Best-selling author and Yale law professor Stephen Carter deplores those bumper stickers with which people advertise their views on political and social issues.

He’s sorry if that offends anyone, but he really can’t stand them, for a couple of reasons.

First, they are overwhelmingly stuck on the backs of cars; thus they convey the message “Here’s my opinion, I don’t have to look at yours.”

After a successul start this week — with eight writers, from the well-known Shirley Mayhew to charter school student and emerging novelist Hannah Vanderlaske, wowing the audience with their works in progress — Open Mic Night for Writers continues this Tuesday at Bunch of Grapes Bookstore on Main street in Vineyard Haven.

The evening’s emcee will be West Tisbury poet Laura D. Roosevelt.

Anyone currently working on a novel, short story, poetry or essay is invited to read for five minutes.

Gilded Age Gardener

Landscape historian, author and Vineyard gardener Judith Tankard offers a look at the life and work of Beatrix Farrand, one of the foremost landscape designers of the early 1900s, at the Polly Hill Arboretum on Wednesday, June 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Born into a prominent New York family, Ms. Farrand eschewed the social life of the gilded age to pursue her passion for landscape and plants.

Bodhi Path Buddhist Center founder Shamar Rinpoche, the 14th Sharmapa, will be on Martha’s Vineyard for a weekend teaching series July 24 and 25, teaching from his latest book, The Path To Awakening. Teachings will be 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 4 p.m. both days. There will be a welcoming reception and book signing on Friday, July 23, from 5 to 8 p.m.

For a weekday in late March on Island, it was a book launch of exceptional glamour: 46 avid fans showed up. The author lectured, read and fielded questions in a turret room flanked by a small amphitheater of seats. Even paparazzi were on hand, if you count the duo from the Gazette. The reception to the reading was rousing. The questions were intelligent and penetrating. The event ended with a round of applause and a platter of cupcakes.

Bargain With the Devil

Harvard University professor Robert Mnookin will discuss his new book, Bargaining with the Devil, in a 7:30 p.m. program on Thursday, July 1, at the Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven.

Ever wonder what to do with the riches earned at the summer lemonade stand? S.L. Hudson has the answer in her new young adult novel, Strike Zone, the Games of Baseball and Money. The book is both a coming of age story and a financial seminar for young earners. Hudson will be reading from her book and leading a discussion at Edgartown Books on 44 Main street in Edgartown, this Friday, July 23 at 4 p.m.

One of the authors of America According to Connor Gifford, a book by a young Nantucket man who writes in the prologue how blessed he is to have Down syndrome, will be speaking at the Vineyard Haven Public Library next Friday, May 7, at 5:30 p.m. The event is free and all are welcome.

An Ohio native, he took many mainstream classes, and fell in love with history years before he graduated from high school is 2002. He now lives year-round on Nantucket.

Some years ago, as a fresh washashore, I made the mistake of honking my car horn.

It was at the blinker, coming from Vineyard Haven on an off-season day. There were but two cars: mine, and that of the woman in front who had been unaccountably stopped, for maybe a minute, maybe less. I didn’t lean aggressively on the horn, just a little beep, to say “I’m here.”

Poets Anthology

Cleaveland House Poets Anthology is among the books on display through tomorrow at the annual Poets House Showcase in New York city, today 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This is a display of all the poetry books published in the U.S. during the past year (2,164 titles), from micro-press chapbooks to CDs to volumes from major commercial publishers. Admission is free.