SPEAKING SCHEDULE

I am currently giving virtual programs for libraries and other oragnizations. Topics and dates are listed below. Please go to these websites for registration information.

Wilsonville Public Library (Oregon)

All presentations @ 11 AM Pacific/2 PM Eastern JUNE 7: STONEWALL HERITAGE The Stonewall Riots that began of the night of June 28th in 1969 were the culmination of untold years of abuse heaped on the LGBTQ community. Though the Stonewall uprising didn’t start the gay rights movement, it was a galvanizing force for LGBTQ political activism, leading to numerous gay rights organizations, including the Gay Liberation Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and PFLAG. Today, the Respect for Marriage Act, positive portrayals of LGBTQ characters in movies and television, and countless Pride events are just some of the many benefits that might not have been possible if a group of gay men hadn’t stood their ground on a hot summer’s night in Greenwich Village. This program explores the lead-up and the after-effect of this pivotal LGBTQ event. JULY 19: SENECA FALLS LEGACY On two blistering hot days in 1848, a group of women and supportive men led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott met in a sleepy upstate New York town for what would become one of the pivotal events in American history: the first Women’s Rights Convention. This program delves into the lives of some of the remarkable women who made the convention a reality--and into that gathering’s legacy and impact down through the decades. What would the women of Seneca Falls think of 21st Century America and the #MeToo Movement, the role of women in the workplace and politics, or the very first woman Vice President? Indeed, these inspiring women still have remarkable things to teach us. AUGUST 2: CLEOPATRA: LIBERATED WOMAN This program explores the life of one of history’s most misunderstood women: Cleopatra. She married and buried 2 of her brothers, captivated 2 of the most powerful men of her time only to bury them also, and—famously—took her own life at the age of 39 with the help of an asp. A highly educated queen who took the throne at age 18, she outwitted her 10-year-old brother-husband's advisors and seduced the 52-year-old Julius Caesar by rolling herself up in a carpet and having herself delivered to his room—all before age 21. She was, simply put, the most powerful woman of her time— known for her liaisons, her masterful political skills, and for her role as mother to four. Painted by the Romans as an evil seductress, Cleopatra has more recently found redemption a couple millennia later from historians with a slightly different perception. SEPTEMBER 6: TENNESSEE WILLIAMS Tennessee Williams--along with his contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller--is considered among the three foremost playwrights of 20th-century American drama. After years of obscurity, at age 33 he became suddenly famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944), a play that closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that didn’t appeal as widely to audiences--though these plays are now recognized as the output of a masterful playwright. A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays, and a volume of memoirs. OCTOBER 4: AGATHA CHRISTIE: THE QUEEN OF MYSTERY Born on September 15th, 1890, Agatha Christie became over her 85 years the most famous mystery writer in the world. Indeed, the Guinness Book of World Records goes further and lists Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly 2 billion copies, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books, behind only Shakespeare's works and the Bible. Who was this remarkable woman? How did she come to write her indelible works? Why is she still such a popular literary figure? These and other questions will be explored along with a real life mystery about Christie’s dramatic disappearance in 1926 that remains substantially unsolved to this day. As the chill of autumn arrives, let’s settle in with a few good thrillers. NOVEMBER 1: SUSAN B. ANTHONY This program dives into the life of Susan Brownell Anthony, (1820--1906) who was an American activist like few others. She became a pioneer crusader for the women’s suffrage movement in the United States and was president (1892–1900) of the National Woman Suffrage Association. Her friendship with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others helped to pave the way for the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote. She was a fierce and exceptional woman who helped change America. DECEMBER 6: FLY ME TO THE MOON This presentation traces the eternal fascination we humans have had with our moon, from the most ancient of times to the present, and celebrates the extraordinary men and women who made America's Apollo space program possible and examines current plans for the Artemis program that will once again explore our cosmic sister. Each of the six Apollo landings will be discussed as well as updates about Artemis.

Jericho Public Library (New York)

All presentations @ 11 AM Pacific/2 PM Eastern JUNE 5: CHANGING YOUR PERSPECTIVE: VERNE AND WELLS: FUTURE VISIONS From the 1860s until the mid-20th century, first the novels of Jules Verne, then the novels of Herbert George Wells, sparked the imaginations of untold millions of readers. Through adventure, romance, and science, Verne and Wells sought to entertain and challenge readers. This program looks at the lives of each writer and then focuses on five seminal works and their often trail-blazing ideas and themes that continue to inspire writers and scientists: TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, THE TIME MACHINE, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, and FIRST MEN IN THE MOON. What novel by Verne or Wells has sparked your imagination? JULY 10: ROSWELL & BEYOND Since the beginning of recorded history, humans have been fascinated by the skies above them, especially when "visitors" seemed to descend from the stars. There are numerous accounts of these beings and their miraculous crafts in ancient religious texts (including the Bible), in artwork, and in epic legends of gods, angels, and other strange beings. Then in 1947, a reported crash of a "flying saucer" in Roswell, New Mexico opened up the proverbial floodgates. What was once the arcane fringe interest of a few scholars became the stuff of popular entertainment and speculation. Today, there are branches of governments around the world that study unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) and unidentified flying objects (UFOs). In fact, on May 17 of 2022, the U.S. Congress held its first public hearing about UAPs in decades--and the Pentagon is currently handling its own set of investigations. Even NASA has gotten into the fray and is using, in part, the new James Webb Space Telescope to explore the possibility of extraterrestrial civilizations. This presentation explores the possibilities of life beyond Earth and the possibility that we've been having alien visitations for thousands if not millions of years. The truth is out there! AUGUST 7: FOUNDING WRITERS: THE GENTLEMEN This presentation focuses on seven of America’s earliest writers, men whose work helped to forge opinions and establish how the world—and ourselves—saw the colonies and the fledgling nation. John Smith, William Bradford, Edward Taylor, Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and Phillip Freneau represent the broad range of literature written between 1600 and 1800. SEPTEMBER 11: FOUNDING WRITERS: THE LADIES For this presentation, it’s the ladies who speak: Seven of America’s earliest female writers whose letters, poems, journals, and fiction give us a picture of what Colonial and Revolutionary America was all about. Anne Bradstreet, Mary Rowlandson, Sarah Kemble Knight, Sarah Morton, Ann Bleecker, Judith Murray, and Phillis Wheatley represent the views of American women from 1600—1800. OCTOBER 9: THE FOUR BRONTES This program examines the lives and works of Anne, Branwell, Charlotte, and Emily Bronte, with an emphasis on the lesser-known but equally satisfactory writing of this remarkable family. What we discover is that there’s more to the Bronte siblings than Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. It’s a story of triumph and failure, lost love and addiction, and--most of all--the complications and abiding love of family life. NOVEMBER 20: MONET’S GARDEN Claude Monet's garden at Giverny is probably the most famous garden in all of France, with over 500 000 people visiting every year. Monet lived in Giverny from 1883 until his death in 1926 and painted some of his most famous paintings there, including his water lily and Japanese bridge paintings. This program explores Monet’s life and focuses on his love affair with his home and his remarkable obsession with Nature. DECEMBER 11: FLY ME TO THE MOON To mark the anniversary of the last manned lunar mission, this presentation traces the eternal fascination we humans have had with our moon, from the most ancient of times to the present, and celebrates the extraordinary men and women who made America's Apollo space program possible and examines current plans for the Artemis program that will once again explore our cosmic sister. Each of the six Apollo landings will be discussed as well as updates about Artemis.

Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library (New York)

All presentations @ 9:00 AM Pacific/12 Noon Eastern MAY 31: WHAT’S THE BUZZ? One of the many glories of the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at New York’s American Museum of Natural History is the 8000 square feet of gallery space devoted to the study of insects, including a vivarium with free-flying butterflies, and a host of other six-legged animals that keep our planet green and growing. Insects are the most diverse and abundant animal group on the planet, and without them there wouldn’t be a planet. This program traces the evolution of insects and focuses on ants, bees, butterflies/moths, and beetles. (We’ll even give a tip of the hat to our eight-legged friends the scorpions and spiders, which are arachnids, not insects.) JUNE 21: STONEWALL HERITAGE The Stonewall Riots that began of the night of June 28th in 1969 were the culmination of untold years of abuse heaped on the LGBTQ community. Though the Stonewall uprising didn’t start the gay rights movement, it was a galvanizing force for LGBTQ political activism, leading to numerous gay rights organizations, including the Gay Liberation Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and PFLAG. Today, the Respect for Marriage Act, positive portrayals of LGBTQ characters in movies and television, and countless Pride events are just some of the many benefits that might not have been possible if a group of gay men hadn’t stood their ground on a hot summer’s night in Greenwich Village. This program explores the lead-up and the after-effect of this pivotal LGBTQ event. JULY 19/AUGUST 16: WOMEN OF THE STARS: PARTS 1 and 2 In this two-part series, we look at 25 women who have changed the way we look at our planet and the Universe in which we live. Part One explores the lives and contributions of 10 women, from ancient astronomers like Hypatia of Alexandria through the remarkable women of the Harvard Observatory in the 1890s. Part Two focuses on fifteen 20th and 21st century trailblazers like Vera Rubin, Nancy Roman, Margaret Geller, and Jill Tarter whose accomplishments have truly opened up the cosmos for humankind. These two programs invite us to know better the astronomers whose ground-breaking, sky-opening work we should all know--and whose lives can inspire us--especially young women--to advance our world towards a better future. SEPTEMBER 20: EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS: JUNGLES, MARTIANS, AND DINOSAURS Burroughs created over 60 novels that continue to thrill the imaginations of readers around the world. In addition to his many Tarzan and John Carter novels--both series first appearing in 1912--he also created fantastic tales about the Moon, Venus, and a civilization deep inside Earth, along with other notable novels such as The Land Time Forgot and The Mucker. Tarzan in particular remains one of the most enduring literary figures ever created and has inspired everything from a successful Broadway musical to dozens of classic films. This presentation examines Burroughs lasting status and the extraordinary influence his work has had on other writers and film directors. The leap from John Carter to Indiana Jones is a short one. Indeed, in a Paris Review interview, Ray Bradbury said that "Burroughs never would have looked upon himself as a social mover and shaker with social obligations. But as it turns out – and I love to say it because it upsets everyone terribly – Burroughs is probably the most influential writer in the entire history of the world." We might argue about the truth of Bradbury’s obviously provocative statement--but he’s right in the sense that whole generations of young people, especially boys, saw in Burroughs’s characters role models for a life of daring-do and testing the limits of mind and endurance. OCTOBER 18: THE HAUNTED HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN Every October 31, pint-sized ghouls and goblins wander through neighborhoods knocking on doors and asking for treats . . . little do they know they're actually carrying out an ancient tradition dating back thousands of years. Discover how the "trick-or-treat" custom originated during the harvest festivals in ancient Ireland when food and sweets were used to coax the dead into remaining in the spirit world. Learn how Christianity tried to co-opt the celebration by turning it into All Saints Day but how the underlying--and sometimes controversial--dark elements of the holiday have survived. THE HAUNTED HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN takes a captivating journey through the mysterious tales behind the spookiest night of the year. NOVEMBER 22: VINCENT VAN GOGH Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853 – 1890), the Dutch post-impressionist painter, is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of which date from the last two years of his life. They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits and over 30 self-portraits--all characterized by bold colors and dramatic, impulsive, and expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. Despite all of this creative output, Van Gogh was a deeply troubled soul who finally found peace through suicide at 37 after years of mental illness, depression, and abject poverty. DECEMBER 20: THE HOLIDAYS UNWRAPPED The month of December is a month of celebrations that go back thousands of years. In ancient times, the winter solstice marked the beginning of vigil that would lead to the rebirth of Spring. In the second century BC, the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire led to the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The church in Rome began formally celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth on December 25 in 336, during the reign of the emperor Constantine. And Maulana Karenga, professor and chairman of African Studies at California State University, first created Kwanzaa in 1966 in response to the Watts Riots in Los Angeles in 1965, and as a way to bring Black Americans together as a community. This program explores the fascinating history behind these four holidays that untold numbers of people celebrate every year.

Friendly House Community Center (Oregon)

3 PM Pacific/6 PM Eastern MAY 30FAILURE? WHO SAYS? Fame is a fickle thing. It's elusive. It teases, it comes, it goes. At its most mischievous, it arrives with aplomb after those seeking it have died. This program explores some household names like Melville, Bach, Van Gogh, and Dickinson who were practically unknown in their lifetimes despite often prodigious effort and output. None of them could have known just how famous they would become posthumously. How profound it is to consider what unknown legacy may await us after we're gone. The takeaway? Never give up.
JUNE 27STONEWALL HERITAGE The Stonewall Riots that began of the night of June 28th in 1969 were the culmination of untold years of abuse heaped on the LGBTQ community. Though the Stonewall uprising didn’t start the gay rights movement, it was a galvanizing force for LGBTQ political activism, leading to numerous gay rights organizations, including the Gay Liberation Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and PFLAG. Today, the Respect for Marriage Act, positive portrayals of LGBTQ characters in movies and television, and countless Pride events are just some of the many benefits that might not have been possible if a group of gay men hadn’t stood their ground on a hot summer’s night in Greenwich Village. This program explores the lead-up and the after-effect of this pivotal LGBTQ event.
JULY 25SENECA FALLS LEGACY On two blistering hot days in 1848, a group of women and supportive men led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott met in a sleepy upstate New York town for what would become one of the pivotal events in American history: the first Women’s Rights Convention. This program delves into the lives of some of the remarkable women who made the convention a reality--and into that gathering’s legacy and impact down through the decades. What would the women of Seneca Falls think of 21st Century America and the #MeToo Movement, the role of women in the workplace and politics, or the very first woman Vice President? Indeed, these inspiring women still have remarkable things to teach us.
AUGUST 29AGATHA CHRISTIE: THE QUEEN OF MYSTERY Born on September 15th, 1890, Agatha Christie became over her 85 years the most famous mystery writer in the world. Indeed, the Guinness Book of World Records goes further and lists Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly 2 billion copies, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books, behind only Shakespeare's works and the Bible. Who was this remarkable woman? How did she come to write her indelible works? Why is she still such a popular literary figure? These and other questions will be explored along with a real life mystery about Christie’s dramatic disappearance in 1926 that remains substantially unsolved to this day. As the chill of autumn arrives, let’s settle in with a few good thrillers.
SEPTEMBER 26BANNED IN AMERICA When you walk into a library, you’re entering a controversial place--for it’s a venue where you can read, listen to, and watch media that could be considered potentially “dangerous” depending on where (or when) you live. When Rameses II in 1279 BCE obliterated the hieroglyphic memorials to his father, he was doing what many rulers and societies have done throughout history: Attempt to control who is remembered, what is to be seen and heard, and how we are to behave. This presentation explores some of the history of the long saga of censorship and the need some cultures have to silence certain writers, artists, and musicians. We’ll look specifically at America, where there continues to be a heated debate regarding exactly how “free” creative minds really are when it comes to expressing feelings and ideas. Finally, using recent data collected by the American Library Association, we’ll look at on-going examples of censorship, examine the probable roots/causes of such censorship, and explore whether total freedom of expression is actually possible.
OCTOBER 24THE HAUNTED HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN Every October 31, pint-sized ghouls and goblins wander through neighborhoods knocking on doors and asking for treats . . . little do they know they're actually carrying out an ancient tradition dating back thousands of years. Discover how the "trick-or-treat" custom originated during the harvest festivals in ancient Ireland when food and sweets were used to coax the dead into remaining in the spirit world. Learn how Christianity tried to co-opt the celebration by turning it into All Saints Day but how the underlying--and sometimes controversial--dark elements of the holiday have survived. THE HAUNTED HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN takes a captivating journey through the mysterious tales behind the spookiest night of the year.
NOVEMBER 21THE WORLDS OF ELEANOR ROOSEVELT The daughter of a storied family, she became the wife of an unfaithful husband. Fortunately, she never let her personal pain override her need to help others. Arguably the most influential First Lady in American history, she continued her work as a philanthropist and humanitarian long after the president’s death. This program looks at her work as a trail-blazing civil rights advocate, a feminist, and one of driving forces behind the United Nations as well as a deeply lonely woman who found love in a series of extraordinary friendships.
DECEMBER 19SANTA CLAUS: THE BIOGRAPHY For untold millions of children of all ages, December not only means the Holiday Season but a talk with Santa at the local mall, a midnight visitation from him on December 24th, or watching countless movies about him on TV. What’s equally remarkable is how Santa came to be such a global presence; there’s no corner of the planet where Santa isn’t known and loved. Explore the humble origins of the real-life Saint Nicholas over seventeen hundred years ago and trace the development of his legend across the centuries, sampling treasured stories from Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Somerset County Library System (New Jersey)

All presentations @ 4:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern JUNE 26: STONEWALL HERITAGE The Stonewall Riots that began on the night of June 28th in 1969 were the culmination of untold years of abuse heaped on the LGBTQ community. Though the Stonewall uprising didn’t start the gay rights movement, it was a galvanizing force for LGBTQ political activism, leading to numerous gay rights organizations, including the Gay Liberation Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and PFLAG. Today, the Respect for Marriage Act, positive portrayals of LGBTQ characters in movies and television, and countless Pride events are just some of the many benefits that might not have been possible if a group of gay men hadn’t stood their ground on a hot summer’s night in Greenwich Village. This program explores the lead-up and the after-effect of this pivotal LGBTQ event.

Bayville Public Library (New York)

4:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern JUNE 12 15,000 BC: THIS IS YOUR LIFE Imagine what it was like: Waking up in your cave or animal-skin hut, hearing the roar of saber-tooth tigers, the shriek of vultures, or the bellowing trumpets of mammoths. Imagine a time when the last of the Neanderthals have gone extinct and only small clans of modern humans remain; a time when we have to learn quickly how to deal with the untold dangers of life in the wild. This program focuses on the day-to-day life of an imaginary family living approximately 17,000 years ago. What would their existence be like? Would it differ depending on their location--would a family in Europe have a different life in Asia or Africa? And what if our family were in the earliest waves of humans making the journey into the Americas? What dizzying array of terrors and wonders would await them? Join us and find out what your life would be like in an age when every day was quite literally a matter of life or death. JULY 17 WHAT’S THE BUZZ? THE FANTASTIC WORLD OF INSECTS One of the many glories of the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at New York’s American Museum of Natural History is the 8000 square feet of gallery space devoted to the study of insects, including a vivarium with free-flying butterflies, and a host of other six-legged animals that keep our planet green and growing. Insects are the most diverse and abundant animal group on the planet, and without them, there wouldn’t be a planet. This program traces the evolution of insects and focuses on ants, bees, butterflies/moths, and beetles. (We’ll even give a tip of the hat to our eight-legged friends the scorpions and spiders, which are arachnids, not insects.) SEPTEMBER 12 BANNED IN AMERICA When you walk into a library, you’re entering a controversial place--for it’s a venue where you can read, listen to, and watch media that could be considered potentially “dangerous” depending on where (or when) you live. When Rameses II (in 1279 BCE) obliterated the hieroglyphic memorials to his father, he was doing what many rulers and societies have done throughout history: Attempt to control who is remembered, what is to be seen and heard, and how we are to behave. This presentation explores some of the history of the long saga of censorship and the need some cultures have to silence certain writers, artists, and musicians. We’ll look specifically at America, where there continues to be a heated debate regarding exactly how “free” creative minds really are when it comes to expressing feelings and ideas. Finally, using recent data collected by the American Library Association, we’ll look at ongoing examples of censorship, examine the probable roots/causes of such censorship, and explore whether total freedom of expression is actually possible.

Port Washington Public Library (New York)

All presentations @ 9 AM Pacific/ 12 Noon Eastern JUNE 2 BAYARD RUSTIN: A SHADOW WORLD This is the story of Bayard Rustin, a close advisor to Martin Luther King and, though unknown to many, one of the most influential and effective organizers of the civil rights movement. Rustin organized and led a number of protests in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, including the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. While Rustin’s homosexuality and former affiliation with the Communist Party often forced him to live in the shadows, King and others recognized the importance of Rustin’s skills and dedication to the movement. Today, this unsung hero is finally getting the recognition he deserves.

Tewksbury Public Library (Massachusetts)

12 Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific JUNE 30 GEORGE ORWELL Known today primarily as the author of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, Orwell was a brilliant journalist who wrote dozens of other novels, essays, and newspaper features. This program explores his large body of writing and examines the social impact of his major works. JULY 21 AGATHA CHRISTIE: THE QUEEN OF MYSTERY Born in 1890, Agatha Christie became over her 85 years the most famous mystery writer in the world. Indeed, the Guinness Book of World Records goes further and lists Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly 2 billion copies, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books, behind only Shakespeare's works and the Bible. Who was this remarkable woman? How did she come to write her indelible works? Why is she still such a popular literary figure? These and other questions will be explored along with a real life mystery about Christie’s dramatic disappearance in 1926 that remains substantially unsolved to this day. As the chill of autumn arrives, let’s settle in with a few good thrillers.

Upper Saddle River Library (New Jersey)

4:00 PM Pacific/7:00 PM Eastern Stay tuned for upcoming programs.

Rockville Centre Public Library

11:00 AM Pacific/2:00 PM Eastern Stay tuned for upcoming programs.

Seaford Public Library (New York)

All programs @ 1 PM Eastern/10 AM Pacific Stay tuned for upcoming programs.

Levittown Public Library (New York)

All presentations @ 11 AM Pacific/2 PM Eastern Stay tuned for upcoming programs.

Rochelle Park Public Library (New Jersey)

Stay tuned for upcoming programs.
Copyright © 2021 Network Solutions, LLC. All rights reserved.