George Washington's Farewell Address

Jon will visit us again to discuss the book "Washington's Farewell: The Counsels of an Old and Affectionate Friend" and to share his reflections on our first president. He says of the book: 

We think of Washington as the universally revered and admired Founding Father. But at the end of his second term, he found himself viciously attacked in the press and deeply discouraged by the intense and bitter partisanship. His farewell address is addressed to "Friends and Fellow Citizens." But as is clear from his text, he was addressing both contemporaries and future generations with " a warning from a parting friend." It has been called the most important speech you never read . 

Jon Grand holds a BA and an MS from the University of Wisconsin -Madison. He spent ten years at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources ultimately ending up as the head of State -Federal Relations. From there he went to the Council of State Governments as Director of the Environmental Policy office. He was offered a position at the US Environmental Protection Agency - Region 5  as Director of Public Affairs and Community Relations. After a number of years in that position he was named Deputy Director of the Water Division. With the breakup of the Soviet Union, he was named Director of the Region's Office of International Activities with grant and assistance authority for the three Baltic States. As an outgrowth of that activity, he was asked to take a position at the American Embassy in Copenhagen Denmark. That position, Regional Environmental Attache, was accredited to all the American Embassies in the Nordic -Baltic Region, as well a s Iceland. After retiring, he took a position at the Book Stall and became the manager a few years later. Most recently, he stepped down as manager and began a reduction in hours that, he hopes, will ultimately allow him to begin my his second retirement.