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Author Events

AUTHOR TALK WITH LOCAL AUTHOR ANDY YOUNG – MAY 21 @ 5:30 PM

 

LIFE IN 600 WORDS BY ANDY YOUNG

Back by popular demand, our friend and author Andy Young will be here at Graves Library on Wednesday, May 21 @ 5:30 pm to read from his new collection of stories, Life in 600 Words.

Mr. Young is a familiar face at Kennebunk High School, where he is in his 24th year as a teacher of English and literacy. Before that, he worked as a play-by-play announcer for several minor-league professional baseball and hockey teams. Young has done everything from digging ditches and washing dishes to selling athletic footwear and Christmas trees (though not at the same time). He and his three children live in Cumberland.

Copies of Andy’s new book will be for sale and signing at the event.  Please call the Library for further details 207-967-2778.

The Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library is located at 18 Maine Street, Kennebunkport, Maine.

JEAN BECKER AND TOM COLLAMORE – WAITLIST ONLY

LOUIS T. GRAVES MEMORIAL PUBLIC LIBRARY

~ ANNUAL AUTHOR EVENT ~

JUNE 18 AT 5:00 PM AT THE KENNEBUNK RIVER CLUB

This event is sold out, please call the library to be added to a waitlist.

The Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library Board of Trustees invites you to an evening with Jean Becker and Tom Collamore.

The Annual Summer Author Event will be held Thursday, June 18 at the Kennebunk River Club, 116 Ocean Avenue, Kennebunkport. Doors open at 5:00 PM for cocktails and appetizers with the program beginning promptly at 6:00 PM. As the library’s largest annual fundraiser, the event supports the library’s essential operations and celebrates the community’s commitment to ideas, featuring nationally recognized authors and speakers.

Bringing together the most hilarious and harrowing stories behind presidential events over the past 60 years, former staffers to President George H.W. Bush—Jean Becker and Tom Collamore—will discuss their new book “Don’t Tell the President: The Best, Worst & Mostly Untold Stories from Presidential Advance” at 6 p.m. on June 18 at the Kennebunk River Club Casino.

Becker was President Bush’s chief of staff for nearly 25 years, the editor of “Pearls of Wisdom (with Barbara Bush)” and author of the New York Times bestseller “The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H.W. Bush’s Post-Presidency.” Tom Collamore served in various senior roles throughout the 12 years of President Ronald Reagan and President Bush’s administration.

Hosted by the Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library in Kennebunkport, this event is part of the library’s Distinguished Speaker Series, annual fundraising events featuring nationally recognized authors and speakers. All proceeds from ticket sales and event sponsorships support the library’s essential programs and services. Purchase two tickets ($100 each) and receive a copy of “Don’t Tell the President”.

Behind the seemingly seamless campaign appearances and presidential affairs lie the meticulous work of event planners and advance teams—the little-known professionals who transform political logistics into carefully choreographed performances. From the Rose Garden to Air Force One, foreign trips to state dinners, co-authors Becker and Collamore detail the art of preparation that goes in these delicate, high-stress operations and reveal how they are often just one step away from disaster.

“This collection of memories and stories about the modern American presidency has everything,” says Robert Gates, former US. Secretary of Defense: “Never-before-told tales, near disasters, and last-minute saves, insider intrigue, dramatic events and humor.”

Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author, concurs: “The stories are wild.” And nobody knows these stories better, and can share them with more insight, perspective and humor, than Jean Becker and Tom Collamore.

To be added to a waitlist please call (207) 967-2778.

The Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library, house in an historic 10th century building located near Kennebunkport’s famous Dock Square town center, is a full-service free library whose mission is “to enrich the lives of all we serve.” A nonprofit organization, Graves Library receives 60 percent of its operating budget from donations and other fundraising sources.

Thank you, Kennebunk Savings, Bergen Parkinson Attorneys, Partners Bank, Robert & Marjorie Dennis, Louise Hurlbutt, Maine & Vine, Betsy Hemmingway, Federal Jacks, River Club, Mike Kelly, and Octopus Books.

 

AUTHOR EVENT – DAVID ROHDE – NOVEMBER 9 @ 4:00 PM

We are pleased to welcome Pulitzer Prize Winning Author and Maine native David Rohde to the Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library on Saturday, November 9 @ 4:00 p.m. Mr. Rohde will be interviewed by author and associate editor for the Washington Post, David Maraniss. Rohde’s book (published August 2024), Where Tyranny Begins: The Justice Department, the FBI, and the War Against Democracy will be featured in the discussion. 

A suggested donation of $25 would be appreciated. Please stop by the Library or call (207) 967-2778 to reserve your seat. You may also purchase your ticket through our website (www.graveslibrary.org/support).  A wine and cheese reception and book signing will follow. The Library is located at 18 Maine Street, Kennebunkport, Maine. Parking is available at Consolidated School (School Street) or the Village Fire Station (North Street). 

A ride shuttle will be provided by Kennebunkport Recreation from Consolidated School from 3:15 to 3:45 p.m. and return from 6:00 to 6:30 pm after the program.

 

David S. Rohde is an investigative journalist and American author. He is the former news director for The New Yorker and now serves as Senior Executive Editor, National Security for NBC News. While a reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, he won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1996 for his coverage of the Srebrenica massacre. From 2002 to 2005, he was co-chief of the New York Times’ South Asia Bureau. He later contributed to the newspaper’s team coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan that received the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, and was a finalist in his own right in the category in 2010. He is also a global affairs analyst for CNN.

While in Afghanistan, Rohde was kidnapped by members of the Taliban in November 2008 but managed to escape in June 2009 after seven months of captivity. His publications include  Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica, Europe’s Worst Massacre Since World War II; A Safe Area: Srebrenica – Europe’s Worst Massacre Since the Holocaust, 1997;  A Rope and a Prayer: A Kidnapping from Two Sides; In Deep: The FBI, the CIA, and the Truth about America’s “Deep State” and Where Tyranny Begins: The Justice Department, the FBI, and the War Against Democracy.

David Maraniss is a New York Times bestselling author and associate editor at The Washington Post. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and was a finalist three other times. Among his bestselling books are biographies of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Roberto Clemente, Jim Thorpe and Vince Lombardi, and a trilogy about the 1960s. He currently lives in Washington D.C. and Madison, Wisconsin.