Michael Korda will visit the Library Thursday, March 21.

Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m.

Michael Korda, author of Charmed Lives, will be our featured speaker.

With a loving but undeceived eye, Michael Korda recounts the trials and successes that fame brought to the Korda brothers from the Hungarian countryside to the pinnacle of Hollywood society.

Alexander Korda lived a life other men only dream about; having Churchill (who secretly wrote film scripts for him), HG Wells, Lord Beaverbrook and Robert Sherwood as lifelong friends; Olivier, Laughton, Ralph Richardson, Dietrich, Vivien Leigh, and Merle Oberon (whom he married) he brought to stardom. Achieving wealth and fame to become Sir Alexander Korda, one of the most legendary and flamboyant of all film tycoons- his two brothers, often unwillingly and quarrelsomely accepting his dominant role, rose with him. Zoltan, mercurial and eccentric, a director of genius whose The Four Feathers and Cry the Beloved Country are film classics; and Vincent, whom Alex shanghaied from a career as a painter to be the artistic director of his new motion picture empire. Alex, along with an incredible flair for success, had an equally powerful impulse toward destruction. In the end, it was this impulse that prevailed.

Praise for Charmed Lives:

"A rare, intimate portrait...crowded with anecdotes, comedy and drama." - The New York Times

"A rags to riches fairytale...Rich in anecdote...In a word: Charming!" - Newsday

About the Author

Michael Korda was born in London, in 1933, and has lived in the United States since 1958. He was educated at Le Rosey, in Switzerland, did his military service in the Royal Air Force, and then attended Magdalen College, Oxford. In 1956, he drove to Budapest with three friends to deliver medical supplies to the insurgents and took part in the Hungarian Revolution.

After working briefly for CBS-TV in New York City, Mr. Korda joined Simon and Schuster as an assistant editor in 1958, and subsequently became Managing Editor, Executive Editor and Editor in Chief. Over nearly five decades his authors have included presidents Carter, Reagan and Nixon, Charles De Gaulle, Dr. Henry Kissinger, Cher, Kirk Douglas, David McCullough, and Mary Higgins Clark.

His books include the #1 bestseller Power, the bestselling novels Queenie and The Fortune, and most recently Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia, With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain, Ike: An American Hero, Country Matters, Another Life, Horse People, Ulysses S. Grant and Journey to a Revolution. He makes his home on a farm in Dutchess County, New York, with his wife Margaret, with whom he has, co-authored two books, Horse Housekeeping and Cat People.

Books will be available for purchase at this event. Refreshments will be served.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

We will screen THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER February 15.

Friday, February 15 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) Starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller; Rated PG-13; 103 minutes; Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

A funny and touching coming-of-age story based on the beloved best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a modern classic that captures the dizzying highs and crushing lows of growing up. This is a moving tale of love, loss, fear and hope—and the unforgettable friends that help us through life.

"This somewhat disjointed but refreshingly earnest movie ultimately establishes itself as a charmer." -- Jen Chaney, Washington Post

For more information, please watch the film's trailer. Check out the rest of our Friday Night Features in February.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

Flickr image courtesy user Blyzz

Saturday, March 9 at 7 p.m.

This exciting family-oriented program will include an indoor formal presentation followed by an outdoor viewing using the Library's telescopes. We'll look for celestial objects such as the rings of Saturn, craters on the Moon, weather permitting. This date was chosen because the Moon will not be in a first quarter phase, which is a good time for viewing its craters because the terminator (line separating sunlight from shadow) is the area of highest contrast and the craters showing up are in abundance.

Presented by Astrophysicist Kevin Manning, a former consultant with NASA.

Hot chocolate and cookies will be served.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behing Nielsen's).

image courtesy Flickr user jimforest

Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m.

Mark Schenker, Dean of Academic Affairs in Yale College, will give a lecture on the 19th-Century Russian Novel, with special reference to Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. Dean Schenker will discuss how 19th-century Russia enjoyed one of the most fruitful periods in world literature, and how the religion, politics, and philosophy of the day combined with a longstanding tradition of story-telling to create the great Russian novels—which are not just long, but deep and broad in their political and spiritual implications.

This program is part of our One Book, One Community series. The book selected for the town-wide read is City of Thieves by David Benioff, who will be speaking at the Library Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m. The book selected for young readers is Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).