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Freedom Of The Press Series Begins With Katherine Graham; River Reads With Tirone Smith

Freedom Of The Press Series Begins With Katherine Graham; River Reads With Tirone Smith
The Avon Free Public Library hosts a freedom of the press series, which begins with a talk on Aug. 15 focusing on Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, shown in this Jan. 27, 1997 file photo. (Ruth Fremson | Associated Press)

The history of freedom of the press is the subject of a series of free discussions at Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, Avon.

On Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 2 p.m., the program will focus on Katherine Graham, who ran the Washington Post during the era of the Pentagon Papers controversy, the Watergate affair and the Vietnam War, as depicted in Graham’s autobiography, “Personal History,” which can be borrowed from the library, and the recent film, “The Post.” Aimee Pozorski, of the CCSU English Department, will lead the discussion.

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Additional programs in the series are “We Hold These Truths”: The Declaration of Independence, A Single Page that Changed the World, on Aug. 21; The Bill of Rights for High School Students on Sept. 12; The Popularity of Alexander Hamilton on Sept. 13, and Social Media, the Press, and Us on Sept. 17.

On Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 10:30 a.m., the library’s Morning Book Club will discuss Judy Blume’s novel, “In the Unlikely Event,” which is based on the true history of a series of airplane tragedies in New Jersey.

On Thursday, Aug. 16, at 6:30 p.m., the annual Avon Local Authors festival at the library will continue with a Mystery Author Panel featuring Dawn Leger, Steve Liskow, Penny Goetjen, Martin Herman, Marian Lanouette and Chris Knopf.

860-673-9712 or avonctlibrary.info

River Reads With Tirone Smith

Riverfront Recapture and the Hartford Public Library will co-sponsor free River Reads events on Wednesdays at noon through Aug. 29 at Mortensen Riverfront Plaza, 300 Columbus Boulevard, Hartford, a landscaped park over I-91.

On Wednesday, Aug. 15, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith will read from her first memoir, “Girls of Tender Age,” about growing up in Hartford’s South End with an autistic brother and coping with the murder of a classmate.

Tirone Smith currently is posting a new memoir, “First, You Get Pissed,” about coping with breast cancer, on her website: mary-anntironesmith.com. Access is free and new chapters appear on Sunday, with a link to previous chapters. The gripping yet humorous story ranges from the joy of a second marriage to the difficulties of the medical challenges. She welcomes online comments from readers.

Events At R.J. Julia

R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison, will host a free talk on Monday, Aug. 13, at 7 p.m., by Andrew W. Kahrl about his book, “Free the Beaches: The Story of Ned Coll and the Battle for America’s Most Exclusive Shoreline.”

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Kahrl is associate professor of history and African-American studies at the University of Virginia. The book describes how Hartford-area anti-poverty activist Ned Coll made national news when he tried to open exclusive Connecticut beaches to minorities and the urban poor in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The book says America’s fragile coastlines have since become more exclusive and private ownership has led to greater environmental destruction and erosion.

On Tuesday, Aug. 14, at 7 p.m., two best-selling novelists, M.J. Rose, author of "Tiffany Blues," and Randy Susan Meyers, author of "The Widow of Wall Street", will speak.

“Tiffany Blues,” set in the 1920s, is about a young painter whose dark past may ruin her career at an artists’ colony run by Louis Comfort Tiffany of Tiffany & Co. fame. Rose, who lives in Connecticut, has published more than a dozen novels and is a founding board member of International Thriller Writers. “The Widow of Wall Street” is about the loyal wife of a Wall Street titan, whose career rises and then swiftly falls. Meyers is a bestselling author from Boston.

Reservations are required: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.

Bank Square Books

On Tuesday, Aug. 14, at 6:30 p.m. at Bank Square Books, 53 W. Main St., Mystic, Todd McLeish, a science journalist, will discuss his book, “Return of the Sea Otter: The Story of the Animal That Evaded Extinction on the Pacific Coast.” The otters, hunted almost to extinction in the 18th and 19th centuries, are making a comeback because of protected status in California, Washington and Alaska.

On Thursday, Aug. 16, at 6:30 p.m., Courtney Maum, whose novel, “Touch,” is about a trend forecaster who wants to take back her predictions, will give a free talk. Maum, who lives in Litchfield County, wrote “I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You” and "Notes from Mexico" and has been a trend forecaster, fashion publicist and makeup shade and product namer.

On Saturday, Aug. 18, from 1 to 3 p.m., the bookstore will host a signing with local author Steve Powell for “Term Limits,” a thriller about a man so frustrated by the inability of Congress to its job that he leads a hunt to destroy the lawmakers. Powell is a retired bond trader who owns a small gym in Connecticut.

Information: 860-536-3795 or banksquarebooks.com.

Connecticut Authors Trail

The Tenth Annual Connecticut Authors Trail, a series of free talks by local authors presented by a group of Eastern Connecticut libraries, continues Tuesday, Aug. 14, at 6 p.m. at Scotland Public Library, 21 Brook Road, Scotland (860-423-1492), with a talk by Anne Dawson, professor of Art History and chair of the Art and Art History Department at ECSU. She will discuss “Rare Light: J. Alden Weir in Windham, Connecticut, 1882-1919.” Weir was a Connecticut Impressionist artist.

On Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 6:30 p.m., at Killingly Public Library, 25 Westcott Road, Killingly (860-779-5383), Susanne Davis will talk about her collection, “The Appointed Hour,” 12 linked stories set in rural Connecticut. Davis teaches creative writing at Trinity College and UConn and conducts writing workshops at the Mark Twain House.

On Thursday, Aug. 16, at 6:30 p.m. at Preston Public Library, 89 Route 2, Preston (860-886-1010) Nan Rossiter, a bestselling Connecticut author, will discuss her latest novel, “Summer Dance.” Rossiter is also the author and illustrator of award-winning books for children.

General information: connecticutauthorstrail.org.

Book Club Bookstore

Book Club Bookstore & More, 869 Sullivan Ave., South Windsor, will host a free Romance Awareness Month Authors Event featuring Connecticut writers Elsa Kurt, Gail Olmstead and Dakota Star on Saturday, Aug. 18 from 1 to 2 p.m. 860-432-7411 or bookclubct.com.

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Hickory Stick Bookshop

Author and painter Adam Van Doren will discuss his book, “The Stones of Yale” at The Hickory Stick Bookshop, 2 Green Hill Road, Washington Depot, on Sunday, Aug. 12 at 2 p.m.

Van Doren interviewed Yale alumni about how the university’s architecture affected them, including actor Sam Waterston, writers Christopher Buckley and David McCullough, Yale librarian Judith Schiff, former NFL player Calvin Hill and architect Cesar Pelli for the book, which is illustrated with Van Doren’s watercolor paintings of buildings at Yale.

He has been a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome, teaches at Yale and exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. His artwork is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; The Wadsworth Atheneum; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Yale University Art Gallery, The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The New Britain Museum of American Art and other museums.

Information: 860-868-0525 or hickorystickbookshop.com.

Storytellers Cottage

Storyteller’s Cottage, 750 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, will present a free Author Night on Thursday, Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. with Lisa Acerbo, a local contemporary romance author, for an intimate discussion about her new novels, “The Sweet Life” and “Twelve Months of Awkward Moments.” Acerbo also is an editor, freelance newspaper writer and an educator.

Information: 860-877-6099 or StorytellersCottage.com.

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