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Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

Funding provided by:

Georgia Center for the Book

Founded in 1920, the Georgia Center for the Book, based at the DeKalb County Public Library, is the statewide affiliate of the Library of Congress with a mission of serving libraries, literacy and literature. We sponsor two popular literary competitions for students, develop and encourage programming for and other literary-related organizations and sponsor some 90 literary programs each year, bringing more than 125 authors to metro Atlanta and the state for free public events.

http://www.georgiacenterforthebook.org

Remembering the Great Depression in the Rural South

Wed, Sep 12, 2007

Kenneth J. Bindas examines the lives of rural Georgians and others in his new collection of more than 600 oral histories, *Remembering the Great Depression in the Rural South*. Bindas provides a detailed, personal chronicle of the 1930's from a rural Southern perspective and captures an important historical era and its impact. These reminiscences were collected over a four-year period in the late 1980's as people looked back over their lives and those of their families.

Forum Network

Partner:

Georgia Center for the Book
Don Teague and Rafraf Barrak: Saved by Her Enemy

Thu, Mar 4, 2010

Emmy Award-winning CBS News Correspondent Don Teague and his Iraqi-born translator Rafraf Barrak discuss their book, Saved by Her Enemy: An Iraqi Woman's Journey from the Heart of War to the Heartland of America. The two met early in the Iraq War and were nearly killed by a terrorist bomb. Their friendship transcended cultural and religious differences but ultimately forced her to leave her family and seek protection in America. Her story about finding her place in American society is mesmerizing.

Forum Network

Partner:

Georgia Center for the Book
Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom

Thu, Nov 15, 2007

David Blight discusses his latest work *Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom*. His new book includes previously unpublished narratives from two former slaves, offering readers a poignant, painful story of lives at once heroic and inspiring.

Forum Network

Partner:

Georgia Center for the Book
Edward Ball: The Genetic Strand

Fri, Nov 9, 2007

Edward Ball discusses his new book *The Genetic Strand*. Ball, a National Book Award winner and Georgia native, looks at the hard science behind DNA forensics, while examining his own mixed family history. *The Genetic Strand* argues that there are hidden dangers in deifying the work of molecular biologists and uncovers several surprising scientific failures. Ball's other books include *Slaves in the Family*, *Peninsula of Lies* and *The Sweet Hell Inside*.

Forum Network

Partner:

Georgia Center for the Book
Peter Greenberg: The Complete Travel Detective Bible

Thu, Nov 1, 2007

Peter Greenberg, the travel editor for NBC's *Today Show* tells all in his new book, *The Complete Travel Detective Bible*. It's the consummate guide for anyone who travels, with advice on how to pack and what never to pack, how to get airline seat upgrades, the best way to make reservations, safety tips for traveling with children and dozens of other smart tips.

Forum Network

Partner:

Georgia Center for the Book
Three Generations of Southern Cooking

Wed, Nov 19, 2008

Fellow Les Dames D'Escoffier members Gena Berry and Virginia Willis talk about Willis' book, *Bon Appétit, Y’all! Three Generations of Southern Cooking*. French-trained chef Willis shares her recipes and culinary tricks.

Food and Wellness

Partner:

Georgia Center for the Book
How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance

Tue, Nov 6, 2007

Amy Chua discusses her new book *Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance and Why they Fall Law*. Yale Law School professor and author of *World on Fire*, Amy Chua tackles a timely topic. She argues that the key to maintaining power for nations is always to attract and assimilate, rather than to coerce and intimidate, and she traces this remarkable history from ancient Persia to the US in Iraq.

Forum Network

Partner:

Georgia Center for the Book
William Starr: Whiskey, Kilts, and the Lochness Monster

Mon, Dec 6, 2010

William Starr, executive director of Georgia Center for the Book, discusses his book, *Whiskey, Kilts and the Lochness Monster: Traveling Through Scotland with Boswell and Johnson.* It’s an account of the author’s re-tracing of the amazing 1773 journey through the Scottish Highlands by James Boswell and Samuel Johnson. Part travelogue, part literary journal, it’s a ”celebration of Scottish life and a spirited endorsement of the unexpected discoveries to be made through good travel and good literature.”

Forum Network

Partner:

Georgia Center for the Book
Wayne Greenhaw: Fighting the Devil in Dixie

Tue, Feb 8, 2011

Wayne Greenhaw, distinguished writer and former newspaper reporter, discusses his book, *Fighting the Devil in Dixie: How Civil Rights Activists Took on the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama*. He tells how the Klan, empowered by Governor George Wallace’s defiance of civil rights laws, grew more violent until confronted by a courageous, determined coalition of blacks and whites. Greenhaw tells the full story, from the Klan’s bombings and murders in the 1950s to Wallace’s run for a fourth term as governor in the early 1980s, when he asked for forgiveness and won re-election with the black vote.

Forum Network

Partner:

Georgia Center for the Book
Patricia Sprinkle: Friday’s Daughter

Tue, Mar 8, 2011

Atlanta’s popular author of many delightful novels, Patricia Sprinkle, talks about her latest: *Friday’s Daughter*. It’s a contemporary tale of sisterhood, the South, and matters of the heart centering on the youngest of three sisters who is determined to claim a life of her own in the wake of the death of her father and an unusual bequest. Sprinkle is the author of more than a dozen books including such well-regarded mysteries as *Death on the Family Tree* and *What Are You Wearing to Die?* Her most recent book was *Hold Up the Sky*, which fellow Atlanta author Patti Callahan Henry called ”a beautiful and thoroughly Southern story.”

Forum Network

Partner:

Georgia Center for the Book