Monday, March 14, 2011

Remembering Steven Kroll

All of us at the Library were saddened by the news that member writer Steven Kroll died last week.

Steven Kroll presenting A Neighborhood of Stories with young fans at the Library last April.











Head Librarian Mark Bartlett shared the following remembrance of Steven:

"I was so saddened to hear that author and Library member Steven Kroll died last week.

Steven was a lovely and kind man. We first met two years ago at his good friend Richard Peck's book launch for A Season of Gifts. The Children's Library was so pleased to feature Steven as part of our National Library Week month-long celebration in April 2010. In a presentation called "Neighborhood of Stories", he spoke about the inspiration for his storytelling. He entertained an appreciative audience of kids, parents and Library staff. Steven signed a copy of the Library week poster and it hangs in my office in the Library. My sister is a school teacher in Toronto and I'm happy to note that I gave her two of Steven's recent books, which she uses in her classroom library."


Steven was the author of over ninety books for children and young adults, including Jungle Bullies (2009) and The Biggest Pumpkin Ever (1984). A tribute to Steven can be found on the PEN American Center website. He will be missed.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Unexpected New York with Sandy Miller

Member Sandy Miller discusses his latest book Unexpected New York at the Brooklyn Historical Society on Sunday.


Sunday, March 13, 2pm
Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn
Info

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Jonathan Franzen and Jhumpa Lahiri at the New School on Friday

NYSL member Jonathan Franzen (Freedom) and Jhumpa Lahiri (Unaccustomed Earth) will read from their latest novels tomorrow at the New School.












Friday, March 11, 7 pm
The New School

Tishman Auditorium, Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street
$10 register by email: boxoffice@newschool.edu or call: 212.229.5488.
Information
.

Tonight's Event with Laura J. Snyder Postponed

Unfortunately, for medical reasons, member Dr. Laura J. Snyder has had to postpone tonight's event on her new book The Philosophical Breakfast Club .

It will now take place on Thursday, April 7, at 6:30 p.m. in the Members’ Room. Anyone currently registered has a confirmed space for the new date; if you have prepaid, that will carry over.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters

Congratulations to members Louis Begley and Robert A.M. Stern who have been voted into the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The Academy is a distinguished honor society of 250 architects, composers, artists, and writers. Election to the Academy is a singular honor for Americans in the arts.














Louis Begley is the author of 11 books of fiction and non-fiction. Wartime Lies was a finalist for the National Book Award and About Schmidt was made into a movie starring Jack Nicholson. His non-fiction includes his latest work, the highly acclaimed Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters.

Robert A.M. Stern is an award winning architect whose work has been classified as postmodernist. He is Dean of the Yale School of Architecture and is the author of numerous books on architecture, including the National Book Award finalist New York 1930

Begley and Stern join NYSL members Robert Caro, Joan Didion, Jules Feiffer, Francine du Plessix Gray, Shirley Hazzard, and Tom Wolfe as members of the Academy.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Support your fellow member writers

Hi all, just a reminder that there's still time to register for this Thursday's talk at the Library...

Library member Laura J. Snyder will discuss her new book The Philosophical Breakfast Club about how a small group of men working in the early nineteenth century made a number of significant discoveries and, together, brought about a scientific revolution.



Thursday, March 10, 6:30pm
Members' Room
$10 with advance registration/$15 at the door

Friday, March 4, 2011

Monday night events

Some options for Monday, March 7:

FDR's Funeral Train: A Betrayed Widow, a Soviet Spy, and a Presidency in the Balance
Author Robert Klara discusses his latest book at Books at the Bar
6 p.m. (reading and signing starts with a cocktail reception)
FREE!
New York City Bar Association
42 W. 44th Street between 5th and 6th Aves


Linda Gordon: Picturing Women in the Great Depression
The popular image of women during the Great Depression is dominated by rural themes: mothers protecting their families from fierce dust storms and greedy bank managers, Ma Joad from The Grapes of Wrath, and Dorothea Lange’s iconic “Migrant Mother.” But as Denys Wortman’s vivid slice-of-life cartoons of New York in the depression show, urban women were also hit hard by the economic disaster.
6:30 p.m.
$6 when you mention the Writing Life blog
Reservations required: 917-492-3395 or e-mail programs@mcny.org
Museum of the City of New York
5th Ave at 103rd Street