Sen. John McCain Among R.J. Julia Author Talks

Special To The Courant
Authors of new book about Sophie Tucker will talk March 13 at the Mandell Jewish Community Center in West Hart

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will give a talk about his latest book, written with Mark Salter, on Monday, March 9, at a luncheon beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza, 100 Berlin Road, Rte. 372, Cromwell, presented by R.J. Julia Booksellers of Madison and the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce.

"Thirteen Soldiers : A Personal History of Americans at War" (Simon & Schuster, $28) offers accounts of major military conflicts from the Revolutionary War to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tickets are $25. 860-347-6924 or rjjulia.com.

Other authors will give free talks at the bookstore, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison.

On Tuesday, March 10, at 7 p.m., Connecticut author Paul Beckman will discuss "Peek" (Big Table Publishing, $15), a collection of 65 flash fiction stories. Many of these very short stories have appeared in magazines, such as The Connecticut Review and Playboy, or online.

On Wednesday, March. 11, at 7 p.m., former Courant sportswriter Jeff Goldberg (who is my son) will talk about his latest book, "Unrivaled: Uconn, Tennessee, and the Twelve Years That Transcended Women's Basketball (University of Nebraska Press, $27.95). The book explores this often bitter, always intense rivalry between coaches Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt, the players and fans. The book has a foreword by Uconn star and ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo and an afterward by Alysa Auriemma, daughter of Geno Auriemma. Goldberg was the UConn women's basketball writer for The Courant from 2001 to 2006 and is the author of Bird at the Buzzer: UConn, Notre Dame, and a Women's Basketball Classic (University of Nebraska Press, $29.95).

On Saturday, March 14, at 2 p.m., Stephanie Kegan, author of "Golden State" (Simon & Schuster, $25), will discuss her thriller about a woman who fears her brilliant but troubled brother may be murdering people by setting off bombs. All events require reservations: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.

Twain House Events

Early in his career, Mark Twain expressed prejudices and stereotypes that are shocking now, but he later changed his mind, influenced by his trips abroad.

On Wednesday, March 11, at 5:30 p.m. Craig Hotchkiss, former education director for The Mark Twain House & Museum, will discuss this aspect of Twain for its free "The Trouble Begins at 5:30" lecture series. The talk at the Museum Center, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, follows a reception featuring wine, pasta and garlic bread. It is free, but a $5 donation is suggested. Pre-registration at 860-280-3130 is strongly recommended. The talk precedes a major exhibit, "Travel Is Fatal to Prejudice": Mark Twain's Journeys Abroad," which will open March 19.

Two more writing classes will begin at the Museum Center. Memoir Writing with Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, author of the Hartford-based memoir, "Girls of Tender Age" and many other books, will run for six weeks from 6 to 8 p.m. and begins Wednesday, March 11. The class will teach how to use memories to create compelling stories. The cost is $265. On two Saturdays, March 14 and March 21, from 9 a.m. to noon, former Courant reporter Theresa Sullivan Barger will teach a class on Freelance Writing. It will cover finding ideas, crafting pitches and query letters, dealing with rejection, time management, social media and other aspects of freelancing. The cost is $100.

Registration: 860-280-3130 or marktwainhouse.org.

The Twain House & Museum Center will present its fourth annual Writers Weekend with keynote speakers Dani Shapiro and Ann Kingman and Michael Kindness, hosts of the Books on the Nightstand podcast, April 17 to 19. Lectures, panel discussions, networking events and 20 or more workshops will be included. A Playwriting Panel will feature Neil LeBute, Christopher Shin and Edwin Sanchez. Costs are $170 for the whole weekend, $100 for one-day passes and $30 for just Shapiro's talk on April 18.

Information: 860-247-0998, ext. 208.

The Life Of Sophie Tucker

The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford will present a breakfast program on the life and times of Hartford entertainer Sophie Tucker, known as The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas. It will be held Friday, March 13, at 10 a.m. at the Mandell Jewish Community Center, 335 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford.

Susan and Lloyd Ecker, authors of "I am Sophie Tucker: A Fictional Memoir" (Prospecta Press, $27.50) will speak. The book inspired their film, "The Outrageous Sophie Tucker," which is being shown at the Center's Jewish Film Festival. The cost is $20 in advance and $25 at the door and includes breakfast, their talk and one ticket to see the film at noon on March 22.

Reservations are requested by Monday, March 9 at jhsgh.org or by mailing a check to JHSGH, 333 Bloomfield Ave, West Hartford, CT 06117. Information: 860-727-6170 or bbrodie@jewishhartford.org

"Read It And Sleep"

The Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Ave., Hartford, continues its free monthly parent and child program, "Read It and Sleep," on Friday, March 13, at 7 p.m. Kids are asked to wear "cozy clothes" and bring a parent or guardian to hear Ari Blechner of West Hartford and his family read "Last Stop on Market Street" by Matt De La Peña. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served, and each family will receive a copy of the book. Information: charteroakcenter.org or 860-310-2588.

Local Author Festival

Attention authors, especially those who live in the Farmington Valley area. The Avon Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, Avon is seeking participants for its Summer 2015 Local Author Festival, to be held Tuesday evenings in June and July. Applicants must complete a survey by April 3 at 10 a.m. to be considered. Authors will not be paid, but may sell books. Several will give short talks each evening on how they create an experience for their readers.

Information: avonctlibrary.info or Tina Panik at: 860-673-9712, ext. 235.

The Avon Library also will host AvonCon, a free festival for comic book fans of all ages, on April 18 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will offer workshops and lectures on comic book creation and art.

Information: avonctlibrary.info.

"Fast Jack" Farrell

Wood Memorial Library and Museum, 783 Main St., South Windsor, will host author John "Jack" Farrell, who was a professional gambler for 50 years, on Friday, March 13, at 7 p.m. He will give a free talk about his memoir, "Fast Jack: The Last Hustler" (CreateSpace, $20), set in the world of gambling and organized crime before casinos and easily obtained credit changed things forever. Farrell also will demonstrate sleight of hand with cards and dice and will take questions from the audience.

Registration and information: 860-289-1783 on Mondays or Thursdays.

Poets At UConn Co-op

The University of Connecticut's Creative Writing Program will present a free reading by Aetna Writer-in-Residence, Camille Dungy at the UConn Co-op, One Royce Circle, Storrs Center, on Tuesday, March 10, at 6 p.m.

Dungy has published three collections: "What to Eat, What to Drink, What to Leave for Poison," "Smith Blue" and "Suck on the Marrow." She is a professor of English at Colorado State University and has been widely published. Her awards include the 2011 American Book Award and two Northern California Book Awards.

On Thursday, March 12, at 4 p.m. the program will present a poetry and memoir reading at the bookstore by Joy Ladin, an English professor at Yeshiva University who transitioned from male to female, becoming the first openly transgender employee of an Orthodox Jewish institution. Her memoir is "Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey Between Genders" (University of Wisconsin Press, $19.95) and she has also published seven poetry collections.

Information: bookstore.uconn.edu or creativewriting.uconn.edu.

East Windsor Authors

The Book Club bookstore, 100 Main St., in the Broad Brook section of East Windsor, will present an appearance by local authors on Saturday, Mar. 14, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Three 1986 graduates of East Windsor High School will speak at the free event. They are Matt Herring, author of "The Unofficial Doctor Who Companion; Teresa M. Pelham, author of "Roxy and Her Annoying Younger Brother, Stuey" and "Roxy's Forever Home"; and Tammy Young Cote, author of inspirational young adult fantasy books "Merlin and Martha: The Calling" and "Merlin and Martha: The Way of the Warrior."

Information: bookclubct.com or 860-623-5100.

Authors In Tolland

Two former Courant reporters will give free talks for the Tolland Public Library Foundation's Eaton-Dimock-King Authors Series at Tolland Town Hall, 21 Tolland Green.

On Tuesday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m., Cindy L. Rodriguez, a former journalist at The Courant and The Boston Globe, will discuss her debut young adult novel, "When Reason Breaks" (Bloomsbury USA, ) It is the story of two troubled teenage girls, both fascinated by the poetry of Emily Dickinson and both struggling with emotional problems. Rodriguez lives in Plainville and is a reading specialist at a West Hartford middle school.

On Thursday, March 12, at 7 p.m., Jeff Goldberg, who covered UConn women's basketball for The Courant from 2001 to 2006, will discuss his new book, "Unrivaled: Uconn, Tennessee, and the Twelve Years That Transcended Women's Basketball (University of Nebraska Press, $27.95), about the rivalry between coaches Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt, the players and their fans.

Registration is required for both talks: 860-871-3620.

"Leave 'Em Laughing"

Learn how to write your own humorous obituary, an increasingly popular phenomenon, with performance poet and humorist Andy Weil of Bloomfield at a Lunch and Learn series event at The Granby Senior Center, 15-C North Granby Road, Granby, on Wednesday, March 11 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Weil will describe how to inspire laughter while celebrating a life and warm memories. The cost for lunch and the program is $5.

Information and reservations: 860-844-5352.

Joe Clifford In Berlin

Joe Clifford, a native of Berlin who overcame addiction and went on to publish several novels, will give a free talk on Friday, March 13, at 6:30 p.m. at Berlin-Peck Memorial Library, 234 Kensington Road, Berlin.

His latest book, "Lamentation" (Oceanview,$25.95), is a mystery and an exploration of drug addiction and co-dependency. Registration is required: 860-828-7126.

"Kids From The Bronx"

On Sunday, March 8, at 2 p.m., at Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Ave., Southport, photographer and author Arlene Alda will give a WSHU Public Radio "Join the Conversation" talk about her book, "Just Kids From The Bronx: Telling It the Way It Was: An Oral History" (Henry Holt, $28). In it, Alda, author of 19 books and the wife of actor Alan Alda, interviews 65 people who grew up in the Bronx, including Al Pacino, Mary Higgins Clark, Carl Reiner, Colin Powell and Bobby Bonilla.

Admission is $10. Reservations: wshu.org.

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