Great Speakers Ahead At Philly Free Library

Check out these programs at the Free Library of Philadelphia, Main Library at Logan Circle! 

Just Added! Jane Smiley | Some Luck with Colm Tóibín | Nora Webster and Tessa Hadley | Clever Girl Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 7:30PM; buy tickets online>> Tessa Hadley will join Jane Smiley and Colm Toibin at this event. The "irresistibly charming" (Vogue) Tessa Hadley is the author of four acclaimed novels, including Accidents in the Home, which was long-listed for the GuardianFirst Book Award; and The London Train, a New York Times Notable Book. Her work regularly appears in The New Yorker. The author of two previous short story collections, Hadley follows narrator Stella from early childhood to the settled comfort of middle age in the "rich, absorbing" novel (Vanity Fair) Clever Girl.

Maureen Corrigan | So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures Wednesday, September 10, 2014 at 7:30PM; buy tickets online>> "Immensely likable, eclectic, and dynamic" (Booklist), Maureen Corriganbrings intellectual rigor and an infectious enthusiasm to her literary reviews on NPR's Fresh Air and the "Book World" section of The Washington Post. She is also the author of 2005's Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading, a literary memoir about the books and authors that have shaped her life. Corrigan's reviews have appeared in dozens of publications, including the New York Times, The Nation, and The Boston Globe. She also is currently the Critic-in-Residence at Georgetown University. So We Read On encourages readers to rediscover the greatness of F. Scott Fitzgerald's enduring masterpiece, The Great Gatsby.

David Lynch | The Unified Field Thursday, September 11, 2014 at 12:00PM; SOLD OUT Internationally acclaimed as the director of films such as Eraserhead (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), Blue Velvet (1986),Wild at Heart (1990), Mulholland Drive(2001), and Inland Empire (2006), as well as the groundbreaking TV series, Twin Peaks (1990), David Lynch has also continued to work as a visual artist throughout his much-admired career. The Unified Field, an exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where Lynch studied, features approximately 90 paintings, drawings, and prints from 1965 to the present-many of which have rarely been seen in public-as well as a section exploring his early work and its origins in Philadelphia. In conversation with PAFA Senior Curator and curator of the exhibition, Robert Cozzolino. * Limit 2 tickets per person

Ken Burns and Geoffrey C. Ward | The Roosevelts: An Intimate History In conversation with Tracey Matisak Meelya Gordon Memorial Lecture Thursday, September 11, 2014 at 7:30PM; SOLD OUT "Not only the greatest documentarian of the day, but also the most influential filmmaker period" (The Baltimore Sun),Ken Burns has opened the doors of American history for millions of people. With an intimately personal yet grand style of storytelling, his films have resurrected the people and events both mythologized and lost to history. His documentaries include Baseball, Jazz, The Dustbowl, Brooklyn Bridge, and the landmark series The Civil War. His films have won 12 Emmy Awards and have twice been nominated for Oscars. A seven-part program that follows Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt for more than a century, Burns's new series airs on PBS this fall. Geoffrey C. Ward, Burns' longtime collaborator, is the principal writer of The Civil War, Jazz, Baseball, and 13 other of the director's PBS documentaries. For his work he has won seven Emmy Awards.  Ward is also author of A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt, winner of the 1989 National Book Critics Circle Award for biography, as well as more than a dozen other books whose themes range from East Indian culture to Mark Twain. * Limit 2 tickets per person

Of Interest Seniors and Their Animal Companions: Dogs Monday, September 8, 2014 at 11:00AM; FREE   Parkway Central Library, Room 108. For more info: 215-686-5331 Carlo Siracusa, Director, Animal Behavior Service, The Ryan Veterinary Hospital, at the University of Pennsylvania, will speak in Room 108, adjacent to the Home Page Café. A beleaguered Harry Truman once said "If you need a friend in Washington, get a dog." As an animal that possesses a unique combination of intelligence, affection, and patience, the dog has become the indispensable personal assistant for a troubled age. Dr. Siracusa explains what we've learned about the psychology and behavior of dogs over the last five years.

Also of Interest  Mysterious Travelers Concert Series: Matthew Clayton Monday, September 8, 2014 at 7:00PM; FREE   Parkway Central Library. For more info: 215-686-5316 The Free Library of Philadelphia's Music Department, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Jazz Project and the Producers' Guild, present the inaugural concert of the Mysterious Travelers Concert Series. Saxophonist and Philadelphian Dr. Matthew Clayton. Some of the highlights of his various performances include dates at Carnegie Hall, the Academy of Music performing for Grover Washington, Jr., and multiple gigs with the late legendary Count Basie trombonist Al Grey. Dr. Clayton is on the faculty of the prestigious Nelly Berman School of Music and is the Director of Jazz Combos at the University of Pennsylvania.

Free Library Author Events Andy Kahan, Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Director, Author Events Laura Kovacs, Associate Director Jason Freeman, Program Assistant phone: 215-567-4341 email: authorevents@freelibrary.org