Past Events - Friends of the New York State Library
March 15, 2011: At the annual meeting of the Friends of the New York State Library, presidential biographer Edmund Morris read from Colonel Roosevelt, the final volume of his Theodore Roosevelt trilogy. The event was co-sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute.
2006
November 14, 2006: The Friends of NYSL presented a lecture on William C. Bouck, who was governor of New York from 1842 to 1844. Edward A. Hagan, former Schoharie County Historian, meticulously researched Bouck over a period of twenty years and became an authority on Bouck, who was perhaps the most noteworthy individual Schoharie has produced. Although Hagan died before he could complete his planned biography, his widow, Stasia Hagan, published her husband's life-time work, William C. Bouck, New York's Farmer Governor, in 2006. Lester Hendrix, Editor, discussed the book and the life of Governor Bouck.
May 2, 2006: In anticipation of the Friends’ spring trip to Schoharie County, author and local historian Jeff O’Connor spoke about life in the 'Schohary' from the 1770's through the Revolutionary War period. Many little known facts leading up to the Battle of Saratoga were brought to light. The author's first book is entitled, Thunder in the Valley.
March 28, 2006: Historian and nonfiction author Taylor Branch read from and discussed his recently released book, At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68, the third volume in a trilogy about the history of the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Branch is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award for Parting the Waters, the first volume in the trilogy.
April 21, 2005: Novelist and screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro read from his new novel Never Let Me Go -- praised by Margaret Atwood as a "brilliantly executed book by a master craftsman who has chosen a difficult subject: ourselves, seen through a glass, darkly."
Mr. Ishiguro won the Booker Prize for The Remains of the Day, and is also the author of When We Were Orphans, The Unconsoled, and An Artist of the Floating World.
2004
December 2, 2004: Author Joseph Ellis discussed his newest book, His Excellency: George Washington, a penetrating biography of the nearly-crowned first president. The book attempts to "bring to life in all his complexity the most important and perhaps least understood figure in American history." (Sponsored by the New York State Library, the Friends of the New York State Library, and the New York State Writer's Institute.)
November 9, 2004: Author Joseph Persico discussed his book 11th Month, 11th Day, 11th Hour: Armistice Day, 1918. The event was sponsored by the NY State Library, the Friends of the NY State Library, the NYS Writers Institute and the New York State Council on the Arts.
June 2004: Paul Grondahl discussed his new book, I Rose Like a Rocket: The Political Education of Theodore Roosevelt. This event was sponsored by the Friends of the New York State Library, the New York State Library, and the NYS Writers Institute.
See also: Theodore Roosevelt: A Selected Bibliography of His Works in the New York State Library.
March 2004: (Annual Meeting of the Friends of the State Library) Author Russell Shorto spoke about The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan, the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America.
Mr. Shorto was joined by Dr. Charles Gehring of the New York State Library's New Netherland Project, which became the exciting "hub" of the author's research.
Sponsored by the Friends of the New York State Library, the New York State Library, the NYS Writers Institute, and the Friends of New Netherland.
2003
December 2003: A Conversation with Charlotte Wilcoxen: The author spoke about her more than half a century of research and publications on Albany and Dutch trade and ceramics. She is the author of Seventeenth Century Albany: A Dutch Profile and Dutch Trade and Ceramics In America in the Seventeenth Century. She has also lectured widely and contributed numerous articles to journals in her fields of interest.
October 2003 - Beverwijck: Albany's Frontier Village - Dr. Janny Venema, an associate of the New Netherland Project, discussed her new book Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier, 1652-1664. A book signing and reception followed the lecture.
March 2003 - Roderic H. Blackburn was the guest speaker at the annual meeting of the Friends of the New York State Library. Dr. Blackburn discussed his new book, Dutch Colonial Homes in America. Beautifully illustrated with photographs by Geoffrey Gross and Susan Piatt, the book "examines the homes in their broader social context by focusing on the historical and religious forces of the times." This lecture was co-sponsored by the Friends of the New York State Library, the New Netherland Institute/Friends of New Netherland, and the New York State Library.
December 2002: Author and former U.S. Congressman Daniel E. Button discussed his new book: Take City Hall!: Mayor Tom Whalen and the Transformation of New York's Capital to an "All-America City". (Co-sponsored by the Friends of the New York State Library and the New York State Library.)
March 2000: At the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the New York State Library on Tuesday, March 14, John Winthrop Aldrich, a member of the Astor family, reviewed The Astor Orphans: A Pride of Lions, by Lately Thomas. A Barnes and Noble survey awarded five stars to this moving saga of the Astor family. It describes the plight of the eight little Astors who, upon the death of their mother in 1875, became the richest orphans in the country. Mr. Aldrich is a descendent of this "pride of lions." (This program was cosponsored by the Friends of the New York State Library and the New York State Library.)
June 1999: Author Joe Persico presented "Nelson A. Rockefeller: Confessions of a Biographer," a lecture at the New York State Library. (This program was cosponsored by the Friends of the New York State Library and the New York State Library.)
1999: Peter Slocum and Hy Rosen, co-authors of the book From Rocky to Pataki: Character & Caricatures in New York Politics, spoke about this publication and showed slides.
1998: Paul Grondahl spoke on the topic: "Second Thoughts on Erastus Corning", offering insight gained during his research on the Erastus Corning 2nd and the Corning family for his recent book, Mayor Corning...Albany Icon, Albany Enigma. Mayor of Albany for 42 years, Corning's life is intertwined with Albany life and politics spanning more than four decades.