Author event – Harrison County Public Library

“A Pearl in the Storm”: Tori Murden McClure’s guest appearance at HCPL book club

Memories & Memoirs Book Club members were thrilled to have author Tori Murden McClure attend their discussion of her book, A Pearl in the Storm, Tuesday, August 2. She recounted her first attempt to row alone across the Northern Atlantic and demonstrated how her 23-foot boat, The American Pearl, capsized 15 times during Hurricane Danielle using a model of the Pearl (11 times in one day).

McClure, now president of Spalding University in Louisville, also talked about her family relationships and life in Louisville.

Gary Pope, retired South Harrison Community School administrator and teacher, was asked to revamp HCPL’s history and biography book club by Tiffany Thieneman, public services manager. He reached out to McClure using his connections as a musical accompanist and adjunct professor at Bellarmine University thinking she may do a presentation in the future. McClure surprised him by agreeing to come to yesterday’s meeting. McClure also told the group that her book has been made into a musical Row which is downloadable from audible and her boat is currently on display at the Frazier History Museum. Gary Pope

The Memories & Memoirs Book Club meets the first Tuesday each month from 3:00-4:30 PM at the Main Branch in Corydon. If interested in joining Memories & Memoirs, please call Tiffany at 812-738-4110 or click here to register online.

September’s selection is Home Again: Essays and Memoirs from Indiana, edited by Tom Watson and Jim McGarrah.

An Evening with Laird Hunt, author of the 2021 National Book Award finalist “Zorrie”

Author event, Notices, Virtual program / Jessica Stroud / July 25, 2022

Join the Indiana Center for the Book and the Rhode Island Center for the Book for An Evening with Laird Hunt, author of the 2021 National Book Award finalist, “Zorrie.” This title is being featured by both Indiana and Rhode Island at the National Book Festival. “Zorrie” tells the story of one Hoosier woman’s life convulsed and transformed by events of the 20th century, specifically the Great Depression. Set in Clinton County, Indiana, Zorrie is orphaned twice, first by her parents and then her aunt. She ekes out a living, eventually finding work in a radium processing plant in Illinois. However, when Indiana calls her home, she returns and works to build a new life, yet again. Laird Hunt’s novel is a poignant study in rural Midwestern life and an exploration of the passage of time through individuals and communities. Join us to learn more about the author and this fascinating novel.

Date: Aug. 2, 2022
Time: 7:00 – 7:45 p.m. Eastern
Location: Zoom
Cost: Free of charge

Participants must register online. Registered participants will be sent a Zoom link upon registration. The event will be recorded and will be available on the Indiana State Library’s YouTube channel in the days following the event. This program is eligible for one LEU for Indiana library staff.

About Laird Hunt
Laird Hunt is the author of eight novels, including the 2021 National Book Award finalist “Zorrie.” He is the winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction, the Grand Prix de Littérature Américaine, the Bridge Prize and a finalist for both the Pen/Faulkner and the Prix Femina Étranger. His reviews and essays have been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Daily Beast, the Guardian, the Irish Times and the Los Angeles Times, and his fiction and translations have appeared in many literary journals in the United States and abroad. A former United Nations press officer who was largely raised in rural Indiana, he now lives in Providence, Rhode Island where he teaches in Brown University’s Literary Arts Program.

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