News

Ohio author comes to Marysville for the last talk in the Author Series

Editor’s note:  The following information was written by Friends of the Library board member, Marysville resident and community volunteer Florence Allen.

Leah Stewart, will introduce Marysville residents to her books of fiction on April 24, at 7:00 PM. The author visit is sponsored by the Friends of the Library and Ms. Stewart will talk about her many books at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 233 6th St., Marysville, OH 43040.

Ms. Stewart is a professor in Creative Writing at the University of Cincinnati.  Her newest book is titled, What You Don’t know About Charlie Outlaw.  You can read about the promotion of the book on her website.

Leah is a critically acclaimed author, who has been the recipient of an NEA Literature Fellowship in 2014 and a Sachs Fund Prize in 2010.  She has also been listed on The State Library of Ohio choose to Read Ohio.  Her novel, The History of Us is set in her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Her books have been recognized for their remarkable human insights, suspenseful plots, vivid prose and comedic moments.  She has also published Body of a Girl and The Myth of You and Me, in additional to her other two books.

Residents who certainly enjoy meeting Leah and hearing about her writing adventures at our Veterans Auditorium.  You’re invited to come share your love of reading and meet the author.  Books will be available for purchase and the author will sign your selection.    

Students will be admitted free. Tickets are available for purchase for $5.00 each at the door or at the Maysville Public Library. 

Local author features The Ohio State University in newest book in the next Author Series

Editor’s note:  The following information was written by Friends of the Library board member, Marysville resident and community volunteer Florence Allen.

Bill Shkurti, will introduce Marysville residents to his second book, “The Ohio State University in the Sixties”.  The author’s visit is sponsored by the Friends of the Library and Bill will talk about his experiences in life and his way of sharing them on March 27^th at 7:00 PM at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 233 6th St., Marysville, OH 43040.

Shkurti is currently an Adjunct Professor at the John Glenn School of Public Affairs and an author, who writes and gives book talks throughout central Ohio.  In his second book he writes about OSU campus in the Sixties.  His book gives a full account of the issues and events on campus during the controversial times of the Viet Nam era.

Mr. Shkurti shares that he was born in Akron, Oh and majored in economics at OSU.  After serving as an army artillery officer in Germany, Vietnam and Fort Meade, Maryland.  His first book, “Soldiering in a Dying War” is a firsthand account about the war.

He returned to OSU to earn an advanced degree.  The State of Ohio hired him for a number of positions, including state budget director.  He returned to OSU and served as the chief financial adviser at Ohio State until his retirement in 2010.

Bill gives book talks throughout central Ohio.  Attendees will certainly enjoy hearing stories about our local university at our Veterans Auditorium.  You’re invited to come share your love of reading and meet the author.  Books will be available for purchase and the author will sign your selection.    

Students will be admitted free. Tickets are available for purchase for $5.00 each at the door or at the Maysville Public Library.  For more information about the author go to Bill Shkurti and read about him on the internet.

On Tuesday, January 30, the Friends of the Marysville Public Library welcomed writer Kristen Lepionka to Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium as part of their 13^th Annual Author Series. Lepionka, a Columbus based writer, is the author of The Last Place You Look, a mystery set in Columbus, which earned starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist. Her upcoming novel What You Want to See, will be released this spring. During her presentation, Lepionka shared insights on her journey to become a published writer, answered audience questions, and held a meet and greet for attendees, where she signed copies of her novel. The Friends of the Library Author Series continues on Tuesday, February 20, with Youth Adult Suspense writer Jody Casella. For more information on the series, please visit marysvillefriends.com. Pictured is author, Kristen Lepionka, with Friends board member, Ann Whitmer.

Every year, the Friends make an annual contribution to the Library in the amount of 4.5% of the year end total of the Endowment Fund.  This year an endowment fund distribution check of $12,945.46 was presented to Library Director, Nieca Nowels by Friends Board President, Dave Irish and Friends Board Treasurer, Brian Ravencraft.  The Board of Directors are proud to be able make a lasting contribution to our library.

The following review of Tuesday night’s guest author for the Friends of the Library was written by board member Florence Allen

Writer based book on location in Marysville

Julie Flanders, currently a writer and a research librarian, spoke to Marysville residents and students on Tuesday, May 9, at 7:00 PM at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  She began her talk by telling us that her parents took her to the local library as a child and that her favorite books were about animals.

Although she loved to write and was a technical writer, she kept telling herself that she could not write creatively.  She volunteered to write for the Best Friend Animal Sanctuary in Utah.  She wrote articles and stories about animals for several magazines including “Cat Fancy”.  She realized she loved writing the stories and knew that her life was richer and more satisfying.

She became acquainted with the Sunrise Sanctuary located on Martin Welsh Road which is off of Route 31 with a Marysville mailing address.  She has created children’s books designed for beginning readers about the animals at the sanctuary.  Her first book, Baby Moo, is about a calf that wants to be a singer and travel the world.  She is working on additional books about the animals that she has come to know, who live at the sanctuary.   

In 2010, she wrote an article, “What Else Is Possible?”   The article was accepted by a magazine and published.  She continued to write articles for magazines, but again she did not envision herself as a novelist.  One night after a dream involving an ocean liner, she began thinking about creating a full length book.  She loved stories and history about the Artic and Alaska and was fascinated by a 24 hour night.  These dreams and thoughts became the basis for her book, Polar Night.  Two years later, she published Polar Day.  

Flanders’s very first job was in Marysville as a social worker.  She was very excited to be invited back to Marysville by the Friends of the Library to talk about her books that have been published and the one she is working on now.

The message that she wanted to give to everyone in the audience was to not tell yourself that you can’t do something.  Even though you think you can’t do something, try anyway.

Flanders encouraged members of the audience to ask questions.  After the question and answer session, members of the audience were invited to purchase books that the author autographed.  The people in the audience visited with her and told her how much they appreciated learning about her work as an author.

 For information about becoming a member of the Friends of the Library and the programs they sponsor visit www.marysvillelib.org or contact Bethany Anderson at banderson@marysvillelib.org or 642-1876.

The following review of Tuesday night’s guest author for the Friends of the Library was written by board member Florence Allen

Disney-contracted,sci-fi author shares work with crowd

Science-fiction author, Melissa Landers, spoke to over 50 Marysville residents, which included over 25 students, on Tuesday, April 11 at 7:00 PM at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  She began by telling the audience about her first two books, Starflight and Starstall and read several of the publishers’ critiques of the books.

After teaching for ten years, she needed a creative outlet for her energy as she stayed home with her three young children.  Melissa was inspired to write her first book because she really enjoyed the Star Wars stories.  She read several quotes from her Starflight book.  One quote was “She learned that home was a fluid thing, and whether on a planet, a satellite or a rusted bucket of a ship, this crew was her home.” 

She was inspired by Pride and Prejudice to write about the themes of what it means to be human, xenophobic and how to pursue dreams and goals.  She wanted to write about universal challenges that all humans face, which include rejection, being a single parent and suicide. Thus, the Alienated trilogy was born.  

Beginning in 2009, she started writing the trilogy, Alienated, which is about how a woman and aliens made contact in the interplanetary galaxy as an exchange student.   She rewrote the book five times before it was ready to send to a publisher.  Disney offered her a contract. Now, she writes a proposal about the first three chapters, includes a synopsis of the intended book and sends it through her agent to Disney.  If Disney is interested, then she writes the book.

She told the audience that she writes every day.  She feels driven to self-edit the text.  She confers with her colleagues and her agent about her writing and the progress of the book.  Her statement to everyone who wants to write a book or pursue their dream is “if I can do it, why not you?”       

Attendees were able to purchase autographed copies of the books after the book talk and visit with the author.  The Friends of the Library will sponsor the next book talk by former Marysville resident, Julie Flanders.  She writes adult horror, thrillers, and historical mysteries novels and will publish her first children’s book this fall. The event who take place on May 9, 2017 at 7:00 pm at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  Tickets are available at the door for a nominal fee.  Students may attend for free.  For more information, visit www.marysvillelib.org or contact Bethany Anderson at banderson@marysvillelib.org or 642-1876.

The following review of Tuesday night’s guest author for the Friends of the Library was written by board member and community volunteer Florence Allen

Visiting author discusses book on Dr. Jane Payne

Ohioan author and historian, Dr. Lorle Porter, spoke to over 50 Marysville residents and students, on Tuesday, March 21 at 7:00 PM at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  She presented her newest book, “Jane Payne, M.D., “Unexpected Healer”. 

Dr. Porter, Professor Emerita, Muskingum University, lives in Mt. Vernon.  The only sources she could find about the life of Dr. Jane Payne were in the Mt. Vernon newspapers in the obituary section.  A friend found information about Dr. Payne’s father’s life.  She decided the medium for writing her book would be historical fiction.  She imagined a biography about the family and created s story about Dr. Payne’s life.

Jane Payne was born in Bristol, England.  After the Napoleon wars ended, England had a financial depression.  Due to the political climate, Jane’s father, an Episcopalian, was invited to sail to America with his family.  He settled into what was then called the Western Fields of Ohio in 1831.  Jane contracted measles in the new world, which left her blind in the left eye and with very little vision in her right eye.  As a young girl she fell out of an apple tree and broke her spine.  She would have pain for the rest of her life.

Jane was sent to a health spa in New York City where she “read through” the medical library seeking a relief for her pain.   In 1860, she attended a medical college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was for women and taught by Quaker men.

In the mid 1800’s, males dominated the medical field and women were not accepted as doctors, therefore it was very hard for a woman to become a doctor apprentice.

Dr. Russell and Dr. Thompson invited Jane into their practice in Mt. Vernon, Ohio.  Dr. Payne established her practice in Mt. Vernon’s “Chill District” and “Bloody 5^th Ward”, which is near the Buckeye Candy building near the river.  

Dr. Payne’s life is a story of great courage in the face of hardship and disability.  She practiced for 22 years until her death in 1882.  Her obituary ends with “a good woman gone”.  On her tombstone in Mt. Vernon, she is identified as the daughter of Reverend Henry Payne.

After a question and answer session, attendees were able to purchase autographed copies of the book and visit with the author. 

The Friends of the Library will sponsor the next book talk by Melissa Landers, a former teacher turned sci-fi geek.  Her book series “Alienated” has a for-star rating on Goodreads.  The event will take place on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at 7:00 pm at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  Tickets are available at the door for a nominal fee.  Students may attend for free.  For more information, visit www.marysvillelib.org or contact Bethany Anderson at banderson@marysvillelib.org or 642-1876.

The following review of Tuesday night’s guest author for the Friends of the Library was written by board member Florence Allen

AP Reporter Is Most Recent Visiting Author In Series

Local Columbus resident, Andrew Welsh-Huggins spoke to an enthusiastic audience, on Tuesday, February 21 at 7:00 PM at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  He introduced himself as an AP reporter during the day and a book author in the early morning hours. 

As a 6 year old, he fell in love with libraries and books.  Three series of books shaped his impressions of authors and books.  He started with The Doctor Doolittle series written by Hugh Lofting.  He then read the series the Happy Hollister’s.  The third series of books he read were the Perry Mason series.

He graduated from Kenyon College in Mt. Vernon in ancient Greek literature and then earned a Masters degree in comparative literature.  He began working as a freelance writer for dailies and weekly newspapers in Connecticut, Indiana and then moved to Youngstown, Ohio to work for the newspaper, The Vindicator.  In 1998, he moved to Columbus to work as an AP Legal Affairs Reporter and realized that police crime appealed to him.

His biggest journalistic task has been developing the story on the death penalty in the state of Ohio.  It took 3 years of detailed research of 1,900 cases before the story was ready for publication.  His nonfiction book is titled No Winners Here Tonight,  his findings are very troubling because a person’s case outcome depends on where they live and the color of their skin.

 He is writing a fictional series of books about a character named Andy Hayes who lives in Columbus, Ohio in German Village.  The main character, Andy, is a wounded warrior with handicaps to overcome and works as a private eye.  The title of the first book is Fourth Down and Out.

Andrew was a very interesting speaker and invited the audience to ask questions.  Although he was invited to talk about his books, the attendees were very interested in his day job as an AP reporter.  We learned that the associated press model was started in 1846.  Newspapers and websites pay a fee to the cooperative.  Some stories are written on the spot, others stories takes a few days to weeks and months.  The story he is working on now is about how the impact of drug addiction affects young children.

 The attendees were able to purchase autographed copies of the books after the book talk and visit with the author.  The Friends of the Library will sponsor the next book talk by Dr. Lorle Porter, who writes numerous books on Ohio history and the immigrant’s story.  The event will take place on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 7:00 pm at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  Tickets are available at the door for a nominal fee.  Students may attend for free.  For more information, visit www.marysvillelib.org or contact Bethany Anderson at banderson@marysvillelib.org or 642-1876.

 The Friends make an annual contribution to the Library in the amount of 4.5% of the year end total of the Endowment Fund.  This year an endowment fund distribution check of $11,053.00 was presented to Library Director, Nieca Nowles by Friends Board President, Jan Dick and Friends Board Member, Brian Ravencraft.  Endowment fund distribution monies are utilized by the library to fulfill material memorial gifts such as magazines or books with bookplates and equipment or programming needs that lie beyond the library budget.

The following review of Tuesday night’s guest author for the Friends of the Library was written by board member and community volunteer Florence Allen

Not a Drop To Drink

Ohioan author, Mindy McGinnis, spoke to over 60 Marysville residents, which included 28 young people, on Tuesday, May 15 at 7:00 PM at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  She began her talk about her first published book, Not A Drop To Drink.

Mindy was inspired to write the book because of the pond in her backyard and questioned “what if the pond water was the only water to drink.”  At the beginning of her research she watched the documentary on Netflix, BlueGold, which is about possible world water wars.  She told us that the book had been selected to be made into a movie.  The process of developing it into a screenplay has been a pleasing experience and is still in the development stage.

Her target audience for her books is young adults.  She has written a sequel to Not a Drop to Drink titled In a Handful of Dust.  The young people attending had read her first book and were very interested in learning about possible sequels.  She has just signed a contract with Harper Collins for two more books and is contracted to write a book a year.

Mindy was a most interesting and dynamic speaker. She entertained the audience with her hand gestures and her choice of expression.  The young people asked many questions and were very interested in the process of writing and being published.

She explained the process of how she developed and edited a book.  Once a book is accepted by a publisher, it can take up to two years of editing before it is published.  She writes about a 1,000 words a day, which is 5 typed pages.  She said she always wanted to be a writer, but knew she would have to also have another job.  She enjoys being an assistant young adult librarian in her hometown.

Attendees were able to purchase autographed copies of the books after the book talk and visit with the author.  The Friends of the Library will sponsor the next book talk by Dr, Jim Burson, a retired basketball coach, on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 at 7:00 pm at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.  Tickets are available at the door for a nominal fee.  Students may attend for free.  For more information, visit www.marysvillelib.org or contact Bethany Anderson at banderson@marysvillelib.org or 642-1876.