Friends of the Central Library Announce 2010-2011 Season

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT

For Immediate Release Syracuse, NY – The Friends of the Central Library announced the 2010-2011 Season of the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series at the conclusion of the Richard Russo lecture on Tuesday, March 16. “We’ve been so excited to make this announcement,” said Denise Headd, FOCL Program Director. “We are thrilled with the line up we have to offer next season.” All lectures will be held at the Civic Center and begin promptly at 7:30 pm.

February 18, 2010

From: Denise Headd, Friends of the Central Library, Program Director, 435-1832, FOCL@onlib.org

Media Contact: Denise Headd

Friends of the Central Library Announce 2010-2011 Season

Authors for the 2010-2011 Season include:

Food Enthusiast & Author, Michael Pollan
Poet, W.S. Merwin
Author, Elizabeth Strout
Travel Author, Rick Steves
Author, Alice Hoffman
Author, David Baldacci

Michael Pollan is best known for writing books and articles about food, agriculture, drugs, gardens, and architecture. His interests lie in “where the human and natural worlds intersect.” He is the author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, and The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World. His articles can be seen in the New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, Vogue, Travel + Leisure, Gardens Illustrated, and House & Garden. The lecture is scheduled for Tuesday, October 5, 2010.

W. S. Merwin is a poet and translator. He has become one of the most widely read poets in America. Merwin began his writing career at the age of five writing hymns for his father, a Presbyterian minister. As a young man he traveled through Europe and fell in love with words and language leading him to find work as a literary translator. During his career he met and got to know Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, and Adrienne Rich. In 1999 he was named Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress for a

jointly held position with poets Rita Dove and Louise Gluck. He is the recipient of the Golden Wreath, an international poetry award, and the 2004 Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a two time Pulitzer Prize winner, and has won the National Book Award, the Tanning Prize, the Bollingen Prize, and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. The lecture is scheduled for Tuesday, November 9, 2010.

Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout is the third author in the 2010-2011 Season. She received the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, Olive Kitteridge, a collection of 13 stories all linked to a local, retired teacher named Olive Kitteridge. She has also written Abide with Me and Amy and Isabelle. Among several literary awards Strout has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Orange Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Strout is a member of the faculty of the MFA program at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. The lecture is scheduled for Tuesday, December 21, 2010.

Television host and author Rick Steves is best known for his public television show Rick Steves’ Europe, and his best-selling European travel guide books. Steves teaches fellow travelers to become “temporary locals” when visiting foreign countries, and teaches us how to travel for a fraction of the cost. He is one of public television’s top pledge drive hosts, and raises millions of dollars annually for stations across the US. Steves is the author of 30 + European guidebooks, 12 country guidebooks, nine city and regional guides, six phrase books, and is the co-author of Europe 101: History and Art for Travelers. When asked if he was interested in participating in the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series Steves was excited as he has never traveled to Syracuse, NY. The lecture is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, 2011.

Alice Hoffman has been called “America’s literary heir to the Brothers Grimm”. Her everyday fables are a favorite of her readers. Hoffman can make the ordinary extraordinary as she writes about life’s common struggles including relationships, intimacy, family, identity, love, and basic survival. Some of Hoffman’s titles include Here on Earth, Practical Magic, Blackbird House, Blue Diary, The Probable Future, The Ice Queen, and Skylight Confessions. She is also the author of several children’s books and young adult titles. Her novels have been recognized by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. Her books are well loved among book groups across the nation. The lecture is scheduled for Tuesday, April 12, 2011.

Best-selling author David Baldacci will conclude the 2010-2011 Season of the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series. Baldacci is the author of 18 novels, nine screenplays, and a novella for the Dutch entitled, Office Hours. All of his books have been national and international bestsellers with over 90 million copies in print worldwide. Baldacci is the author of Absolute Power, Total Control, The Winner, Last Man Standing, The Camel Club, The Collectors, Simple Genius, and Divine Justice, in addition to several others. Baldacci is personally involved in numerous philanthropic efforts including his family’s own Wish You Well Foundation, established by Baldacci and his wife, supporting family literacy in the United States through the development of new and existing literacy and educational programs. Baldacci partly accepted his offer to participate in the Gifford Lecture Series because Syracuse is well known for its literacy efforts. The lecture will take place on Tuesday, May 10, 2011.

Proceeds of the Gifford Lecture Series are donated to the Central Library to fund programming and to purchase books and materials. Tickets are sold through the Oncenter Box Office at 435-2121. For questions related to the series, subscriptions, or general questions about the lecture series check us out at www.giffordlectureseries.org or call FOCL Program Director, Denise Headd at 435-1832.

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Find Us On Facebook.com

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:13:11 GMT

In the last year we have been working hard to find ways to reach out to a vast audience base, and one way to do that is to turn to the worldwide web. We have created a special Facebook page for the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series full of the latest author profiles, up to date news, contact information, and even past authors who have visited our series. We’re also working on a special webpage to highlight our history and our future! We’ll keep you updated as we make progress.

Visit our facebook page online:

(NOTE: You will need to be logged into Facebook to follow this link)

2009-2010 Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:17:46 GMT

On Tuesday, February 24, 2009 the Friends of the Central Library announced the line up for the 2009-2010 Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series. The announcement was made after the Sarah Vowell lecture

The new season will kick off on October 6, 2009 with world-renowned Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Following Hosseini are Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks, Journalist Pete Hamill, Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo, Fiction writer Sara Gruen, and CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

The upcoming season marks the 15th season of our lecture series. Since that time the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series has become the largest library-related lecture series in the country. The success of the series has allowed FOCL to contribute over a quarter of a million dollars to the Onondaga County Central Library to purchase new books and materials, and to support their adult and children’s programming.

We hope you will continue to support this wonderful lecture series and we hope you enjoy the 2009-2010 season as much as we enjoy bringing it to you!

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Friends of the Central Library Announce 2010-2011 Season

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2009-2010 Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series