Thomas Fleming's 1st book - 50 years later

Member Thomas Fleming published his first book Now We Are Enemies in 1960. The story of Bunker Hill was the first on this historic event in over 85 years, and the book became a main selection of the Literary Guild and was subsequently condensed in Reader's Digest. Not a bad start to a writing career!

50 years later, Now We Are Enemies is being reissued by American History Press today, June 17, the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill.

Since that first book, Thomas Fleming has gone on to cement his reputation as a stellar writer and historian of the American Revolution. Just last year, he published his 33rd book, The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers, which was a main selection of the History Book Club and was named the best book of 2009 by the American Revolution Roundtable.

For more information about Thomas Fleming, click here

The Apology: a new play by Dolores Rice

The Apology
A staged reading of a new play by member Dolores Rice

June 17 and 18 only!
8 pm
Tribeca Performing Arts Center
199 Chambers Street
For complimentary tickets, please call 212-220-1460

Last Meetings of the Writing Groups for the Summer

Think of it as a well deserved rest.

As a result of the upcoming renovations to the Library, the writing groups will be suspended for the Summer. Following are the last meetings of the groups until the Fall:

Fiction Writers Group I: TONIGHT! Tues, June 15, 5 pm – 6:45 pm (Whitridge Room)
Memoir Writers Group: Mon, June 21, 3 pm – 4:45 pm and Mon, July 26, 3 pm – 4:45 pm (Marshall Room*)
Poets Group: Tues, June 22, 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm (Marshall Room*)
Fiction Writers Group II: Wed, June 23, 11 am – 1 pm (Marshall Room*)
Non-Fiction Writers Group: no more meetings until the Fall

*as there are other higher priorities for the Marshall Room during this time (renovation meetings, staff meetings, and rare book readers), please don’t hate me if I have to unexpectedly cancel or bump you from that room…

Any questions? Please feel free to call or email me at cwaters@nysoclib.org

24 Hour Read In for NYC Libraries!

I've posted about this before. NYC public libraries really are in trouble. Proposed budget cuts will significantly threaten services - an astounding 40 branches may close entirely across the 3 systems while hours, services, and materials will be severely cut back at the remaining branches. And do I need to mention that you'll lose the support of many of your favorite librarians and staffers? Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Library have already handed out pink slips.

Write your council person, write to Mayor Bloomberg.
And join the We Will Not Be Shushed 24 Hour Read In! on the steps of Brooklyn Public Library's Central Branch this Saturday at 5 pm. Come for a little while or stay for the long haul. For more information and to sign up to read or volunteer, visit SaveNYCLibraries

LOCKER ALERT!

By now, all members should have received notification that the Library will be expanding the 5th floor space to improve the working conditions and increase the number of private writing rooms (yay!) As a result, the 5th floor will need to be closed for approximately 3 months beginning June 21.

If you have a locker on the 5th floor, you will need to remove your belongings before Friday, June 18, otherwise, unfortunately, we will need to do it for you.

Any questions, please contact Patrick Rayner, Circulation Supervisor at 212-288-6900 x210 or at prayner@nysoclib.org

The Palace

The Palace, written and directed by
member Toni Schlesinger, is the epic story of a grand and aging miniature movie palace as she fights for survival through the Moorish years, the noir years, the porn years, and the Straub and Huillet years. Then one day, a mysterious film about love is left in the lobby…


This production of The Palace is part of the Great Small Works International Toy Theater Festival

The Palace will be performed this coming Friday & Saturday only!
June 4 & 5 @ 10 pm
St. Ann's Warehouse
DUMBO, Brooklyn

Click here for tickets and directions to St. Ann's Warehouse

June Books by Members

Our member writers have been busy - 5 new titles by member writers are being published this month. Congratulations to them all!

Lauren Belfer's novel A Fierce Radiance is a mystery and romance set at the outset of WWII and has already picked up a starred review from Booklist and a nod in the latest O Magazine.







Ann Brashares's My Name is Memory is the first in a planned trilogy that spans multiple lifetimes (think The Time Traveler's Wife).








Alan Furst's new WWII thriller Spies of the Balkans is bound to be a hit. He's following up his bestselling Spies of Warsaw, which was the 9th most circulated title at NYSL last year.







Cait Murphy dishes up real law & order, New York nineteenth-century style with Scoundrels in Law: The Trials of Howe & Hummel, Lawyers to the Gangsters, Cops, Starlets, and Rakes Who Made the Gilded Age






Lose yourself in beautiful landscapes in Elizabeth Barlow Rogers's Romantic Gardens: Nature, Art, and Landscape Design, the catalog for the exhibition of the same name at the Morgan Library and Museum, ongoing now through August 29.