Marymount’s
Best-Selling Author Series
By
Lewis Burke Frumkes
The
Best-selling Author Series began about 12 years ago when Dick
Cook and Rhonda Barnat, two friends of the college’s dean, Mary
Kay Jeynes, asked me to put together a series of literary talks
which would be funded by a small grant from the East River Savings
Bank. What evolved from that meeting was a successful annual literary
event that featured prominent and best-selling authors who would
appear in the Spring of each year at the school. We would have
a writer talk in the theatre about the writing life, followed
by a Q & A and coffee and cookie reception in the Nugent Lounge
where a book signing would take place. In February, another speaker
would come again, meet attendees and inscribe books.
Suffice that over the years we have managed
to attract some of the finest writers in the land as our speakers.
. . many before they became household names. Among the distinguished
list that has appeared at Marymount are Tom Wolfe, Joyce Carol
Oates, Mary Higgins Clark, James Patterson.
The series is offered free to the students of the college and
to the community as part of our outreach effort to enrich the
neighborhood. Each event is usually attended by 200-300 people,
who enjoy the cookies and coffee at the booksigning reception
that follows the talk in the theatre. Because of the popularity
of the series, there is often a waiting list for tickets, and
in certain cases we have found it necessary to close-circuit the
event to another venue to accommodate the demand.
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2001.
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