Visionary academic Dr. Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, needed a visionary architect to design the campus.
In a 1967 Life magazine story, the late William Stryon was quoted as saying: “Writing is a cruel and wracking pursuit. I hope none of my children follow in my path.”
Alexandra Styron has done just that, and in her book — Reading My Father — she has found a lifeline away from the scar tissue of her upbringing to a deep and compelling portrait of a complex person — father and writer.
State Road Restaurant’s Speakeasy Series returns next week with more unrivaled chances to mingle and speak with respected authors. This Tuesday, April 18, author John Hough Jr. will discuss Seen the Glory, a novel about the Battle of Gettysburg and two young brothers who volunteer to serve their country. Future participating authors include Alexandra Styron, who will speak about her book, Reading My Father, on May 16. On June 20 novelist Richard North Patterson will discuss his 20th novel, Fall from Grace, a family drama set on Martha’s Vineyard.
On Tuesday, March 6 beginning at 5 p.m. the West Tisbury Library is hosting a talk by Virginia Carmichael, coauthor of The Albatross and the Fish (University of Texas Press, 2011).
The albatross family is currently the most threatened bird group in the world and in their extensively researched book, Robin W. Doughty and Virginia Carmichael tell the story of how its potentially catastrophic extinction has been interrupted by an unlikely alliance of governments, conservation groups, and fishermen.
Fall from Grace, by Richard North Patterson, Scribner, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, NY, March 2012, 278 pages (hardcover, $26.00).
Chilmark is home base in Richard North Patterson’s newest novel, Fall from Grace. “I’ve long wanted to write a novel set on Martha’s Vineyard, my summer home for almost two decades now,” Mr. North Patterson writes in the book’s afterword.
Some think green beer for St. Patrick’s day. Others go for a spot of tea.
If you’re in the latter camp, head to the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore on Main street in Vineyard Haven to sip tea with Island herbalist Holly Bellebuono, who will be discussing her new book The Essential Herbal for Natural Health: How to Transform Easy-To-Find Herbs Into Healing Remedies for the Whole Family.
Afterwards, perhaps you can use the herbs to help an ailing St. Patrick’s Day reveler.
Children’s books are magical. Just ask Island author Kate Feiffer, who debuts her latest children’s book, Signed by Zelda, on Thursday, April 5, at the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in downtown Vineyard Haven.
Her last book, No Go Sleep, arrived in book stores just last month.
