Editor’s note: This post is Part 7 of “Celebrating the People of Bloomington,” a special retrospective revisiting some of the stories Bloom has published since its inception in 2006. The details in these stories have not been changed since they were originally written, but we have provided updates when possible. Each story highlights an individual who contributed to making Bloomington a compassionate, diverse, and creative community. For more stories from “Celebrating the People of Bloomington,” click here.
Debby Herbenick: Have a Richer Sex Life
Bloomington sex researcher Debby Herbenick is anxious to remind women of the primary reason to enjoy a fulfilling sex life: Because It Feels Good. In her new book of that title published by Rodale Press, the associate director of Indiana University’s Center for Sexual Health Promotion and educator for The Kinsey Institute takes on issues that prevent women from having pleasurable sex, from lack of knowledge about anatomy and arousal to relationship issues that can create what she calls “cycles of dread.”
“They might feel stuck in a rut, anxious that they aren’t good enough lovers,” Herbenick, 33, writes in the first chapter. She adds, “It’s not about having perfect sex or amazing sex all the time. It’s about having better sex more of the time.”
Sumit Ganguly: Indian Award Winner
At last count, Indiana University political science professor Sumit Ganguly had authored 17 books as well as dozens of articles for major national publications and a half-dozen newspapers in his native India, all while directing the university’s India Studies program and consulting on issues of war, peace, and nuclear strategy on three continents.
Recently, Ganguly was also awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, given to distinguished overseas Indians for improving the understanding of India abroad, enhancing the welfare of the Indian diaspora, scholarly and intellectual achievement, or for philanthropic work in India and abroad.
“I am proud of my relentless criticism of India’s domestic shortcomings,” Ganguly says. “I want to see India perform better and live up to its political promise.”
Harvey Phillips: Tuba Virtuoso
When Harvey Phillips left college at the University of Missouri to play tuba for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus band, teachers and classmates warned him, “You’ll never finish school and you’ll never amount to anything,” he recalls.
Not only did Phillips, now 80, go on to finish his degree at The Julliard School, but he also became one of the most influential tuba players in history and the first brass player to ever be inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.
Here in Bloomington, where he taught at the Indiana University School of Music for more than 20 years, Phillips is best known for founding the Tuba Santas in 1974, the same year he organized his first TubaChristmas in New York City’s Rockefeller Center.
Phillips died in 2010. His legacy: More than 250 cities celebrate TubaChristmases.
Dale Enochs: A Giant Table and Chairs to Become New B-town Icon
This spring will see the unveiling of an unusual new symbol for Bloomington—a huge limestone sculpture of a dining table and chairs. The creation of local artist Dale Enochs and titled Bloomington Banquet, it will reside on the B-Line Trail, fittingly right where the trail intersects with the Farmers’ Market.
“It’s fun; it’s got humor behind it,” says Enochs. “I hope that kids will be leading their parents over to it.”
A lifelong Hoosier, Enochs received his M.F.A. from Indiana University in 1981 and has many public art pieces throughout the state.
“I see Bloomington as a place that is very special,” says Enochs. “It’s a place that feeds and nurtures people, and a dining table is a place where people come together and are nurtured.”
Violette Verdy: Ballet Legend
Violette Verdy danced in more than 25 starring roles with the New York City Ballet, was the first female artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet, graced the cover of Life magazine, and holds the title of Chevalier (Knight) in the National Order of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest decoration.
Born in 1933 in northwest France, Verdy learned ballet upon moving to Paris with her mother during the war. “It was insane what we had to do in those days,” says Verdy. “You would do anything and everything to survive.” They traveled to Paris standing in the back of a sardine truck with 15 other people.
Verdy choreographed for dozens of national and international dance companies before her 1996 appointment as Distinguished Professor of Ballet at the Indiana University School of Music.
Verdy died February 8, 2016, at the age of 82.
B-town Author Susan Brackney Offers to Real Buzz on Bees
Susan M. Brackney, who writes about gardening and green living for a number of magazines, recently completed her new book, Plan Bee: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Hardest-Working Creatures on the Planet (Perigee Books).
While Brackney, 36, is serious about helping people understand just how important these insects are to humanity, the illustrated book has a lighthearted tone and includes treats like honey-based recipes and instructions on crafting candles, soap, and lip balm from beeswax. She hopes the book will also inspire readers to adopt more bee-friendly policies in their gardens and cities. “You’ve heard of Tree City USA. I’d like Bloomington to be Bee City USA.”
Brackney is now also a columnist and feature writer for Bloom.
Debra Kent: Wonder(Lab) Woman
A trip to the Chicago Children’s Museum and a childhood fascination with science gave Debra Kent, a talk show host at community radio station WFHB- FM, the idea for WonderLab. “I thought, ‘This is a great town with incredibly talented people. If we can make a radio station, certainly we could make a museum,’” she recalls.
Kent, 51, has yet to slow down. She won an award presented by Oprah Winfrey for a magazine article she wrote on breast cancer, wrote several novels, volunteered as a photographer for Bloomington’s Petfinder service, and won several awards for stories she wrote for Bloom Magazine.
“My passion is for finding great ideas and sharing them with other people,” she says.
Kent is now a realtor in Indianapolis.
