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Annapolis
Novelist Alice McDermott, Journalist Gwen Ifill, and U.S.N.A. Lincoln Scholar to Speak at St. John’s College Fundraiser
Spend a Sunday afternoon with three acclaimed authors: bestselling novelist Alice McDermott, Gwen Ifill, moderator of “Washington Week” and senior correspondent for “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer”, and Craig Symonds, an award-winning authority on Abraham Lincoln. “Meet the Authors” at St. John’s College brings these three notable authors together to talk about their books and the creative process. “Meet the Authors” is sponsored by the Caritas Society and will be held in the Francis Scott Key Auditorium on November 15, at 4 p.m. Proceeds benefit students who encounter unexpected financial hardship.
Following their presentations the authors will sign their latest books, available for purchase. A reception with wine-and-hors d’oeuvres follows the program. Admission is $35 at the door; $30 if purchased by November 9. For more information, contact Lesal Kilcrease at 410-757- 2640 or lkilcrease@cbmove.com.
McDermott’s New York Times bestseller, “At Weddings and Wakes” (1992), brought her wide literary acclaim. McDermott’s “Charming Billy” (1998), a novel set amidst life in a tight-knit Irish community, won the National Book Award, and her most recent novel, “After This” (2006), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. McDermott is a writer-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University.
Gwen Ifill will talk about her bestseller, “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama” (2009). Ifill moderated the vice presidential debates during the presidential elections in 2004 and 2008 and has covered six presidential campaigns.
Craig Symonds, professor of American history emeritus, the U.S. Naval Academy, won the 2009 Lincoln Prize for his historical non-fiction book, “Lincoln and His Admirals: Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Navy, and the Civil War.” (2008). The Lincoln Prize at Gettysburg College is awarded annually by the Lincoln and Soldiers Institute for the finest scholarly work in English on Abraham Lincoln, or the American Civil War soldier, or a subject relating to their era. This year, the Lincoln Prize recognized two books by two leading historians that re-define Abraham Lincoln's command of what became the largest army and mightiest navy of the 19th-century.
Since 1969 the Caritas Society of St. John’s College has organized events for the community to raise funds for students who encounter unexpected financial hardship. More than 50 percent of the student body at St. John’s receives grant assistance from the college, in addition to federal, state, and private scholarships, loans and work programs. Last year the Caritas Society gave more than $30,000 to needy students, many of whom would not have been able to remain enrolled.