Tag Archives: The New York Times

Pulitzer Prize winning historian Joseph J. Ellis at Clinton Presidential Center tonight

Posted on by

JJEPortThe Clinton Presidential Center will host a public program at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis, author of “Revolutionary Summer,” which he will be signing copies of afterward.

Joseph Ellis Lecture & Book-Signing
Tuesday, June 10
Great Hall
Program: 6-7 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
Book-signing: 7-8 p.m.

Joseph J. Ellis is one of the nation’s leading scholars of American history. The author of eight books, Ellis was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Founding Brothers: the Revolutionary Generation and won the National Book Award for American Sphinx, a biography of Thomas Jefferson. His in-depth chronicle of the life of our first President, His Excellency: George Washington, was a New York Times bestseller.

Ellis’ newest book, Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence was released by Random House in June 2013.

Ellis’ essays and book reviews appear regularly in national publications, such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The New Republic, and The New Yorker. Ellis’s commentaries have been featured on CBS, CSPAN, CNN, and the PBS’s The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and he has appeared in several PBS documentaries on early America, including “John and Abigail [Adams]” for PBS’s The American Experience and a History Channel documentary on George Washington

Ellis currently teaches at the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He previously taught at Mount Holyoke College and at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with his wife, Ellen Wilkins Ellis, two dogs and a stray cat. He is father of three sons. The youngest, Alex is a student at the University of Mississippi.

To pre-order “Revolutionary Summer,” contact Michelle Ross at the Clinton Museum Store by emailing mross@clintonfoundation.org or calling (501) 748-0400.

The program is FREE and open to the public; however, reservations are required. To RSVP, please email operationslr@clintonfoundationn.org  or call (501) 748-0425.

Lineup for April’s 11th Annual Arkansas Literary Festival Announced

Posted on by

1359064160-litfest_logoAs winter drones on, a person’s fancy may turn to thoughts of spring. Or to a good book to read by candlelight to pass the time in winter.

In any way, a certain harbinger of warmer weather will be the presence in April of the 11th annual Arkansas Literary Festival.

Prestigious award-winners, big names, writers for television shows, journalists, and artists are among the diverse roster of presenters who will be providing sessions at the eleventh annual Arkansas Literary Festival, April 24-27, 2014. The Central Arkansas Library System‘s Main Library campus and many other Little Rock venues are the sites for a stimulating mix of sessions, panels, special events, performances, workshops, presentations, opportunities to meet authors, book sales, and book signings. Most events are free and open to the public.

The Arkansas Literary Festival, the premier gathering of readers and writers in Arkansas, will include more than 80 presenters including featured authors Catherine Coulter, who has more than seventy million books in print; Congressman John Lewis, one of the key figures in the civil rights movement; best-selling authors Mary Roach, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Curtis Sittenfeld, and artist/illustrator Kadir Nelson; musician Rhett Miller; and education expert David L. Kirp.

This year’s Festival authors have won an impressive number and variety of distinguished awards, including ten Emmy awards, multiple National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and grants, two Pulitzer Prizes, the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (the Genius Grant), the National Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Caldecott Honor, an NAACP Image Award, an Eisner Award, a Ford Foundation Fellowship, the American Book Award, the O. Henry Prize, recognition as one of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35, and much more.

Their works have been included in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Bon Appétit, Glamour, Playboy, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Slate, Mother Jones, and the Washington Post, among others.

Special events for adults during the Festival include a cocktail reception with the authors, a writing workshop with Catherine Coulter, a concert by Rhett Miller, and a presentation by an art historian which includes an Artists Buffet. Panels and sessions include genres and topics such as chocolate, lucid dreaming, graphic novels, the war in Iraq, short stories, Arkansas food, murder mysteries, football, dinosaurs, and gangsters.

Children’s special events include a storytime on the lawn of the Governor’s Mansion, a treasure hunt, a play based on The Little Engine That Could, and a Lego exhibit. Festival sessions for children will take place at both the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center, 4800 10th Street, and the Youth Services Department at the Main Library, 100 Rock Street.

At Level 4, the Main Library’s teen center, special events for teens include a robotics demonstration and a panel on comic book conventions.

Through the Writers In The Schools (WITS) initiative, the Festival will provide presentations by several authors for Pulaski county elementary, middle, and senior high schools and area colleges.

Support for the Literary Festival is provided by sponsors including Central Arkansas Library System; Friends of Central Arkansas Libraries (FOCAL); Arkansas Humanities Council; Department of Arkansas Heritage; Fred K. Darragh Jr. Foundation; Mosaic Templars Cultural Center; ProSmart Printing; KUAR FM 89.1; Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau; Arkansas Democrat Gazette; Sync; Arkansas Life; William J. Clinton Presidential Center; Oxford American; Landers FIAT of Benton; MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History; Arkansas Times; Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP; University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service; Historic Arkansas Museum ; Christ Church, Little Rock’s Downtown Episcopal Church; Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center; Arkansas Library Association; Goss Management Company, LLC; Henderson State University; Hendrix College Project Pericles Program; Pulaski Technical College; Arkansas Arts Center; River’s Edge Media; Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; Rockefeller Elementary School; Gibbs Elementary School; Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center; Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow; Arkansas Governor’s Mansion; Hendrix College Creative Writing; University of Arkansas at Little Rock English Department; University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Rhetoric and Writing; Pyramid Art, Books & Custom Framing/Hearne Fine Art; Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack; Literacy Action of Central Arkansas; National Park Service Central High School National Historic Site; Tales from the South; and Power 92 Jams. The Arkansas Literary Festival is supported in part by funds from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Author! Author!, a cocktail reception with the authors, will be Friday, April 25, at 8 p.m.; tickets are $25 in advance, and $40 at the door, and go on sale at ArkansasLiteraryFestival.org beginning Tuesday, April 1. Author! Author! tickets will also be available for purchase at the Main Library and River Market Books & Gifts, 120 River Market Avenue.

The Arkansas Literary Festival is a project of the Central Arkansas Library System. The Festival’s mission is to encourage the development of a more literate populace. A group of dedicated volunteers assists Festival Coordinator Brad Mooy with planning the Festival. Jay Jennings is the 2014 Festival Chair. Other committee chairs include Katherine Whitworth, Talent Committee; Lisa Donovan, Youth Programs; and Amy Bradley-Hole, Moderators.

For more information about the 2014 Arkansas Literary Festival, visit ArkansasLiteraryFestival.org, or contact Brad Mooy at bmooy@cals.org or 501-918-3098. For information on volunteering at the Festival, contact Angela Delaney atadelaney@cals.org or 501-918-3095.

Legacies and Lunch: Roy Reed

Posted on by

The first Wednesday of each month, the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies presents “Legacies and Lunch.”  This month features legendary newsman Roy Reed.

A native Arkansan who became a reporter for the New York Times, Reed begins his memoir with tales of his formative years growing up in Arkansas and the start of his writing career at the legendary Arkansas Gazette. The book Beware of Limbo Dancers will be for sale at the event, and the author will sign copies after the lecture.

The program will take place from 12noon to 1pm at the Darragh Center on the main campus of the Central Arkansas Library System.

The monthly Legacies & Lunch program is sponsored in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided.

Sculpture Vulture: George Rose Smith

Posted on by

Continuing with the Sculpture Vulture focus on famous Arkansans during Arkansas Heritage Month, today’s feature is George Rose Smith.  This sculptural plaque is located in the garden at the main building of the Central Arkansas Library System downtown campus.

Created by John Deering, it showcases Justice Smith sitting in his judges robe with pen in hand. In the background is a large crossword puzzle grid.  This sculpture pays homage to the fact that Justice Smith was both a respected member of the bar as well as an author of crossword puzzles.

In his final opinion from the Arkansas Supreme Court before he retired, he embedded a message using the first letter of each paragraph to spell out his farewell.  A masterful puzzle constructor, he authored puzzles which appeared in The New York Times.  Little Rock District Judge Vic Fleming carries on this tradition of being a published puzzle author as well as judge in Arkansas.

Justice Smith was the scion of a family of Arkansas attorneys. His grandfather Uriah Rose, a longtime partner at the law firm which now bears his name, was a delegate to the Hague.

Below the sculpture is this inscription:

Judge George Rose Smith

1911-1992

Wordsmith Extraordinaire

New York Times Crossword Puzzle Author

Arkansas Supreme Court Justice 1949-1987

Quapaw Quarter Spring Tour this weekend

Posted on by

The 48th Annual Quapaw Quarter Association Spring Tour takes place this Saturday and Sunday.

P. Allen Smith’s Original Garden Home and the historic YMCA building headline a series of events to be held in conjunction with the Quapaw Quarter Association’s 2012 Spring Tour of Homes this Mother’s Day weekend, May 12-13.

This year’s featured properties fall within an area designated recently as one of the nation’s best places to purchase a historic home by This Old House Magazine. The tour offers participants the opportunity to step inside the restored and renovated homes, stroll through one of the Quapaw Quarter’s charming neighborhoods and meet the locals.

“Judging by the marked increase in real estate activity that we’ve seen in the area this year alone, it’s clear that public perception of the Quapaw Quarter is growing increasingly positive,” said Rhea Roberts, executive director of the Quapaw Quarter Association. “The homes here are architecturally beautiful, the neighborhoods offer quick access to the entire city, and the residents have built tight-knit communities. That’s a rare mix.”

In addition to the garden of P. Allen Smith, who The New York Times tabbed as “The Martha Stewart of the South,” the tour features a handful of privately owned homes along Arch and Gaines Streets, all within walking distance of each other.  Among them are the Charles Thompson-designed Croxson House and the recently rehabilitated Boyle House.

Tickets are available for the Mother’s Day weekend festivities, which include the exclusive candlelight tour, then dinner and gala at the Spanish Revival YMCA building on Saturday, as well as the Sunday afternoon tour from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Proceeds benefit the historic preservation programs of the QQA. For tickets and more information, email mfiser@quapaw.com or call 501-371-0075.

Ticket booths for the Sunday afternoon tour will be located at the intersection of Wright Avenue and Gaines Street, and at the intersection of 21st Street and Arch Street.

SPONSORS

2012 Spring Tour Patrons  – Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation

2012 Spring Tour Sponsors  – Arkansas Democrat-Gazette * Centennial Bank * Community Bakery * Scott Heffington, Crye-Leike Real Estate * Empress of Little Rock * Ritzen Group, Inc. * Ruebel Funeral Home * Summit Bank * The Villa Marre * Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson Architects

2012 Spring Tour Donors  – Arkansas Destinations, Inc. * Ausum Realty * Brad Barnett Insurance Agency * Bray Sheet Metal * Bonnie Montgomery * Boulevard Bread Company * Capital Bar and Grill * Ciao Italian Restaurant * CM Construction, Inc. * Community Bakery * Fresh Market * Grapevine Wines and Spirits * Hortus, Ltd. * Lulav Eatery * Mickey Rigby * Mountain Valley Spring Water * R&E Supply * SBiP’s Restaurant * Stacy Hamilton, Pulaski Heights Realty * The Empty Vase * Tony Curtis Realtors * Tropical Smoothie Café * Waynette Traub