Frontlist | A new chapter begins for Silicon Valley Reads program

Silicon Valley Reads, Santa Clara County’s community engagement program, is kicking off its season of events this week — and it’s going to be very different from previous years. This year’s theme is “Connection” and examines our relationships with food, music, nature, animals and each other. To cover all that territory, six different books were selected, plus several companion books for younger readers. And while book clubs and other Silicon Valley Reads fans are used to a couple of months of in-person programs featuring authors, movies, art exhibits and panels, everything this year will be virtual. That includes the kickoff event this Thursday, which centers around “Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World” by Dr. Vivek Murthy. There were discussions about having Dr. Murthy join the Zoom event, but then President Joe Biden nominated him as Surgeon General, the post he held in the Obama administration, and his scheduled got a lot more complicated. While Dr. Murthy won’t be able to join live, the 6:30 p.m. program will include recorded comments from him and I’ll moderate a panel about what connection — or the lack of it — has meant during the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel will feature Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody; Dr. James Doty, founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University; and Usha Srinivasan, president of the arts group Mosaic Silicon Valley. The “virtual lobby” before the program will display “Sources of Solace,” a virtual art show presented by the Euphrat Museum of Art at De Anza College, and the event will open with music by the Cupertino High School Acapella Choir. It’s free to attend, but registration is required at www.siliconvalleyreads.org. That’s also the place to go for the full schedule of more than 100 virtual events taking place in February and March for “Together” and the other books: “Always Home,” by Fanny Singer, daughter of Chez Panisse restaurateur Alice Waters; “Mutual Rescue,” by Carol Novello; “The Home Place,” by J. Drew Lanham; “The Giver of Stars,” a novel by Jojo Moyes; and “The Music Shop,” a novel by Rachel Joyce. PASSING THE BATON: Potter the Otter is losing a good friend now that Jolene Smith has announced she’ll step down as CEO of First 5 Santa Clara County this year after 16 years at the helm of the health initiative aimed at kids from infancy to age 5. The First 5 Santa Clara County Commission, chaired by Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, will start a search for her replacement this spring. Smith was instrumental in establishing First 5 after the passage of Prop. 10 in 1998, which provided tobacco tax money to kids’ health efforts. She joined the organization and became its CEO in 2005, and during her tenure, First 5 helped secure universal health coverage for Santa Clara County children, launched the Reach Out and Read program with Valley Medical Center and launched Family Resource Centers in 26 locations in the county. And during the pandemic, Smith and other community partners helped low-income families secure diapers and other essential needs. She also brought us Potter the Otter, First 5’s furry mascot who teaches kids about the health benefits of eating vegetables and drinking water.