UPDATE: Although the live presentations have passed, these two interviews can be enjoyed on the library’s YouTube page here:
SJCPLS Online Event: Author Visit – Mary Alice Monroe
SJCPLS Online Event: Author Visit – Susan Carol McCarthy
Through the library’s enhanced virtual programming schedule, The St. Johns County Public Library System is presenting a series of special interviews with two best-selling authors. Conducted by SJCPLS Librarian Harold George, the interviews will be presented on the library’s webpage sjcpls.org, Facebook, and YouTube channels.
Join us online at noon on Monday, August 3, 2020 for a conversation with bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe. Fresh off the success of her latest book On Ocean Boulevard, Monroe discusses her love of sea turtles and the many people working to conserve their habitat, and gives insight into how she builds parallel stories of the multiple generations of characters that populate her series of books. She also shares her interesting tidbits about writing books for children, developing her work as a new writer, and her friendship with Pat Conroy.
This is the first of two online author interviews, the second being a conversation with Susan Carol McCarthy on Tuesday, August 4, at 12:00 p.m.
The conversation with Ms. McCarthy focuses on her book Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands. A fictional tale based on true events, Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands is a deeply personal story based on the experiences of McCarthy’s father in the early 1950s, when he helped the FBI by breaking into the central Florida headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan. This book was the St. Johns Reads book for 2007.
A tale of 1950s Florida that one can still find just off the main highways, Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands authentically depicts a difficult time Florida history, with characters that one enjoys spending time with and will admire for their refusal to accept the status quo. Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands has received many awards and accolades, and is required reading in many school districts throughout the United States.
There are three ways to watch these special interviews. You can use the online program player on the library’s website, https://sjcpls.org/, or visit the library’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/sjcpls/. You can also watch the interviews on the library’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/sjclibraryvid. For more information about these interviews or any of the library’s new online programming, please visit the library’s website, sjcpls.org.