Despite what you may have heard, the book is alive and well – especially here in the Hudson Valley!Once home to America’s original storytellers such as Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper,our area continues to attract and inspire a great number of writers, and at the Piermont Library on Sunday,October 21, from 1-3 p.m., you will have a chance to meet many of them. Our second annual LocalHarvest Book Fair will host more than twenty local authors from the Ramapo Catskill Library area whooffer volumes of mystery, history, romance, fantasy, poetry, plays, goddesses, gardens, biography, birds,business, and ghosts! The authors will all be happy to speak with you about their work and sign yourpurchases. This is a great opportunity to talk with serious authors about what they do and why and howthey do it, and to pick up a few wonderful gifts in anticipation of the holiday season at the same time.
Bird lovers will delight in ornithologist François Vuilleumier’s beautiful and informative books on NorthAmerican birds, and cooks and gardeners will relish Joan Gussow’s stories of her life and gardening. Forhistory buffs, there will be a variety of fiction and nonfiction titles from several authors including FirthFabend, a descendant of one of our earliest Dutch families; Mary Cardenas, the Town of OrangetownHistorian; and Linda Zimmerman, author of a comprehensive history of Rockland County as well asmany other books on aspects of area history. Karen Steinmetz’s compelling fictional account of a younggirl in the colonies who chooses to remain with her Indian captors after a raid in Massachusetts is justright for young adult readers interested in American history. Cristina Biaggi’s respected work on thehistory of the Great Goddess and the female divine is something to contemplate during this holidayseason.
The work of physician and medical historian Michael Nevins will appeal to those with an interest inboth areas, as will that of Greta Nettleton, who writes about her Victorian great-grandmother’s studiesat Vassar and the notorious career as a self-made patent medicine millionaire that kept her mother onestep ahead of the law for many years. Related by their medical context, books by Shari Maurer andRobert Samuels are also not to be missed. In Change of Heart, Ms. Maurer has written a moving fictionalaccount of a 16-year-old student and promising athlete who suddenly faces the need for a heart transplant.And Robert Samuels has received national acclaim for his book Blue Water, White Water, a memoirdetailing his harrowing experience with Guillain-Barré syndrome and the medical establishment. Fromanother perspective, Lynn Cluess-Manzione’s A Wondrous Journey celebrates the life and dedicatedwork of longtime Rockland physician Dr. Martha MacGuffie.
Wonderful romance novels from members of the Hudson Valley Romance Writers of America CharmaineGordon and Janet Lane Walters, and a selection of work from versatile writers Catherine Whitney, CelleCordero, Stephen Roberts, Paul Braus, Gay Partington Terry, John Dullaghan and Marian Armstrong,will all add to the mix. Well-known playwright Angelo Parra has recently published Playwriting forDummies, and Executive Coach Peter deLisser will present Courageous Conversations, his new bookaimed at transforming communication habits.
There’s something for everyone!! Admission to the event is free and all are welcome.
