Fwd: The Big Read comes to Westchester

The Big Read is a program sponsored by the NEA in which the whole community reads and discusses one book.

This year, the Westchester Big Read is A Lesson Before Dying.

Check out some of the literary events!

SOME BOOKS NEED TO BE READ
AND TALKED ABOUT.
A Lesson Before Dying is one of them.
A Lesson Before Dying is Westchester's The Big Read Selection.
An innocent young, black man is accused, tried and executed for a crime he did not commit. Ernest J. Gaines builds an unforgettable story around this tragedy that sheds light on our past while compelling us to think about the world we live in now, and the type of future we want to build for ourselves and our children.

Everyone Can Be A Part of The Big Read!
The first step is easy -- read A Lesson Before Dying.
Then... think about the book, talk about the book, share the book, and attend any (or all) of the free public programs running from January 31-March 2009.

The Big Read events are free and open to the public.
Please reserve seats by calling Lauren Milo at 914.428.4220 x235 or email lmilo@artswestchester.org

The Big Read in Westchester is presented by Arts Westchester,
Westchester Library System and Westchester Community College.

THIS WEEKEND! Kick-Off: Community Reads Saturday, Jan 31, 11am - 5pm Mount Vernon Public Library The Westchester Mall White Plains Galleria Yonkers Riverfront Library Join members of the community to read a selection from A Lesson Before Dying in public. If you would like to be a reader contact Ruth Katz. 914.428.4220 x233 or rkatz@artswestchester.org Is Criminal Justice Just? Tuesday, Feb. 10, 6:30pm White Plains Public Library 100 Martine Ave, White Plains, NY Who is in prisons and on death row? Is race a factor? Is class? Join us as leading experts in criminal justice lead an eye-opening, fact-based discussion about the contemporary system of criminal justice and its effect on individuals, families and society. Panelists: Christina Swarns, Death Penalty Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; Richard Dieter, Executive Director of The Death Penalty Information Center; Michael B. Mushlin, Professor of Law, Pace Law School. RSVP. Film Screening. A Lesson Before Dying Wednesday, Feb 25, 11am - 1pm Westchester Community College 75 Grasslands Road, Valhalla, NY Classroom Building Room 200 The film version of A Lesson Before Dying, directed by Joseph Sargent, won two Emmy awards when it was released in 1999. The following year it won a Humanitas Prize. Don Cheadle and Cicely Tyson star. Reservations not required.

A Conversation with the Author Thursday, Feb 26, 7:30pm Mercy College, Lecture Hall 555 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NY Ernest Gaines talks about his life and work and answers your questions. Join this interactive, televised conversation. Presented in collaboration with Hudson Valley Writers' Center. Reservations required. The American Ethic: Do We Have a Duty to Care? Sunday, Mar 1, 2:30pm - 4pm ArtsWestchester's Arts Exchange 31 Mamaroneck Ave, White Plains Independence, self reliance and the primacy of individual rights over the collective are among the values that define American culture. But what about the common good...civil society...public services? Is self- interest paramount? A Lesson Before Dying invites us to think deeply about the obligations we have to one another and to society. Kerry Kennedy, an advocate for social justice and author of "Speak Truth to Power," and Delores Scott Brathwaite, Esq., Executive Director, Westchester County Human Rights Commission, lead a community dialogue about the duty to care, social justice, and the type of society in which we want to live. Co-sponsored by YWCA White Plains. RSVP. Don't forget to check with your local library. During the month of February, many Westchester libraries are developing book discussions and programs around A Lesson Before Dying.

The Play & the Playwright Tuesday, Mar 10, 8pm Westchester Community College 75 Grasslands Road, Valhalla, NY Classroom Building Room 200 The Big Read gives you an opportunity to attend a reading of A Lesson Before Dying, adapted for theatre by Romulus Linney, followed by a conversation between the playwright and John Dillon, Director, Theatre Program, Sarah Lawrence College. The reading is directed by Mara Mills and features Michael King, VanElliot Chambless, Thomas Kramer, George Crooms, Marilyn Anderson, Charisse Brown and Daniel Basiletti. Seating is limited, RSVP. For Black History Month: Celebrate a Distinguished, Contemporary American Author, Ernest J. Gaines. Ernest James Gaubes Gaines was born in 1933 in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. He moved to California as a teenager, because the parish did not have a high school for Black students. A Lesson Before Dying is Gaines's fourth novel and earned a National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2000, President Clinton, honored Gaines with: The National Humanities Medal. Gaines is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. Other books by Gaines include: A Gathering of Old Men and Miss Jane Pittman.

Book Discussion Broadcast Westchester Community College's radio station, WARY 88.1 FM will broadcast a book discussion in February. For info call Radames Ocasio at 914.606.6752.

African American Men of Westchester Black Educators of Westchester Boys & Girls Club of Mt. Vernon Boys & Girls Clubs of Northern Westchester CEO Today's Students-Tomorrow's Teachers Chappaqua Library Cluster Cottage HOPE VI Dobbs Ferry Public Library Family Services of Westchester Fourth Unitarian Society of Westchester Greenburgh School District Hastings-on-Hudson High School Jewish Council of Yonkers

Junior League of Westchester-on-Hudson Kingdom Baptist Church Larchmont Library Larchmont Women's Club Lois Bronz Community Center Mt. Hope AME Zion Church Mt. Vernon Public Library Mt. Vernon School District My Sister's Place Nepperhan Community Center Pace University Peekskill High School Saunders High School Scarsdale Teen Center

Simon Properties Theodore Young Community Center Thomas H. Slater Center Town of Greenburgh United Hebrew Geriatric Center Urban League of Westchester Westchester County Youth Council Westchester Jewish Community Services Westchester Review White Plains Public Library White Plains School District White Plains Youth Bureau Women's Club of White Plains Yonkers Federation of Teachers

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

For more info visit www.artswestchester.org or contact Ruth Katz, 914.428.4220 x233, rkatz@artswestchester.org