30s to the late 50s. They come from all walks of life. Lee is former director of the Hollins College Women's Center; Navratil is an office manager. There also is a college professor or two, an attorney, a financial planner, a courier, a psychiatrist and several executives.
Although the members showed up for the January meeting wearing everything from business suits and dresses to jeans and Birkenstocks, "we do not have major philosophical differences. We're liberal-oriented," Navratil said.
Most of the members are Utne Reader subscribers, Lee said, and they all have "some social concerns."
It would be good, however, to "have as many viewpoints as we can," Navratil observed.
The Blue Ridge Area Thinkers meet for two hours on the third Sunday of each month. Most members joined the association through the Utne Reader, Lee said. For a $12 membership fee, they were given a list of subscribers in their area who might be interested in joining a salon. The Roanoke group is the only one in the area, Lee said.
"Our neighborhood is pretty big," she said, laughing.
Other people were invited to join by friends, and the group always welcomes new members. "I've developed some really good friends" through the group, Navratil said.
Interestingly, Lee said, most married people join without their spouses.
"That's because their spouses have already heard everything they have to say," quipped member John Jager.
People interested in joining the Blue Ridge Area Thinkers can call Kurt Navratil at 343-3727.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***