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JACK MARSHALL
reading & booksigning for Steel Veil
Thursday, January 8 at 7:30 pm Introspective and engaged, Jack Marshall's new book of poetry, Steel Veil, weds timely depictions of Middle Eastern widows "behind veils heavy / as the steel / veil of empire" with timeless expressions of personal grief and political outrage. Invoking visionary possibilities of being, Marshall's distinctive voice and elegant lyrics unite this muscled, multilayered collection.
Born in 1936 to Jewish parents who emigrated from Iraq and Syria, Jack Marshall grew up in New York and now lives in California. He is the author of a memoir, From Baghdad to Brooklyn, and several poetry collections that have received the PEN Center USA Award, two Northern California Book Awards, and a nomination from the National Book Critics Circle.
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RODES FISHBURNE
reading & booksigning for Going to See the Elephant
Tuesday, January 13 at 7:30 pm The bestselling novelist James Patterson said of Rhodes Fishburne’s debut novel, “Going to See the Elephant will delight anybody who has ever written a first novel, wanted to write a first novel, and especially those who cherish reading unforgettable first novels. It is both funny and wise.” Come celebrate with family and friends the emergence of a new local literary talent.
Rodes Fishburne has been published in the New Yorker, the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, and Forbes ASAP, where he was the editor of the acclaimed “Big Issue,” an annual magazine of literary essays from leading writers and thinkers. He is a member of the Grotto, a San Francisco writers’ collective. Going to See the Elephant is his first novel.
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LAWRENCE LESSIG
talk & booksigning for ReMix
Wednesday, January 14 at 7:30 pm In Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, Lawrence Lessig shows how we harm our children - and almost anyone who creates, enjoys, or sells any art form - with a restrictive copyright system driven by corporate interests. In this new book, the acclaimed author of Free Culture reveals the solutions to this impasse offered by a collaborative yet profitable “hybrid economy.”
Lawrence Lessig is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and founder of the School’s Center for Internet and Society. He is the author of Free Culture, The Future of Ideas, and Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, and is a columnist at Wired. He chairs the Creative Commons project, was named one of Scientific American’s Top 50 Visionaries, and has been several times listed as one of BusinessWeek’s “eBiz 25,” the magazine’s roundup of the twenty-five most influential people in electronic business.
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KATHERINE POWELL COHEN
talk & booksigning for San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury
Thursday, January 15 at 7:30 pm At the turn of the 20th century, the Haight-Ashbury gained prominence as the gateway to Golden Gate Park. Six decades later, it would anchor a worldwide cultural revolution that blossomed in the 1960s. San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, by Katherine Powell Cohen, is a pictorial history of the world famous neighborhood that attracts throngs of people – everyone from runaways to tourists, while maintaining a community of families, young people, and long-timers.
Katherine Powell Cohen, Ph.D., compiled vintage images and stories for her book from individual sources, public collections, and from the interviews she has conducted as a columnist for the Haight Ashbury Beat newspaper. An English professor at San Francisco State and Golden Gate Universities, she has lived in the neighborhood for over 20 years.
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MICHAEL CAPOZZOLA
talk & booksigning for Cheap City
Friday, January 16 at 7:30 pm Every week, the San Francisco Chronicle carries Michael Capozzola’s always quirky and always funny cartoon “Cheap City.” Like his comedy act, the cartoon includes creative problem solving for social ills as well as cheap solutions and quick fixes for life and city living. “San Francisco can always benefit from someone willing to point out daily life’s little absurdities, and Mike Capazzola does it in the tradition of our city’s best satirists.” – City Supervisor Aaron Peskin
Michael Capozzola is a Bay Area based Stand Up Comedian & Cartoonist. Each year, he produces and hosts the Cartoon Art Museum's annual "Comics for Comix" fundraiser. His cartoons and more can be seen at www.capozzola.com
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RAND RICHARDS
talk & booksigning for for Mud, Blood, and Gold: San Francisco in 1849
Wednesday, January 21 at 7:30 pm There have been many books on the Gold Rush, but Mud, Blood, and Gold is the first to focus on San Francisco as it was at the peak of the frenzy. With a you are there immediacy, Rand Richards brings to life what the city was like during the landmark year of 1849. Based on eyewitness accounts and previously overlooked records, the distinguished author and historian chronicles the explosive growth of a wide-open town rife with violence, gambling, and prostitution - each fueled by unbridled greed.
Rand Richards is a San Francisco-based historian, author, and lecturer. Two of his books are local bestsellers: Historic San Francisco: A Concise History and Guide and Historic Walks in San Francisco: 18 Trails Through the City's Past. He has lectured before many groups, including the California Historical Society, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, and the San Francisco History Association. The latter organization recently awarded him their Oscar Lewis Award for his contributions to knowledge of San Francisco history.
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GERI SPIELER
talk & booksigning for Taking Aim at the President
Thursday, January 22 at 7:30 pm President Gerald Ford suffered two attempts on his life. One by a young woman in Charles Manson’s gang, and the other just 17 days later by a far more unlikely candidate - an average looking middle-aged mother of five named Sara Jane Moore. In Taking Aim at the President, journalist Geri Spieler sketches the bizarre life of the only woman to ever fire a bullet at a U.S. president and her path to that fateful moment outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Joining us for this special event will be Tim Hettrich, one of the San Francisco police officers at the scene of the assassination attemp.
Geri Spieler is an investigative journalist and speaker. She has written for the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Forbes. She has had a professional relationship with her subject, Sara Jane Moore, who she visited and interviewed in prison.
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BLAIR KILPATRICK
talk & booksigning for Accordion Dreams
Friday, January 23 at 7:30 pm By age thirty-nine, Blair Kilpatrick had settled into life as a practicing psychologist. Then, a chance encounter in New Orleans turned her world upside down. Accordion Dreams is a memoir filled with music set partly in the San Francisco Bay Area, home to the largest Cajun-zydeco music scene outside the Gulf Coast. Engaging, uplifting, and illuminating a unique patch of the American cultural landscape, Accordion Dreams is also one person's account of passion, risk-taking, and change - at any age.
Blair Kilpatrick has an independent practice in psychotherapy in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also performs and records with Sauce Piquante, a traditional Cajun-Creole band she founded in the late 1990s.
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ERIKA MAILMAN
reading & booksigning for Witch’s Trinity
Tuesday, January 27 at 7:30 pm Set in 1507, Witch’s Trinity tells the disturbing story of small town in Germany whose residents turn on themselves after a famine strikes and a friar arrives from a large city, claiming the town is under the spell of witches in league with the devil. Erika Mailman’s debut novel is both a historical work and a “gripping, well-told story of faith and truth.” - Khaled Hosseini.
Erika Mailman traces her roots to a Massachusetts relative who twice stood trial for witchcraft. She lives in Oakland and is a columnist and the author of earlier books on local history.
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Please join us for one or more of these upcoming events. Booksmith author events are free and located at our San Francisco store (1644 Haight Street in San Francisco, between Clayton & Cole), unless otherwise noted. Seating is offered on a first-come, first-served basis, approximately 45 minutes in advance. For further information, call 415-863-8688 or visit www.booksmith.com
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