On April 16, Brian McDonald discussed his colorful and sensitive memoir, Last Call at Elaine's: A Journey from One Side of the Bar to the Other, which is about drinking, serving, writing, and finding his way out from behind the bar of a well-known and beloved restaurant known for its famous literary and luminary clientele.
On Wednesday, April 9, Lily Koppel, author of The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal, and the keeper of the diary itself, Florence Howitt, discussed the book which recreated the life of Manhattan in the 1930s by combining Howitt's diary entries and memories from Howitt.
On Wednesday, April 2, David Bushman, Television Curator for The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio, examined the television work of Westporter Rod Serling. Serling’s strong social conscience was pervasive in his work as a writer, producer, and teacher. He made history by winning six Emmy Awards for Dramatic Writing.
On Monday, March 31, Mark Schenker, Associate Dean at Yale College, examined Dorothy's heroic journey in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. 
Dr. Ranjit S. Dighe, Associate Professor of Economic
History, Macro and Monetary Economics at the University
of New York at Oswego, spoke on March 27, 2008 about the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a
political and monetary allegory in one of the crucial
periods in American political and economic history.
On Tuesday, March 25, Bill Evans, a five-time Emmy Award-winning, nationally-renowned senior meteorologist for WABC and author of the slow-building thriller, Category 7, gave a fascinating talk about hurricanes and tornadoes.
On Monday, March 3, J.T. Barbarese, a professor at Rutgers University and an authority on children’s literature, gave a talk on “The World Through Dorothy’s Eyes.” Professor Barbarese wrote the introduction to the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of the book. WestportREADS is sponsored by Jerry A. Tishman.
On Thursday, February 28, Wendy Walker discussed her book, Four Wives , which is a study of domestic discontent in which four women face the most difficult, heartbreaking challenge of their lives, reconciling their innermost desires with the lives that each has chosen.
On Sunday, February 24, Debby Applegate, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Biography for The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, discussed this definitive tale of a captivating, mercurial, and sometimes infuriating figure.
On Wednesday, February 20, Tracy Sugarman discussed his book, Drawing Conclusions: An Artist Discovers His America, which uses both wisdom and humor to provide insights into our American psyche.
On Tuesday, February 19, the latest about RSS, including what it is and why you would want it, as well as how to create and download your own podcasts, was discussed.
Click below to begin the podcast.
On Friday, February 15, Michael Kodas, author of High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in An Age of Greed, discussed his shocking exposé of the dark underside of Everest with people all but murdered in the cutthroat race to get to the top.
On Monday, February 11, Lawrence Goldstone, author of The Anatomy of Deception, discussed his forensic thriller, set in 1889, Philadelphia, where a young doctor grapples with the principles of scientific process to track a daring killer.
On Friday, February 8, author Nalini Jones discussed her debut book, What You Call Winter: Stories, which used nine interconnected tales to explore family life in Catholic India
On Tuesday, February 5, author Eric Burns discussed his book, Virtue, Valor, and Vanity, which brings the Founding Fathers down off their pedestals to reveal flesh-and-blood men—vain and modest, sensitive and stubborn, brilliant and ambitious.
On January 30, 2008, author James Canon discussed his book, Tales from the Town of Widows & Chronicles from the Land of Men, set in the small Colombian mountain village of Mariquita, , is Colombian-born author James Canon's literary debut. After their men are kidnapped by Communist guerillas, the women learn how to survive and create a peaceful new community. Photo credit: Phyllis Groner.
On January 29, 2008, author Robert Leleux read from and discussed his just released memoir, The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy. This debut book describes his east Texas boyhood and coming of age, under the tutelage of his eccentric, bewigged, flamboyant, and knowing mother.
On January 23, 2008, author Lee Vance, a retired general partner of Goldman Sachs Group, discussed his lightning-fast thriller that unfurls in the worlds of high finance and fine art as it follows one man determined to avenge his wife's death. Restitution has been described as whip-smart and fiercely exciting from first page to last.
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Jordan M. Wright gave a slide presentation and talk on January 15, 2008 about his illustrated history of American presidential elections told through campaign memorabilia, from Washington to Bush. The book is the story of how presidents and their losing rivals have wooed voters since America was founded. Campaigning for President has been described as "a stunning book, a wonderful way for people to learn about democracy and how the political process works."
A pioneer of the happiness movement, Alexandra Stoddard, author of Happiness for Two: 75 Secrets for Finding More Joy Together, spoke at the Library on Tuesday, January 8, 2008. She talked about the ways couples can pursue personal happiness together. Stoddard is a lifestyle philosopher whose books and lectures have inspired millions. This event was co-sponsored with the Westport Young Woman's League.
Amy Bloom, author of The New York Times best selling novel Away, was the featured speaker at the Library on December 12, 2007. Bloom read from her book to an enraptured audience, and then answered questions about the book and her writing career.
Photo credit: Lynn U. Miller
Eileen Heaphy, former Executive Director of the World Affairs Forum in Stamford and former Consul General in Monterrey, Mexico, led a panel on local immigration issues on Monday, December 3, 2007. 
Author Stewart O'Nan spoke at the Library on November 29th about his latest novel, Last Night at the Lobster, a bittersweet tale of honest work, poignant love and a man on the verge of losing himself.
NPR critic Maureen Corrigan predicts that O'Nan's literary celebrity will grow in the wake of what she calls "a little book that's making a big splash."
A Community Conversation was held on Iran with participants Dr. Gary Sick (l), who served on the National Security Council staff under Presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan. The principal White House aide for Iran during the Iranian Revolution and the hotages crisis, he is now at Columbia University. He was joined by Westporter Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group in New York City, a political risk consultancy, and author of The J-Curve, A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall.
Community Conversations are sponsored by The Smilow Family.
Click to start podcast.
Bliss Broyard spoke at Westport Library on Monday, November 19, 2007 to an overflow crowd about her vivid, compassionate portrait of her complex father, the writer and critic Anatole Broyard, in her new book, One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life-A Story of Race and Family Secrets. Photo credit: Larry Untermeyer
Click to start podcast.
Dr. Philip Landrigan, renowned expert on environmental health and pediatrics, spoke at the Library on October 15 about the effects that the enviornment has on children. He has been a member of the faculty of Mount Sinai School of Medicine since 1985 and Chairman of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine since 1990.
More about Dr. Landrigan.
Violinist for the Emerson String Quartet, Eugene Drucker makes his debut as a novelist with The Savior, the story of a non-Jewish violinist forced to play for the inmates of a Nazi concentration camp. Drucker will play some of the music found in the novel. Photo credit: Phyllis Groner. Click to start the podcast.
Westporter Sybil Steinberg, who edited the book review section of Publishers Weekly for several decades, and is now a contributing editor, shares her list of the best new books of 2007. Photo credit: Phyllis Groner. Click to start the podcast.
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