Leslie Caron | Thank Heaven: A Memoir
Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 12:00 PM, FREE
A beloved film star of MGM’s Golden Era,Leslie Caron has appeared in such classic movies as An American in Paris, Gigi, Daddy Long Legs, and Lili. More recently she acted in the film Chocolat and won an Emmy Award for her performance in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Offering an intimate view of the characters and settings of old Hollywood,Thank Heaven is a candid account of Caron’s life from her discovery in Paris by Gene Kelly to her successes in Hollywood and her personal struggles with alcoholism and depression.

Sue Grafton | U is for Undertow
Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 7:30 PM, FREE
Published in 26 languages, Sue Grafton’sbestselling Kinsey Millhone mysteries feature “a heroine with foibles you can laugh at and faults you can forgive,” according to the New York Times Book Review. “As this master of suspense continues to demonstrate… there are more ugly twists in the human heart than there are letters in the alphabet,” praisesEntertainment Weekly. Grafton has received the Ross Macdonald Literary Award and was named a co-Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. U is for Undertow is the latest Millhone mystery.

Sue Grafton Supports Feeding Body & Mind
While food can keep one alive, it cannot, by itself, lift one from poverty; however, increased literacy skills can. Through the Feeding Body & Mindprogram, new and gently used books are collected and distributed to food banks across the country.

Please bring a new or or gently used book to Sue’s event and drop it in the box with the Feeding Body & Mind logo. To learn more about the program visit: www.feedingbodyandmind.com

Amy Goodman | Breaking the Sound Barrier
Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 12:00 PM, FREE
The host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, an award-winning independent news program airing on over 800 stations throughout the world, Amy Goodman has a passion for truth in journalism. She is a recipient of the first Right Livelihood Award, a preeminent commendation for personal courage and social transformation known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” She is co-author of New York Timesbestsellers Standing up to the Madness, Staticand The Exception to the Rulers. In her new book– a collection of investigative reports on topics scarcely covered by corporate media outlets–Goodman talks about the inordinate control these media giants exert over public opinion and the role that grassroots activists and independent media can play in the struggle for a better world.

Lidia Bastianich | Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy
Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 7:30 PM
Carole Phillips Memorial Lecture
Cost: $14 General Admission, $7 Students Buy tickets online>>
Renowned chef and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich is co-owner of Felidia and Becco, two of Manhattan’s finest restaurants. As host of her own PBS television show, Lidia’s Italy, she travels her native country to visit the farmers, shepherds, foragers, and artisans who produce the local cheeses, meats, olive oils, and wines that define regional Italian cuisine. In her new cookbook, these wonderful, uncomplicated dishes–from Molise, Abruzzo, Calabria, and more–are translated for the home cook.

5:30 PM: Raven Society Happy Hour
Join the Free Library’s Raven Society, for happy hour drink specials at The Kite and Key (1836 Callowhill) before the appearance by Lidia Bastianich at 7:30 PM. For more information about becoming a Raven or to RSVP, contact Rebecca at eliasr@freelibrary.org.