Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game, with Author Erica Westly
Thursday, July 7 at 7 p.m.
Main Library, DiMattia Building, Third Floor Auditorium
If you think softball is just a “women’s version” of the great American pastime of baseball—well, think again. Fastpitch softball is one of the most widely played sports in the world, with tens of millions of active participants in various age groups. But the origins of this beloved sport and the charismatic athletes who helped it achieve prominence in the mid-twentieth century have been largely forgotten, until now. Fastpitch by Erica Westly brings to life the eclectic mix of characters that make up softball’s vibrant 129-year history. From its humble beginnings in 1887, when it was invented in a Chicago boat club and played with a broomstick, to the rise in the 1940s and 1950s of professional-caliber company-sponsored teams that toured the country in style, softball’s history is as diverse as it is fascinating.
An Evening with Peter Willcox and Ronald B. Weiss,
Authors of Greenpeace Captain: My Adventures in Protecting the Future of Our Planet
Wednesday, June 29 at 7 p.m.
Main Library, DiMattia Building, Third Floor Auditorium
Peter Willcox has been a Captain for Greenpeace for over 30 years-the most experienced captain in the organization. He has led the most compelling and dangerous Greenpeace actions to bring international attention to the destruction of our environment. From the globally televised imprisonment of his crew, the “Arctic 30,” by Russian Commandos to international conspiracies involving diamond smuggling, gun-trading and Al-Qaeda, Willcox has braved the unimaginable and triumphed.
Captain Greenpeace is his story–which begins when he was a young man sailing with Pete Seeger and continues right up to his becoming the iconic environmentalist he is today. His daring adventures and courageous determination will inspire readers everywhere.
Literary Seminar: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Thursday, March 31 at 6:30 p.m.
Main Library, DiMattia Building, Third Floor Auditorium
Presentation on Truman Capote’s masterpiece, In Cold Blood. Capote combined the narrative style and flow of the novel, In Cold Blood, with the stark, factual accounts of the documentary to produce this non-fiction novel detailing the brutal murder of Kansas family in 1959. This interactive seminar will be presented by Dr. Michael J. Marotto, Lecturer in literature and composition from the University of Connecticut, Stamford. Dr. Marotto has contributed his knowledge and passion for literature to numerous seminar presentations at the Ferguson. The seminar’s topics will include a general discussion of Truman Capote’s work, focused analysis of In Cold Blood, and the novel’s psychologically thematic significance to contemporary American society. For more information, call 203 351-8231.
