Scholarship in Honor of a Great Lady: Soozie Courter
Laurie Kelley
January 22, 2013
Last week I blogged about a great scholarship from Baxter. This week I want to share another from Pfizer.
Pfizer Hemophilia is excited to announce the launch of the new application period for the Soozie Courter Hemophilia Scholarship program. I knew Soozie from long ago, when she actually lived in the next town over from me. A wonderful woman, devoted to her work in the hemophilia community, who left us much too early.
Pfizer Hemophilia awarded more than $50,000 in scholarships for the 2012-2013 academic year to students in the hemophilia community, illustrating Pfizer’s long standing pledge to help patients with bleeding disorders attend college and further their education. Congratulate all of last year’s winners!
These scholarships are intended for U.S. applicants with hemophilia A or hemophilia B who present the best combination of a creative and persuasive essay, excellent recommendations and superior academic standing. Sign up now to be eligible for the Soozie Courter Scholarship. All applications must be received by no later than May 24, 2013. Scholarship winners will be announced in July 2013. For more information or to download an application, please visit: www.HemophiliaVillage.com.
Great Book I Just Read
Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure by Tim Jeal (Kindle) 2011
I’m a huge fan of reading about African exploration, and discovered this comprehensive gem recently. This book covers all the key players in mid-1800-early 1900 who put their lives on the line to explore Africa’s interior. From David Livingstone’s failed Zambezi exploration to Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke’s joint quest to find the source of the Nile, and their subsequent falling out, to Samuel Baker and attempts to colonize Africa, to the brash Henry Morton Stanley–arguably the most accomplished of them all–this 500-page, exhaustively researched book details the horrors, the triumphs, the Royal Geographic Society politics, the men behind the funding. Different than most other books I’ve read, this one greatly details the coordinents and pathways each explorer chose in their search for the Nile’s origins. It was a bit overwhelming at times! I was deeply impressed by the amount of research Jeal did, and how he faithfully records his sources. Less impressive is the axe he grinds against Richard Burton, who was glamorized in the movie “Mountains of the Moons,” making Speke the inferior and petty man. Jeal found just the opposite and lauds Speke, idolizes him really. I just found the comparisons as to why Burton should not be lauded a bit over the top and personal, and detracting from this otherwise exemplary book on adventure, exploration and colonization of Africa. Four/five stars!