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Book Groups Exhibits Programs / Events |  |
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Meet local writers at this unique
library program. Authors who will be attending this event include Dale Phillips, Sallie Felton, Betsy Draine, Stephen O'Connor, Lori Grant and Susan Hudson Squires. See authors' bios below.
Books by Dale: from
The Zack Taylor Mystery Series: "A Memory of Grief" and "A
Fall From Grace." Stephen O'Connor is a Lowell
writer whose short stories have appeared in The Massachusetts Review,
The Houston Review, Watchword, The Oregon Review,Three Candles and elsewhere.
His essays were a regular feature of WUML's Lowell Sunrise program, and
have also appeared in Irish America, Merrimack Valley Magazine, Fiddler
and ESL Magazine. In 2010, a collection of his short stores, "Smokestack
Lightning," was published by Loom Press. The following year, The
Sons of Liberty Press published his debut novel, a literary spy thriller
called "The Spy in the City of Books." Many of the stories in
"Smokestack Lightning" are set in Lowell, though some are set
in Ireland, where O'Connor went to school, or France, where he worked,
or among the offshore fishermen, where he was mostly sea-sick. "The
Spy in the City of Books" is set in Lowell and in WWII France, and
is based in part on conversations with the late Edwin Poitras, an OSS
agent who parachuted into occupied France to serve as a spy and liaison
between London and the French Forces of the Interior.
Betsy (formerly Mary) Draine is an alumna of Chelmsford High School (1963), Mount Holyoke College (1967), and Temple University (Ph.D. 1976). After teaching two years at Haverford College, she came to University of Wisconsin-Madison’s English Department with an interest in women novelists and affiliated with the Women’s Studies Program, which she later chaired. Her academic writing focused on Doris Lessing and other recent British writers, and for 20 years she served as Associate Editor of the journal Contemporary Literature. She won the 1990 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 2002 Phi Beta Kappa teaching award. From 1992 to 1999 she served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UW-Madison--acting as ombuds for women faculty and staff and as the Vice Chancellor’s liaison to faculty and staff governance, as well as libraries, student advising, and human resources. From 2002 to 2005, she served as Associate Chair of the English Department. In 2005-06, she worked jointly with Michael in London to encourage collaborative research and teaching between UW-Madison and universities in the U.K. and the Netherlands. In 2005, she retired from the university in order to write and travel. She and Michael are hard at work on a sequel to Murder in Lascaux, which will feature the characters Nora and Toby in their home in Bodega Bay, California.
Husband and wife team Andy and Lori Grant of
Littleton, MA have been traveling the world with Larry The Lizard since
1999. It was on safari in Kenya when they first began taking photos of
Larry on his adventures. According to Lori, "Larry the globetrotting
lizard has proven to be an international ice breaker who speaks the universal
language of fun."
Susan Squires was born in Montreal Canada and moved to Westford MA in 1962. She attended Westford schools and is a 1969 graduate of Westford Academy. After her three children were all in school Susan decided to attend nursing school. She graduated from N.H. Tech. College in Concord, the class of 1990. After twenty-five years as a nurse, Susan is now retired and lives on the Gulf coast of Florida. Her book, "Where Has My Mother Gone" is the true story of one family. It describes the heartbreaking ordeal of living with Alzheimer's and touches upon drug addiction. Susan writes for the Examiner.com as an animal advocate and brings to light the needless killing of dog's and cat's in our nation's animal shelters. She spends most of the summer in Westford. Susan's mother died a few weeks before the book was released in April of 2011.
Previous events: Paul Wankowicz, author of "The Ulysses Flight" Christopher Clark, author of "Those Little Bastads" (2002) and "All He Left Behind" (2010) Richard L. Rotelli, author of the biography, "Let Me Be a Light: The Faith Journey of Father Ron Lawson" and “A Creative Odyssey : the Story of Floyd and Richie” Alfred
Alcorn author of a series of mystery novels: Esther MacDonald, author of the children's book, "Waiting and Wading: the Adventures of Macy the Black Dog” If you are a local author who would like to participate in a future local authors program please contact the Library's Community Services Dept. at 978-256-5521, ext. 109, or email kcryanhic@mvlc.org. Click here to read about authors at past local author events
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| ©2006 Chelmsford Public Library |
A
Gathering of Local Authors at the Library
Stephen
O'Connor
Betsy
Draine and Michael Hinden, both Emeritus Professors of English and former
administrators at University of Wisconsin-Madison, co-wrote the mystery
Murder in Lascaux (2011), set in southwest France, and A
Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France (2002), both
from University of Wisconsin Press. They also translated and edited The
Walnut Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, 1998). These works were inspired
by their 20 summers in the Dordogne, a river valley inland from Bordeaux,
France. 
Lori
Grant is the author of "The Globetrotting Adventures of Larry The
Lizard: Larry in The Amazon," a children´s photo book for ages
4-8. Lori's book features photographs of Larry the Lizard as he romps
in the Amazon rainforest of Peru. Larry meets piranhas, monkeys, a tapir,
the Yagua Indians and much more. Larry is a plastic lizard who, says Lori,
believes in living life to the fullest. She explains that Larry loves
to explore new places, meet new people and learn new things, from his
own backyard to the wonders of the world. Larry spreads laughter and joy
everywhere he goes, says Lori and encourages children of all ages to explore
and share their world.
Susan
Squires