Meet the Author Series
See The Big Picture (and Bottle Shock)
Written by Barbara T. on 05/12/2010
On Friday, May 21 at 7:30, Meet the Author Meets Friday Night Films! Kevin Coupe, co-author of the book The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies will be here to talk about the book...and the movies. The film Bottle Shock will be shown following the presentation. The book, written by Coupe and Michael Sansolo, uses movies ranging from The Godfather to Young Frankenstein to illustrate tenets of leadership, the importance of marketing and branding, and how to survive in the workplace.
Kevin is a Darien resident and has his own website/blog, MorningNewsBeat.com, which after 10 years, has well over 20,000 subscribers. He also runs Coupe Communications, a production company that specializes in business videos designed to help companies define and share big ideas with employees, customers, and clients.
The author presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will include a book signing. (Books will be available for purchase.) The film screening of Bottle Shock will begin at 8:30 p.m. We hope that you'll join us for this enlightening and entertaining evening!
Bottle Shock (2008) Starring Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman; Rated PG-13; 109 minutes
This film is based on an inspiring true story from the early days of California winemaking. In 1976, in the Napa Valley, a small winery and its workers compete in a blind taste test against French wine.
"Bottle Shock is more than the story. It is also about people who love their work, care about it with passion and talk about it with knowledge." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"This intelligent, affectionate, beautifully acted movie gives crowd-pleasers a good name." -- Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter
Click here to watch the trailer for the film.
Click here to see the schedule of our upcoming Friday Night Films.
This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author T.J. Stiles at the Library
T.J. Stiles will be the featured speaker at Darien Library on Thursday, May 13 at 7 p.m.
T.J. Stiles, the author of The First Tycoon: the Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize for biography for The First Tycoon. His appearance is part of our Spring Author Series and we are delighted that he will be here to tell us about Cornelius Vanderbilt, the man who inspired the term "robber baron." The title of the book includes the word epic (and it is); Dwight Garner of The New York Times calls the prize-winning book a "whacking new biography." How in the world can we miss this talk?
The First Tycoon is a national bestseller and 2009 National Book Award Winner for Nonfiction. It is a gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism.
Founder of a dynasty, builder of the original Grand Central, creator of an impossibly vast fortune, by far the wealthiest man of his time, Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt is an American icon. In this definitive life of the great capitalist, we see Vanderbilt help to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation. In fact, as T. J. Stiles elegantly argues, Vanderbilt did more than perhaps any other individual to create the economic world we live in today.
"A mighty - and mighty confident - work...This is state-of-the-art biography, crisper and more piquant than a 600-page book has any right to be." -- The New York Times
"Stiles, a superb researcher, has unearthed quantities of new material and crafted them into the illuminating, authoritative portrait of Vanderbilt that has been missing for so long." -- The Washington Post
This event is jointly funded by the Friends of the Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore and the author's appearance made possible by Barrett Bookstore.
A book signing will follow the presentation. Books will be available for purchase.
Refreshments will be served.
T.J. Stiles' visit mid-May will be a great treat. We hope that you'll join us!
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
To learn more about upcoming events at the Library, please click here.
Meet the Author: Jonathan Eig -- Author of "Get Capone"
Written by Barbara T. on 04/24/2010
Jonathan Eig, author of “Get Capone: The Plot That Captured America’s Most Wanted Gangster,” will be our featured speaker on Sunday, May 2nd at 5:30 p.m.
Get Capone, which comes out on Tuesday, April 27, is an engrossing biography packed with booze, bullets, and blood. This is American history at its most riveting, written by New York Times best-selling and critically-acclaimed author Jonathan Eig (Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season). Part biography and part detective story, “Get Capone” shatters many of the myths surrounding the man referred to as “Scarface.” Drawing on newly discovered wiretaps, memos, IRS documents, prison records, and personal letters of Al Capone, the book explores how America’s “Public Enemy No. 1” was caught not by Elliot Ness and his “Untouchables” but by government attorneys and accountants operating on direct orders from President Herbert Hoover. Eig explains how Capone, a son of Italian immigrants, rose from small-time thuggery in Brooklyn to become one of the world’s first international celebrities and America’s most ruthless and successful gangster.
“In a page-turning account, Eig details the chase for the elusive Capone, dissecting both the man and his myth.” Publishers Weekly (Starred review)
“…Eig’s riveting telling of this iconic American Story is both fresh and utterly dazzling.” – Ken Burns, filmmaker
A book signing and reception will follow the presentation. Books will be available for purchase.
Jonathan Eig’s appearance is part of our Spring Author Series.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
Girls' Night Out!
Written by Barbara T. on 04/22/2010
It's Girls' Night Out at the Library and our Spring Author Series continues to unfold with an author and fashion expert whose remarks and collection are in vogue, in demand, and most desirable no matter what the season.
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Wednesday, April 28 at 7 p.m.
CHARLOTTE SMITH - Author of Dreaming of Dior: Every Dress Tells a Story
Charlotte Smith, Curator of The Fashion and Textile Gallery in Sydney, Australia, inherited a collection of vintage designer dresses from her godmother. There were also the stories...the stories of the dresses and the women This dreamy collection holds (beholds!) tiny snapshots of joys and disappointments, entrances and exits, and triumphs and tragedies. The book, complete with gorgeous illustrations by Grant Cowan, is for any woman who knows that a dress can hold a lifetime of memories. The author’s presentation will include a display of several pieces from the collection.
For more information, please click here.
Please join us for this special event!
A book signing will follow the presentation. Books will be available for purchase.
Refreshments will be served.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).
Sunday at the Library - The Poet's Voice
Written by Barbara T. on 04/13/2010
The Poet's Voice, yearly readings in Fairfield County libraries by outstanding poets, returns to Darien Library on Sunday, April 18th at 3p.m.. Poet Annie Boutelle will read her poems at this annual event, which will be held in the Conference Room on the Library's Mezzanine Level.
In Becoming Bone, (pictured left) Boutelle seeks to recover the inner life of Celia Thaxter, one of nineteenth-century America's most popular poets. "Like whaler's scrimshaw, images incised on shell and bone, Boutelle's lines seem etched, indelible," writes poet Eleanor Wilner. Gerald Stern, former Poet Laureate of New Jersey dubbed the book, "a magnificent secret history."
Annie Boutelle's second book, Nest of Thistles, won the 2005 Samuel French Morse Prize from Northeastern University Press. It is in part, an autobiographical exploration of her childhood in Scotland. With patient care, she maps the borders of unrecoverable loss and unbounded joy.
Boutelle teaches at Smith College, where she founded the Poetry Center. She is considered the guiding light of the Poetry Center and continues to guide the Center's efforts.
A reception will follow the reading.
The reading is supported by the Horace E. Manacher Poetry Fund and contributions to the Darien Library Annual Campaign.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).
Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Coming to Darien Library on May 13th
This just in...the Pulitzer Prize for biography goes to T.J. Stiles. In case you've missed our earlier announcements, here's a reminder that Mr. Stiles will be speaking at Darien Library next month as part of our Spring Author Series.
Thursday, May 13 at 7 p.m.
T. J. STILES - Author of The First Tycoon: the Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
This national bestseller and 2009 National Book Award Winner for Nonfiction is a gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism.
Founder of a dynasty, builder of the original Grand Central, creator of an impossibly vast fortune, by far the wealthiest man of his time, Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt is an American icon. In this definitive life of the great capitalist, we see Vanderbilt help to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation. In fact, as T. J. Stiles elegantly argues, Vanderbilt did more than perhaps any other individual to create the economic world we live in today.
"A mighty - and mighty confident - work...This is state-of-the-art biography, crisper and more piquant than a 600-page book has any right to be." -- The New York Times
"Stiles, a superb researcher, has unearthed quantities of new material and crafted them into the illuminating, authoritative portrait of Vanderbilt that has been missing for so long." -- The Washington Post
(T. J. Stiles' appearance is jointly funded by the Friends of the Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore.)
A book signing will follow the presentation. Books will be available for purchase.
Refreshments will be served.
We've Got a Passion for Fashion
Written by Barbara T. on 04/12/2010
New York Fashion Week is held twice a year. Designers preview and show off their latest collections every February and September inside giants tents covering most of the eight acres of Bryant Park.
We LOVE fashion and will talk fashion anytime, but this April is special because this April, our Spring Author Series continues to unfold with an author and fashion expert whose remarks and collection are in vogue, in demand, and most desirable no matter what the season.
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Wednesday, April 28 at 7 p.m.
CHARLOTTE SMITH - Author of Dreaming of Dior: Every Dress Tells a Story
Five years ago, Charlotte Smith, Curator of The Fashion and Textile Gallery in Sydney, Australia, inherited a priceless vintage clothing collection from her American Quaker godmother, Doris Darnell. Dating from 1790 to 1995, the collection had been a lifetime labor of love for Darnell and consists of more than 5,000 treasures, ranging from a pioneer woman’s daintily mended best dress to couture originals by Dior, Chanel, and Balenciaga. Once Smith received the collection and unearthed her godmother’s book of stories about the dresses and the women who wore them, the true value of what was bequeathed to her actually hit home – that this isn’t a mere collection of beautiful things; it is a collection of lives – tiny snapshots of joys and disappointments, entrances and exits, and triumphs and tragedies. The book, complete with gorgeous illustrations by Grant Cowan, is for any woman who knows that a dress can hold a lifetime of memories. The author’s presentation will include a display of several pieces from the collection.
Please join us for this special event!
A book signing will follow the presentation. Books will be available for purchase.
Refreshments will be served.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).
Guess Who's Coming To Town?!
Written by Erica B on 04/01/2010
April showers don't just bring May flowers . . . they also bring exciting guest speakers to Darien Library! Take a look at who will be visiting us over the course of the month. We hope you will join us!
Let's begin with our Spring Author Series:
Meet the Author! Charlotte Smith
Dreaming of Dior: Every Dress Tells A Story
Wednesday, April 28 at 7 PM
We LOVE fashion and will talk fashion anytime, but this April is special because this April, our Spring Author Series continues to unfold with an author and fashion expert whose remarks and collection are in vogue, in demand, and most desirable no matter what the season. Five years ago, Charlotte Smith, Curator of The Fashion and Textile Gallery in Sydney, Australia, inherited a priceless vintage clothing collection from her American Quaker godmother, Doris Darnell. Dating from 1790 to 1995, the collection had been a lifetime labor of love for Darnell and consists of more than 5,000 treasures, ranging from a pioneer woman’s daintily mended best dress to couture originals by Dior, Chanel, and Balenciaga. Ms. Smith has compiled a gorgeously illustrated book of the dresses, their stories, and the lifetime of memories the collection holds. The presentation will include a display of several pieces from the collection.
And mark your calendars for:
Weathering the Storm: Climate Change, Science, and Policy
Guest Lecture by Dr. David Downie, Fairfield University
Monday, April 5 at 7 PM
During the month of March, Darien and the rest of the Northeast experienced some of the most extreme weather we've seen in quite awhile, with tons of snow, rain, and wind reminding us that while nature is beautiful, it can also take some wild turns. But is it as unpredicable as we may think? Will climate change bring similar conditions in the coming years? Please join us for a special One Book, One Community event, as Dr. David Downie, Director of Environmental Studies and Associate Professor of Politics at Fairfield University, will give a dynamic presentation about the factors that influence extreme weather and global warming, as well as what is being done to help protect the future of our planet.
The Poet's Voice, featuring Anne Boutelle
Sunday, April 18 at 3 PM
April is National Poetry Month! We are celebrating at Darien Library with the return of The Poet's Voice, which features yearly readings in Fairfield County libraries by outstanding poets. Ann Boutelle will read poems from her selected works, Becoming Bone and Nest of Thistles, winner of the 2005 Samuel French Morse Prize from Northeastern University Press. Boutelle teaches at Smith College, where she founded the Poetry Center. She is considered the guiding light of the Poetry Center and continues to guide the Center's efforts.
College Admissions 101: A Panel Discussion for Families
Advice for Student Athletes
Thursday, April 22 at 7 PM
We know how stressful college admissions can be. We also know you can never get too many tips on how to prepare yourself for the admissions process! And if you're a student athlete, the process can be even more confusing and complicated. So we've gathered a panel of coaches, parents of student athletes, and current student athletes who have been through it all and have tried and true advice to offer on college admissions, the recruitment processes, and how to juggle academics and sports all at once.
Ask the Master Gardeners!
Container Gardening for Flowers & Vegetables
Tuesday, April 27 at 7 PM
It's an evening of asking the experts! Wally Pugh and Regina Campfield, both graduates of the CT Master Gardener Program at the Barlett Arboretum, will share their gardening wisdom with us. First Mr. Pugh will offer an assortment of good gardening practices and skills for optimal yield. Then, Ms. Campfield will discuss designing your planter, types of plant materials, soil provisions, and watering techniques. Learn the theory of "thrillers, spillers, and fillers" for your pots! Come with paper and pen in hand. You will want to take notes!
There is so much more that is happening this month! Click here for a full listing of events for April.
Meet the Author: John Barricelli
Written by Barbara T. on 03/20/2010
Our Spring Author Series continues on Thursday, March 25th at 7 p.m. with a visit John Barricelli, author of The SoNo Baking Company Company Cookbook: The Best Sweet and Savory Recipes for Every Occasion. The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook has been named one of 2010's Most Exciting Food Books by Publishers Weekly.
John Barricelli is the owner of the SoNo Baking Company & Café in South Norwalk, a sought-after destination for artisanal breads, specialty cakes, delicate pastries, and much more. As a third generation baker, host of PBS’s Everyday Baking from Everyday Food, and regular guest on NBC’s The Martha Stewart Show (the book’s foreword is by Martha Stewart), Barricelli emphasizes using the best ingredients, techniques, and equipment to produce beautiful, professional-quality results at home. From his numerous television appearances, Barricelli has become a household name in the world of baking. In this visually stunning new cookbook, he presents 150 comprehensive, easy-to-follow, and inventive recipes for sweet and savory items, including cookies, cobblers, pies, brownies, tarts, and quiches. Feast on delectable treats from SoNo Baking Company & Café while the author shares expert tips that will empower both novices and the most advanced chefs to revamp their baking repertoires and create new variations on old favorites.
A book signing will follow the presentation. Books will be available for purchase.
Thursday at 7: Meet the Author - Judith Warner
Written by Barbara T. on 03/01/2010
Our (New and Expanded) Spring Author Series Continues on Thursday, March 4 at 7 p.m.
JUDITH WARNER - Author of We've Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication
Each year, millions of families struggle with how to help children who are suffering from a host of disorders, including autism, Asperger’s disorder, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and more. Treatment and remedies are topics that involve some of the most important and complex decisions that parents will ever make for their children.
In her newest book, Judith Warner, New York Times bestselling author of 2005’s Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety, returns to explore the answers to two very timely questions: Are we overdiagnosing and overmedicating our children? Are parents and physicians labeling children to “explain away” bad behavior? The author followed and spoke with a cross-section of parents, psychologists, psychiatrists, and other experts over the course of her five years of rigorous research for her insightful and compelling book. With sensitivity, compassion, honesty, and clarity, as seen through the stories of real children and their families, Warner brings concerns and perspective to this controversial debate.
"In a debate that is all too often conducted at the pitch of a shriek, Warner is a measured voice of reason" - Newsweek
"In We've Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication, Judith Warner has written a brilliant and compelling book, a must-read for any parent who has a child who is miserable and struggling. It is also a must-read for anyone who things he knows that childhood mental illness is over-diagnosed and over-treated." - Salon
A book signing will follow the presentation. Refreshments will be served.
This program is co-sponsored by YWCA Parent Awareness Network.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle.
Darien Library, 1441 Post Road, Darien, Connecticut, 06820-5419 · 203-655-1234Directions and Contact Information. Twitter: darienlibrary. AIM & Y!M: deweydarien.