Adult Programs
September
He Writes, She Writes
A Conversation with Authors Frank Delaney & Diane Meier
Thursday, September 9th, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Join Joseph Montebello as he facilitates a conversation with authors (and spouses) Frank Delaney and Diane Meier. In this engaging “He Writes - She Writes,” we’ll discuss how each author uniquely approaches their work, whether gender plays a role in their development of style and character, and how married writers work with each other – or not. Are they each other’s best/worst critic? The focus will be on Frank’s latest book Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show and Diane’s latest The Season of Second Chances.
In Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show, Frank weaves Irish vaudeville and politics of the 1930s into a mix that is both delightful and astonishing. The novel opens with young Ben McCarthy's father abandoning the farm to join a traveling theater troupe. Devastated, Ben's mother sends him off to bring his father home. He finds the troupe and falls in love with the same young actress who seduced his father. Venetia is a stunning young woman, the child of a famous actress and a villainous political opportunist named King Kelly. This rollicking tale is magically intimate and emotionally real; chockfull of Irish wit, superstition, and sentiment, and features a larger-than-life cast of suitably eccentric characters.
Frank Delaney was born in Tipperary, Ireland, and after a fledgling career in banking became a broadcaster with RTE radio and television, the Irish state network, working on documentaries, music programs and finally as a newsreader. In the mid 1970’s he joined the Northern Ireland region of the BBC in Belfast as their current affairs man in Dublin and covered an intense period of the virtual war know as the Irish ‘Troubles.” Later, after half a decade of reporting bombings, shootings, kidnapping and sieges, he moved to London and began to work in arts broadcasting. Bookshelf, which he inaugurated for BBC Radio Four, became an award winner; on television he wrote films for Omnibus and other arts programs and in the early 1980’s hosted his own talk show, Frank Delaney, featuring an array of cultural and literary personalities. Delaney is the author of six books of non-fiction, twelve novels, one novella, and a smattering of short stories published in both magazines and collections.
Sure to be much-loved and often-shared, Diane Meier’s graceful, funny novel The Season of Second Chances nudges its characters and readers toward self renewal, change, and a chance for greater happiness. A world of possibilities opens up for Joy Harkness when she sets out on a journey that’s going to show her the importance of friendship, love and what makes a house a home. Setting aside the divisive thinking of an either/or world, this liberating novel values both the arcane scholarship of college professors and the practical, artistic insights of handymen and real estate agents. It is a healing book. It suggests that for a person who has the courage to seize a second chance, there’s also the opportunity for a rewarding third chance, or fourth, or fifth.
Diane Meier is the founder and owner of Meier, Inc., a New York City marketing firm whose clients include Neiman Marcus, DeBeers, Elizabeth Arden and Pierre Balmain. Her career has honed skills from strategy, writing and design to public speaking. She is also the author of the acclaimed The New American Wedding: Ritual and Style in a Changing Culture.
Diane and Frank live in New York and Litchfield County.
A wine & cheese reception will follow the event.
The Hickory Stick Bookshop will provide books for signing & sale.
Space is limited REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary
of To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee
Film: To Kill a Mockingbird
Starring Gregory Peck and Mary Badham
Monday, September 13th, 1:00 p.m.
Come celebrate the enduring legacy of Harper Lee’s classic novel by viewing this 1962 American drama adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. The film features Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout.
Panel Discussion
Wednesday, September 15th, 7:00 p.m.
Authors Todd Johnson, Frank Delaney, Diane Meier, and television writer and producer Mary McDonagh Murphy will discuss the influence of Harper Lee’s book on writers and share their reflections about the book on their own work. The discussion will also include highlights of Murphy’s documentary, Hey Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird where Murphy explores the power, influence and popularity of this important work.
Todd Johnson, author of The Sweet By & By, graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with honors in history and received his master's degree from Yale Divinity School. He then moved to New York City to pursue a career as a musician. He has performed with a long roster of major artists and won a Tony Award nomination as a producer of The Color Purple on Broadway.
Note: Location for both events is The Litchfield Community Center
Sponsored by:
Oliver Wolcott Library in Litchfield
Gunn Memorial Library in Washington
Kent Memorial Library in Kent
Space is Limited - REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
This Old Hat: Patriots of Liberty
Live Theatrical Performance with Patty Carver
Wednesday, September 22nd 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Patty Carver is a singer, actress, teacher and writer with international credits. She has performed in New York, Los Angeles and London and has been seen across the country in Regional, Stock and Dinner Theatre. She has performed in numerous New York cabarets including Don’t Tell Mama, The Duplex, Eighty Eights, and The Triad. Patty has written over thirty original musicals for young audiences that have been produced for national tours and New York productions. She currently enjoys performing her one-woman musicals throughout New England. Patty is also co-author and featured performer in the internationally acclaimed hit, Definitely Doris, The Music of Doris Day.
In this live theatrical performance, Patty brings history to life in a one-woman tour de force musical presentation. Conceived of and written by her, This Old Hat is an original musical that brings four women of American History to life. Listen as Patty dramatically transforms to tell the story of the following women:
Betsy Ross tells her unique story about America’s first flag.
Deborah Sampson tells of her adventures when she disguised herself as a man to fight in the Revolutionary War.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton speaks of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, women’s dress reform and her contemporary Harriet Tubman.
Amelia Earhart tells the story of her solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
Don’t miss this unique one-woman theatrical event transforming you back in time!
Space is Limited - REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
Eclectic Music Mix
with Chris Merwin
Thursday, September 23rd 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Chris Merwin is a multi-instrumentalist and lecturer who specializes in multi-cultural, popular, and original music. He has been playing the guitar for twenty-eight years and for the last sixteen years has been studying music and instruments of other cultures. His performances are an eclectic mix of styles that are rarely if ever performed by one artist, and he manages to weave this seemingly impossible combination of styles into an entertaining and educational show.Chris has traveled to Hawaii, Japan, and Egypt to explore traditional music at the source. He has studied the Arabic oud, Hawaiian steel guitar, and Japanese shakuhachi flute here in New York and abroad. His travels have taken him to Tibet, Thailand, Cambodia, China, and many other places both far and near. As well as being a unique performer, Chris is also an avid collector of exotic and vintage instruments, which he uses to create his own style of music. Some of these include the shakuhachi, Turkish saz, Irish bouzouki, Colombian tiple, and an assortment of vintage Hawaiian steel guitars such as Weissenborns, Konas, and tri cones.
Chris is currently performing throughout the tri state area. He has performed at the United Nations, various festivals, and has made several live appearances on television and radio and has been a guest on other artist’s CDs. He has contributed a composition to the Poe Project CD released by the Saltare Foundation for the Arts. To visit his website, go to www.globalsoundsmusic.com
Space is Limited - REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
October
The Terrorist: A Thriller
A Conversation with Mystery Writer Peter Steiner
Thursday, October 14th 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Best know for his cartoons in the New Yorker, author Peter Steiner will discuss his latest book The Terrorist: A Thriller. This is Peter’s third spy thriller to feature 71-year-old ex-CIA agent Louis Morgan (after Le Crime and L'Assassin). Booklist calls this a
“beautifully written tale of a man probably looking at the last decade of his life, who, unexpectedly, has again found love but who is sucked back into a cynical, dangerous milieu he abhors.”
Join Joseph Montebello as he facilitates this conversation with Peter Steiner. They will explore what led this American author to write mysteries set in France and discover how this unusual path develops - what obstacles and/or opportunities an author faces when doing this and more.
Peter was born and grew up in Cincinnati. After the University of Miami and the Free University of Berlin, and then after serving in the army in Germany, he got a PhD in German literature. He taught at Dickinson College for eight years, but left teaching to become an artist and cartoonist. For the next twenty-five years he made his living as a cartoonist for the New Yorker and many other publications. In the late 1990s he began writing novels, at first for his own amusement. He lives in Connecticut and spends a good part of each year in rural France, where all three of his books take place. He divides his time between writing and painting. His paintings can be seen on his website www.plsteiner.com.
A wine & cheese reception will follow the event.
The Hickory Stick Bookshop will provide
books for signing & sale.
Space is limited REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
The Prayer Shawl
with Author Janet Bristow
Tuesday, October 19th 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
In 1998, Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo, two graduates of the 1997 Women's Leadership Institute at The Hartford Seminary in Hartford, gave birth to a ministry as a result of their experience in a program of applied Feminist Spirituality under the direction of Professor Miriam Therese Winter, MMS. Compassion and the love of knitting/crocheting have been combined into a prayerful ministry and spiritual practice which reaches out to those in need of comfort and solace, as well as in celebration and joy.
Join Janet Bristow as she talks about the history of the Prayer Shawl Ministry and discusses her co-authored books, The Prayer Shawl Companion and The Crocheted Prayer Shawl Companion. Both works bring together crafters, their inspiring tales, and comforting, thoughtful blessings. They also feature beautifully designed prayer shawl patterns contributed by everyday knitters and crocheters as well as professional knitwear designers. The instructions are easy to follow and these patterns represent a range of skill levels. Janet will display some of the shawls which appear in her books. Visit the Ministry’s website at www.shawlministry.com. Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
Space is Limited - REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
Promises to Keep
A Conversation with Jane Green
Thursday, October 21st 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
In Jane Green’s twelfth novel, Promises to Keep, Callie Perry seems to have it all: a handsome husband she adores, two adorable children, and a thriving business as a portrait photographer. But then Callie, a breast cancer survivor, is diagnosed with a rare and incurable complication of the disease. Suddenly realizing that she has only months to live, she begins the painful process of saying good-bye. While the subject matter is intense and personal, it's far from depressing; the characters are warm, funny and realistic.
Jane Green Warburg, who writes as Jane Green, was born in London and has lived in Connecticut for seven years. One of the founding writers behind the genre known as ‘chick lit,’ Jane now writes novels that reflect the lives of real women today, with all the trials and tribulations that come with real life: from in-laws, motherhood, mid-life crises and loss, all of which are told with her trademark warmth, wit and wisdom.
The winner of a Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Fiction Award, contributor to the most recent Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms book, Jane lives with her husband, Ian Warburg, and their blended family of six children, where her passions are food, gardening and entertaining. Her website is www.janegreen.com.
A wine & cheese reception will follow the event.
The Hickory Stick Bookshop
will provide books for signing & sale.
Space is limited REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
