Library Announces 2010 Authors! Authors! Fall Series

Daily Dose  |  07/30/2010 7:00 am

Three best-selling authors are scheduled for the 2010 Authors! Authors! Fall Series this September, October and November. The series, now in its 16th year, is presented by The Blade and arranged by the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library.

The Columbus Zoo’s popular emeritus director Jack Hanna is scheduled to open the 2010 series on Thursday, September 16 with live and unique animals for the audience to enjoy. British author Alexander McCall Smith, best known for his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, is scheduled to appear on Thursday, October 21. Both Hanna and McCall Smith are scheduled to appear at 7 p.m. in the Stranahan Theater, Great Hall, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, will close out the fall series with an appearance at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 8 in the McMaster Center of Main Library, 325 Michigan St.

All Authors! Authors! tickets are $10 per person, and $8 for students.  Tickets will be available beginning the first week of August and can be purchased at all Toledo-Lucas County Public Library locations and are limited in quantity. (Please check Library hours at various branch locations).

2010 Fall authors:
?    Jack Hanna ? Thursday, September 16 (Stranahan): In 1978, Hanna was named Director of the Columbus Zoo, but became so popular beginning in the 1980s as a regular on morning talk shows, Late Night with David Letterman, Larry King Live and other TV shows that he took an emeritus zoo directorship title in order to conduct his numerous media appearances, and his syndicated show Jack Hanna Into the Wild. His autobiography is titled Jungle Jack: My Wild Life, and he’s also written Jungle Jack’s Wackiest, Wildest and Weirdest Animals in the World. Hanna will bring live animals to the Stranahan Theater.

?    Alexander McCall Smith ? Thursday, October 21 (Stranahan): Best known internationally for his acclaimed series No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, set in Botswana and a former HBO series, McCall Smith was born in 1948 in the former Southern Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) and educated in Scotland. His captivating collection of quirky characters have their own adjective ? “McCall Smithian” characters. His book series includes 44 Scotland Street, Isabel Dallhousie, Portuguese Irregular Verbs Series, and his latest release Corduroy Mansions, a novel set in London with a new cast of characters and one clever dog. McCall Smith is an Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. His fans are many, and include Laura Bush and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

?    Geraldine Brooks ? Monday, November 8 (McMaster Center/Main Library): A former Wall Street Journal reporter born in Australia, Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2006 for her novel March, a retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women ? from the point of view of the absent father character Mr. March. Her first novel Years of Wonders (2001), was inspired by a true story of villagers from Eyam, Derbyshire who voluntarily quarantined themselves when a plague struck in 1665. Her latest release, People of the Book, is a novel that traces the journey of a rare illuminated Hebrew manuscript from Spain to the ruins of Sarajevo, from the Silver Age of Venice to northern Australia. This adventure novel which spans five centuries of history was inspired by the true story of a mysterious codex known as the Sarajevo Haggadah.

“Year after year, the Blade and the Library bring you the best in contemporary authors and writers,” said Library Director Clyde Scoles. “We are proud to welcome such accomplished authors to Toledo and look forward to seeing everyone for another great season.”

Following each program, the author will be available to sign copies of their books. The author’s works will be available for purchase at the program from Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

The Authors! Authors! series is now in its 16th year. Each program features an hour-long speech and a question-and-answer session presented by the featured author. Past guest authors have included Mary Higgins Clark, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Terry McMillan, David Gergen, Walter Mosley and John Updike.

NOTE: For additional information visit toledolibrary.org, or call 419.259.5266