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Join us for stories, games, and birthday cake to celebrate children's author William Steig's birthday. For children ages 4 & up.

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Come meet Catharine Bramkamp, local author, realtor and writing instructor. Come and hear about her new Real Estate Mystery series. Free! Questions? Call 537-0162 ext. 5.

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Come meet Francine Rivers, local author of Christian Fiction. She wrote Redeeming Love and more. Come and hear about her book-in-progress. Free. Questions? Call 537-0162 ext. 5.

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Rose Murphy, the author of the book Ella Young: Irish Mystic and Rebel, will be the speaker at a Meet the Author program at the Petaluma Regional Library on Saturday afternoon, November 29, at 2:00 p.m.
Ella Young (1867 – 1956) was an Irish storyteller of Celtic heroes and magic curses. Ms. Young had a fascinating life story. She guarded weapons hidden under floorboards for Dublin’s rebels during the 1920s, hobnobbed with W. B. Yeats, shared a house with Maude Gonne, talked to spirits on the windswept dunes of California’s Pacific Coast, and lectured to overflowing crowds at the University of California at Berkeley. Ms. Young was a mystical, whimsical woman who gathered stories from the west of Ireland and brought them across the Atlantic when she immigrated to California at the age of 56.
Rose Murphy has taught Irish literature at Sonoma State University and English at Santa Rosa Junior College. Several of her Irish-related articles, travel pieces, and editorials have been published in U.S. newspapers and periodicals. She has taught Irish literature and history in community classes for more than ten years in her hometown of Sonoma, California. In Ella Young: Irish Mystic and Rebel, Rose Murphy tells the story of Ella Young who has been called one of the most amazing and extraordinary Irish women of the 20th century.
The Meet the Author program featuring Rose Murphy will be presented in the Helen Putnam Community Room of the Petaluma Regional Library which is located at 100 Fairgrounds Drive in Petaluma. The program is open to the public free of charge.

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Come hear and experience Mariam Stephens as she performs pieces from her new work, Healings, and some of her poetry. Mariam was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She currently resides in Northern Sonoma County, but she has traveled extensively and lived in diverse places: Java, Indonesia, Hawaii, England and Ireland. Her new work, Healings, conveys its message in brief and intense prose. Mariam dedicates it to those among her “beloved family, ancestors and the land that gave me life.” She explores the healing love that suffused and sustained her through trials and testing times.

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Stephen Elias, author of How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy will speak on the topic of his new book: Foreclosure Survival Guide: Keep Your House or Walk Away With Money In Your Pocket, covering:

mortgages, including adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) short sales deeds in lieu of foreclosure judicial and non-judicial foreclosure credit counseling liens using bankruptcy to deal with foreclosure

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Frederick Rolf, editor and translator of the recently- published book “Berlin – Shanghai – New York: My Family’s Flight from Hitler”, will be the featured speaker during a Meet the Author program at the Petaluma Regional Library on Saturday, December 6, at 2:00.
“Berlin – Shanghai – New York: My Family’s Flight from Hitler” was written by Mr. Rolf’s father Dr. Theodor Friedrichs. The book is a vivid and factual account by an eminent Berlin physician of his family’s escape from the clutches of Hitler’s regime.
When the Nazi government cancelled all Jewish doctors’ licenses to practice medicine, Dr. Friedrichs was forced to emigrate. Dr. Friedrichs was able to bring his family out of Germany but then suffered eight years of deprivation and illness in Shanghai. Dr. Friedrichs describes these years of exile from his homeland with remarkable insight, maintaining a keen sense of humor even under desperate conditions. After the war, he and his family emigrated to America, where he rebuilt his life, practicing in New York for another twenty years.
“Berlin – Shanghai – New York: My Family’s Flight from Hitler” is a heart-rending report, both personal and historical, full of detailed observations – unlike any other document left to us by those fortunate enough to have escaped Hitler.
Frederick Rolf has been active in the American Theatre for over five decades. On Broadway he was featured as the Inquisitor to Uta Hagen’s Saint Joan and in Time Remembered with Helen Hayes and Richard Burton. Mr. Rolf has been a regular on numberless TV shows from Law & Order to All My Children. He has also directed many plays Off-Broadway. He has been a guest director for the Juilliard Drama Dept. in New York, for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting. He is listed in Who’s Who in the American Theatre.
Mr. Rolf has translated numerous plays including those of Ibsen, Max Frisch, and Schiller. His translation of his father’s autobiography “Berlin – Shanghai – New York: My Family’s Flight from Hitler” was published by Cold Tree Press.
The Meet the Author program featuring Frederick Rolf will be presented in the Helen Putnam Community Room of the Petaluma Regional Library. The program is open to the public free of charge.

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Marilyn Schlitz, PhD is a clinical research scientist, medical anthropologist, writer, speaker, thought leader and change consultant. She will be talking about her book "Living Deeply: The Art & Science of Transformation in Everyday Life."

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Andrew Dieden, author of the recently-published book The Sports Lover’s Guide to Recovery: Strategies and Rules of the Game will be featured at a Meet the Author program at the Petaluma Regional Library on Tuesday evening, December 9, at 7:00.
In this book, the author, an athlete, fan, and recovering addict, reveals how overcoming addiction, like succeeding at any sport, requires time, dedication, and surrender. Repositioning the recovery process as a new game with new rules and a training regimen, Mr. Dieden offers sports terms, concepts, and inspiring quotes from coaches and athletes as tools for living free of alcohol and other drugs. Stories of triumph and defeat featuring stars like Serena Williams and Gale Sayers reveal how to make tough calls when facing the toughest, most cunning opponent of all. The Sports Lover’s Guide to Recovery helps the reader find the right strategies for living one day at a time.
Andrew Dieden is Board Vice President of the National Council on Alcoholism and other Drug Addictions–Bay Area. He lives in northern California where he works as an attorney and enjoys competitive mountain biking and golf.
The Sports Lover’s Guide to Recovery was published by the Hazelton Foundation, a national nonprofit organization founded in 1949. The Foundation helps people reclaim their lives from the disease of addiction.
Copies of The Sports Lover’s Guide to Recovery will be available for sale and Mr. Dieden will do a book signing following his remarks.
The Meet the Author program featuring Andrew Dieden will be held in the Library’s Helen Putnam Community Room. The public is invited to attend and there is no admission charge.

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Three romance writers from Romance Writers of America are visiting the Sebastopol Regional Library. Come hear authors Allison Brennan, Brenda Novak and Carol Lynn Stewart speak at 7pm in the forum room. Questions? Call 823-7691 ext. 5.

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Marilyn Schlitz, PhD. is a clinical research scientist, medical anthopologist, writer, speaker, thought leader & change consultant. Her work over the past three decades explores the interface of consciousness, science & healing. She is the author of Living Deeply: the art & science of transformation in everyday life.

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Marshall Zaslove will be the speaker at a program entitled Meditation for Stress Free Living at the Petaluma Regional Library on Saturday, January 10, at 2:00.
In this stressful world, peace often seems like an elusive commodity. Too often people end up being stressed. Using Rajinder Singh’s book Inner and Outer Peace Through Meditation as a guide, Dr. Zaslove will talk about how meditation can be used to discover one’s own inner and outer peace. His style is crisp, interactive and inclusive. At each presentation, his audience is given an actual personal demonstration of meditation. The simple, effective meditation techniques that Dr. Zaslove offers can make the dream of reducing stress and finding inner peace a reality.
Dr. Marshall Zaslove is a Board certified psychiatrist, author and meditation practitioner for over thirty years. He was educated at Columbia and trained at the UCLA School of Medicine and the Neuropsychiatric Institute. Since 1969 he has lived in the San Francisco Bay area, where he is now director of the Zaslove Group in the Napa Valley. Dr. Zaslove’s 2003 book The Successful Physician has become a classic that’s recommended reading for every practitioner. He is the recipient of the Superior Accomplishment Award from the California Department of Mental Health.
Marshall Zaslove’s Meditation for Stress Free Living program will be presented in the Helen Putnam Community Room of the Petaluma Regional Library which is located at 100 Fairgrounds Drive in Petaluma. The program is open to the public free of charge.

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A program entitled Online Genealogical Research: The Latest! will be presented by Anthony Hoskins at the Petaluma Regional Library on Saturday, January 17 from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Anthony Hoskins is a widely published genealogical scholar, author of many articles and one book as well as a presenter in a genealogical research series. For eleven years he was the reference librarian of the genealogical collection at Chicago’s Newberry Library where he also taught courses in beginning and advance genealogical research. Currently, he is the head of the Sonoma County Library’s History and Genealogy Library in Santa Rosa. In this position he is jointly History and Genealogy Librarian and Sonoma County Archivist.
Mr. Hoskins program at the Petaluma Library will be a hand-on examination of case studies and methods of using the Internet and online databases for genealogical research.
Online Genealogical Research: The Latest! will be of interest to anyone involved in genealogical research. No advance registration is required. The program will be presented in the Helen Putnam Community Room of the Petaluma Regional Library which is located at 100 Fairgrounds Drive in Petaluma. The program is open to the public free of charge.

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Join us for a presentation by Petaluma resident Marilyn Schlitz, clinical research scientist and author of the book Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life.

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Living Into Art: Journeys Through Collage

Author Lindsay Whiting outlines a unique process that can be used for inner growth, activating imagination, and living a more psychologically and spiritually engaged life.

FREE! For more information please contact: 537-0162 ext. 5.

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Living Into Art: Journeys Through Collage Showcasing a unique approach to art and imagination - and the Sonoma community where it began - local author Lindsay Whiting outlines a unique approach that can be used for inner growth, activating imagination, and living a more psychologically and spiritually engaged life.

Free presentation, sponsored by the Friends of the Santa Rosa Libraries, in the Forum Room.

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Living Into Art: Journeys Through Collage

Author Lindsay Whiting outlines a unique process that can be used for inner growth, activating imagination, and living a more psychologically and spiritually engaged life.

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Each Wednesday evening in March, aspiring writers are invited to the Forum Room of the Central Library to enjoy brief presentations by experienced writers, followed by time to work on their own projects. Bring your laptop - there is a WiFi connection. Coffee and research assistance will be available.

Doors open at 5 pm. Presentations will take place at 6 pm. Open writing time 7 – 8:30 pm.

Michael Shapiro, the author of A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration (Travelers' Tales) will be the presenter this evening.

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Christina Radich, author of Our Mother’s War: A Biography of a Child of the Dutch Resistance, will be the featured speaker at a Meet the Author program at the Petaluma Regional Library on Saturday, March 14, at 2:00 p.m.
Author Christina Radich, a landscape designer who lives in Santa Rosa, has spent her adult years finding a place in history for her mother’s life. Our Mother’s War is the true story of her mother Aluzia Van Dalen. Ms. Radich wanted to capture her mother’s story of life in Nazi-occupied Holland and over the course of fifteen years she taped her mother’s recollections up until her mother’s death in 1994. Ten years after her mother’s death she took her transcribed tapes to Mel Fiske, a former newspaper reporter. Mr. Fiske took the unedited transcriptions and began researching the history of the Dutch people under the Nazi occupation to place the story of Christina’s mother in proper historical perspective. The result is Our Mother’s War, a book that is both the story of Aluzia Van Dalen and of the Dutch people from 1940 to 1945, the darkest of times for them. Aluzia went through the war with one thought: survival. “I haven’t lived yet,” she told herself. Our Mother’s War recounts her struggle to live.
The Meet the Author program featuring Christina Radich will be presented in the Helen Putnam Community Room of the Petaluma Regional Library which is located at 100 Fairgrounds Drive in Petaluma. The program, which is being funded by the Friends of the Petaluma Library, is open to the public free of charge.

Details:
Eva Rutland, author of When We Were Colored: A Mother’s Story, will be the featured speaker at a Meet the Author program at the Petaluma Regional Library on Saturday, March 21, at 3:00 p.m.
Ms. Rutland is the author of twenty novels as well as When We Were Colored. She is the winner of the 2000 Golden Pen Award for Life-Time Achievement. The granddaughter of a slave, Eva Rutland was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, and educated at Spelman College. After World War II, she and her husband headed west to Sacramento where they raised four children and where she still lives.
Originally published in a limited edition in 1964 with the title The Trouble with Being Mama, When We Were Colored: A Mother’s Story is a memoir of life in America before affirmative action and integration at a time when segregation was legally tolerated and discrimination was the norm and blacks were second-class citizens. The book chronicles the lives of an ordinary yet extraordinary “colored” family as they move from segregation to integration during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1950s and 60s. The book is all the more powerful because it is Eva Rutland’s memoir of her own family. Her story is poignant at times, uproariously funny at others and always down to earth.
When We Were Colored was reprinted most recently in 2007. Eva Rutland’s story is fascinating because it’s told from a mother’s point of view as she tries to do what is best for her children in a world that seems determined to keep them as second-class citizens. When We Were Colored remains as relevant today as it was during the height of our nation’s still unfinished struggle to secure liberty, justice and equality for all.
The Friends of the Petaluma Library will hold the group’s Annual Business Meeting prior to the program featuring Eva Rutland. The business meeting will begin at 2:00 followed by the Meet the Author program featuring at 3:00. It’s not necessary to attend the Friends Annual Business Meeting in order to attend the Eva Rutland program.
The Friends Business Meeting and Meet the Author program will be held in the Helen Putnam Community Room of the Petaluma Regional Library which is located at 100 Fairgrounds Drive in Petaluma. The program is open to the public free of charge.

Details:
Each Wednesday evening in March, aspiring writers are invited to the Forum Room of the Central Library to enjoy brief presentations by experienced writers, followed by time to work on their own projects. Bring your laptop - there is a WiFi connection. Coffee and research assistance will be available.

Doors open at 5 pm. Presentations will take place at 6 pm. Open writing time 7 – 8:30 pm.

The Canadian mystery writer Vicki Delany, author of Valley of the Lost, will be the presenter this evening.

Details:

Living Into Art: Journeys Through Collage

Author Lindsay Whiting outlines a unique process that can be used for inner growth, activating imagination, and living a more psychologically and spiritually engaged life.

Details:
Meet the authors of
Colonel James B. Armstrong: His Family and Legacy
Carmen J. Finley, Ph.D., and Doris M. Dickenson, M.A.

A presentation based on their biography of Col. Armstrong, who with his family preserved the original redwood park that became part of Armstrong Woods State Natural Reserve.

Details:
Author Christina Radich, a landscape designer who lives in Santa Rosa, has spent her adult years finding a place in history for her mother’s life. Our Mother’s War is the true story of her mother Aluzia Van Dalen. Ms. Radich wanted to capture her mother’s story of life in Nazi-occupied Holland and over the course of fifteen years she taped her mother’s recollections up until her mother’s death in 1994. Ten years after her mother’s death she took her transcribed tapes to Mel Fiske, a former newspaper reporter. Mr. Fiske took the unedited transcriptions and began researching the history of the Dutch people under the Nazi occupation to place the story of Christina’s mother in proper historical perspective. The result is Our Mother’s War, a book that is both the story of Aluzia Van Dalen and of the Dutch people from 1940 to 1945, the darkest of times for them. Aluzia went through the war with one thought: survival. “I haven’t lived yet,” she told herself. Our Mother’s War recounts her struggle to live.

Details:
Author Christina Radich, a landscape designer who lives in Santa Rosa, has spent her adult years finding a place in history for her mother’s life. Our Mother’s War is the true story of her mother Aluzia Van Dalen. Ms. Radich wanted to capture her mother’s story of life in Nazi-occupied Holland and over the course of fifteen years she taped her mother’s recollections up until her mother’s death in 1994. Ten years after her mother’s death she took her transcribed tapes to Mel Fiske, a former newspaper reporter. Mr. Fiske took the unedited transcriptions and began researching the history of the Dutch people under the Nazi occupation to place the story of Christina’s mother in proper historical perspective. The result is Our Mother’s War, a book that is both the story of Aluzia Van Dalen and of the Dutch people from 1940 to 1945, the darkest of times for them. Aluzia went through the war with one thought: survival. “I haven’t lived yet,” she told herself. Our Mother’s War recounts her struggle to live.

Details:
Author Christina Radich, a landscape designer who lives in Santa Rosa, has spent her adult years finding a place in history for her mother’s life. Our Mother’s War is the true story of her mother Aluzia Van Dalen. Ms. Radich wanted to capture her mother’s story of life in Nazi-occupied Holland and over the course of fifteen years she taped her mother’s recollections up until her mother’s death in 1994. Ten years after her mother’s death she took her transcribed tapes to Mel Fiske, a former newspaper reporter. Mr. Fiske took the unedited transcriptions and began researching the history of the Dutch people under the Nazi occupation to place the story of Christina’s mother in proper historical perspective. The result is Our Mother’s War, a book that is both the story of Aluzia Van Dalen and of the Dutch people from 1940 to 1945, the darkest of times for them. Aluzia went through the war with one thought: survival. “I haven’t lived yet,” she told herself. Our Mother’s War recounts her struggle to live.

Details:

Living Into Art: Journeys Through Collage

Author Lindsay Whiting outlines a unique process that can be used for inner growth, activating imagination, and living a more psychologically and spiritually engaged life.

Details:

Living Into Art: Journeys Through Collage

Author Lindsay Whiting outlines a unique process that can be used for inner growth, activating imagination, and living a more psychologically and spiritually engaged life.

Details:
Meet the Author Program Featuring Craig Nathanson

Craig Nathanson, author of the newly-published book Don’t JUST Retire and Die: A New Approach to Your Life and Work After 40, will be the featured speaker at a Meet the Author program at the Petaluma Regional Library on Saturday, May 30, at 2:00 p. m.
Petaluma-based Craig Nathanson, the Vocational Coach, is a well known speaker and the author of numerous articles and two other books, P Is for Perfect: Your Perfect Vocational Day and Discover and Live Your Passion 365 Days a Year. Mr. Nathanson specializes in helping adults over forty discover and live their true vocation in life.
In his new book, Mr. Nathanson warns that after forty and in this economy, simply retiring or having just a job is the wrong approach. Unfortunately, the notion of working at just a job after forty is still the conventional wisdom that we hear every day, but as the author explains in his new book, the second half of our lives can be a magical time filled with joy and fulfillment built around our work. Mr. Nathanson says that finding and following our true vocation leads to joy every day, and when we have joy every day, he asks why would we retire?
While many people wonder what’s next for them before or after they retire, few have discovered the realistic, approachable, gentle and down-to-earth guidance that author Craig Nathanson gives in Don’t JUST Retire and Die. As he says, life runs best and is most fulfilling when one is going with the natural flow. Reading this book will help any of us go with the flow and thus live a fuller and more joyous life.
The Meet the Author program featuring Craig Nathanson will be held in the Helen Putnam Community Room of the Petaluma Regional Library which is located at 100 Fairgrounds Drive in Petaluma. The program is open to the public free of charge. A book-signing will follow the author’s remarks and copies of Don’t JUST Retire and Die: A New Approach to Your Life and Work After 40 will be available for sale.

Details:
A Meet the Author Program featuring Lorraine Hee-Chorley, author of the book Chinese in Mendocino County.
Mendocino County is known as a scenic destination for its panoramic views of the sea, parks, wineries, and open space. Less well known are the diverse cultural groups who were responsible for building the county of Mendocino.
Lorraine Hee-Chorley’s family lived the history of the Chinese in the area. Her great-grandfather, Lee Sing John, was the founder of the Taoist Kwan Tai Temple in the village of Mendocino in 1854. She researched and wrote Chinese in Mendocino County as a memorial to the several hundreds of Chinese that used to populate the area.
A book-signing will follow Ms. Hee-Chorley's remarks and copies of Chinese in Mendocino County will be available for sale.
This Meet the Author program will be held in Community Room of the Petaluma Library. The program is open to the public free of charge.

Details:
Meet the author of Don't Just Retire and Die: A New Approach to Your Life and Work After 40.

Craig Nathanson, vocational coach and Petaluma resident, specializes in working with people over 40 to help them to discover and do what they love and make the income they need as well.

Details:
On Saturday, September 19, 2009 the Literary Arts Guild will present the Tenth Annual Book Festival and raise our tents on Courthouse Square to celebrate the literary arts once again.

This free public event transforms downtown Santa Rosa into the literary capital of Northern California and thousands of booklovers return every year for a full day of fun. Our rich programs present nationally acclaimed and locally treasured authors, who inspire and entertain festival attendees of all ages.

Author events take place at Courthouse Square, the Central Library, and other off-site locations within walking distance. For program information and more, go to the Book Festival website.

Details:
A Meet the Author Program featuring Lorraine Hee-Chorley, author of the book Chinese in Mendocino County.
Mendocino County is known as a scenic destination for its panoramic views of the sea, parks, wineries, and open space. Less well known are the diverse cultural groups who were responsible for building the county of Mendocino.
Lorraine Hee-Chorley’s family lived the history of the Chinese in the area. Her great-grandfather, Lee Sing John, was the founder of the Taoist Kwan Tai Temple in the village of Mendocino in 1854. She researched and wrote Chinese in Mendocino County as a memorial to the several hundreds of Chinese that used to populate the area.

Details:
Poetry Reading with Sonoma County Author Donna Emerson reading from her first national chapbook "Body Rhymes" accompanied by Jared Emerson-Johnson, violinist. Free! For more information please contact 537-0162 ext. 5.

Details:
Author discusses her book She Flew Bombers and answers questions.
From author's web page: "A funny, sad and heroic historical fiction about heroine Violet Willey and her colleagues who join the experimental civil service organization, the Women Airforce Service Pilots. All the escapades from meeting the Soviet Night Witches to brushes with death and sabotage are based on fact. These daring young women fight against gender discrimination as they portray a vital role for a nation in crisis." Free.

Details:
A birthday party for Roald Dahl, the famous author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "James and the Giant Peach," "Matilda," and many more children's books. Games! Crafts! Food! Fun! For children ages 5 and up accompanied by a parent or caregiver. Free!

Kids: Wear something YELLOW or wear something SDRAWKCAB!

Details:
Eva Rutland is author of When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story, a memoir of her life in the years “before integration, before affirmative action—when segregation was the norm, discrimination was legally tolerated, and blacks were second-class citizens”. She chronicles the lives of an ordinary, yet extraordinary family moving through the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s.

Eva Rutland's website

Books by Eva Rutland at the Library

Details:
Mendocino County is known as a scenic destination for its panoramic views of the sea, parks, wineries, and open space. Less well known are the diverse cultural groups who were responsible for building the county of Mendocino.
Lorraine Hee-Chorley’s family lived the history of the Chinese in the area. Her great-grandfather, Lee Sing John, was the founder of the Taoist Kwan Tai Temple in the village of Mendocino in 1854. She researched and wrote Chinese in Mendocino County as a memorial to the several hundreds of Chinese that used to populate the area.

Details:
Poetry Reading Featuring Poets Mimi Albert and Kate Braverman

A poetry reading featuring Mimi Albert reading "conjoined fiction and poetry" with friend and poet Kate Braverman will be presented at the Petaluma Regional Library on Saturday, September 26, at 2:00 p.m.
Mimi Albert is a poet, a novelist and a short story writer. Her novels Skirts and The Second Story Man have been praised in the New York Times Book Review and she has won numerous awards and grants including a PEN Award for Best Short Story Written in California; a PEN/NEA fiction award; a New York State Council on the Arts grant; eight California Arts Council grants; and most recently an Honorable Mention in the National Soulmaking Literary Fiction Contest, Novel Category, for her latest novel, People of the Air. Her literary criticism and stories have appeared in publications in Denmark, the United Kingdom, and throughout the United States. Currently, she chairs the Fiction Committee of the Northern California Book Reviewers and teaches creative writing for the UC Berkeley Extension online writing program.
This will be Mimi Albert’s third reading in Petaluma and her second at the Petaluma Regional Library with friend and admired colleague Kate Braverman. Ms. Albert lives in the Bay Area.
Kate Braverman is a poet and experimental writer. She is the author of four books of poetry as well as the novels: Lithium for Medea, Palm Latitudes, Wonders of the West, and The Incantation of Frida K. She was awarded the Graywolf Prize for Creative Non-Fiction for her memoir Frantic Transmissions to and from Los Angeles which was published in 2006.
Ms. Braverman’s works have been translated to Italian, Turkish, Latvian, Japanese, French and German. Her short stories and poems are widely anthologized. Ms. Braverman’s short-story "Mrs. Jordan's Summer Vacation" won the Editor's Choice Raymond Carver Award and she received a Pushcart Prize for her short story, "Cocktail Hour.” She has also received a Recognition Award from the California Legislature Assembly and a San Francisco Public Library Honoree. Her certificate reads: "For your success as an influential novelist, short story writer, and poet, and for your literary achievement that have garnered great acclaim, numerous awards and a Pushcart Prize, thereby making California a better place to live." Ms. Braverman lives in San Francisco.
At the reading on September 26, Ms. Albert will be reading a few short pieces, among them “Godot in Funkytown,” “Woman in the Mirror,” and “What It Is to Go Blind.” Ms. Braverman will be reading from recent and new writings.
Join us at the Petaluma Library on Saturday, September 26, at 2:00 for a very special poetry reading featuring two award-winning Bay Area poets. The program, which will be held in the Helen Putnam Community Room of the Petaluma Library, is open to the public free of charge.

Details:
Local author Catharine Bramkamp, a licensed realtor/broker and writing instructor, is the author of the mysteries Death Revokes the Offer and Time is Of the Essence.

During this program, she will talk about writing her mysteries and the process of self-publishing a book.

Details:
Meet the author of Don't Just Retire and Die: A New Approach to Your Life and Work After 40.

Craig Nathanson, vocational coach and Petaluma resident, specializes in working with people over 40 to help them to discover and do what they love and make the income they need as well.

Details:
Eva Rutland is author of When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story, a memoir of her life in the years “before integration, before affirmative action—when segregation was the norm, discrimination was legally tolerated, and blacks were second-class citizens”. She chronicles the lives of an ordinary, yet extraordinary family moving through the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s.

Eva Rutland's website

Books by Eva Rutland at the Library

Details:
Sonoma County Library presents Our Mother's War: A Biography of a Child of the Dutch Resistance with Christina Radich. Co-author Christina Radich is a landscape designer in Santa Rosa, California who has spent her adult years finding a place in history for her mother's life. Sponsored by Friends of the Santa Rosa Libraries. Free. For more information please contact 537-0162 ext. 5.

Details:
Fredrick Rolf, translator and editor, reads and discusses Theodor Friedrichs' book, "Berlin-Shanghai-New York: My Family's Flight From Hitler." "vivid account of his family's escape from Hitler's regime."
Frederick Rolf, editor and translator of Berlin-Shanghai-New York: My Family’ s Flight from Hitler will speak. Written by his father, Dr. Theodor Friedrichs, this recently translated book describes his family’s escape from Nazi Germany. A Berlin physician prior to Hitler’s regime, Dr. Friedrichs’ life is turned upside down when the Nazi government seizes Jewish doctors’ licenses to practice medicine. Unable to work in his trained profession, the author and his family are forced to leave their home.

The book details the bureaucratic nightmare meant to prevent his escape, only to suffer eight years of deprivations and illness in Shanghai. Cold Tree Press describes this as a story with “remarkable insight…a heart-rending report, both personal and historical, full of detailed observations - unlike any other document left to us by those fortunate enough to have escaped Hitler.”

The Mr. Rolf, has been active in theater productions for more than five decades including translation of numerous plays and appearances on Broadway. His background includes roles in “Witness” starring Harrison Ford, six Woody Allen films and participation in many regional theatres.
Free.

Details:
Author discusses her book She Flew Bombers and answers questions.
From author's web page: "A funny, sad and heroic historical fiction about heroine Violet Willey and her colleagues who join the experimental civil service organization, the Women Airforce Service Pilots. All the escapades from meeting the Soviet Night Witches to brushes with death and sabotage are based on fact. These daring young women fight against gender discrimination as they portray a vital role for a nation in crisis." Free.

Details:
Eva Rutland is author of When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story, a memoir of her life in the years “before integration, before affirmative action—when segregation was the norm, discrimination was legally tolerated, and blacks were second-class citizens”. She chronicles the lives of an ordinary, yet extraordinary family moving through the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s.

Eva Rutland's website

Books by Eva Rutland at the Library

Details:
Meet the author of Don't Just Retire and Die: A New Approach to Your Life and Work After 40.

Craig Nathanson, vocational coach and Petaluma resident, specializes in working with people over 40 to help them to discover and do what they love and make the income they need as well.

Details:
Tuesday, October 13 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Come watch renowned Chef Martin Yan in an entertaining and fun cooking presentation, question and answer discussion and a meet and greet. Copies of Chef Yan’s most recent book Martin Yan’s China will be available for purchase following the program and Chef Yan will autograph copies during a book-signing.

As the host of the famous “Yan Can Cook” television show which he pioneered in 1978, Chef Martin Yan has delighted millions of viewers with his passion for Asian cuisine, his amazing kitchen techniques and his charming wit. Chef Yan is the author of numerous cookbooks on Asian cuisine and the host of over 3,000 cooking show episodes broadcast worldwide, including the famed “Yan Can Cook.” He enjoys distinction as a certified Master Chef, a highly respected food consultant, a cooking instructor and a prolific author. The James Beard Award-winning chef resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Chef Yan’s latest book Martin Yan’s China brings the ancient country's beauty to the table with gorgeous dishes, spectacular photographs and fascinating information about the food, history, and culture of China.

Space is limited so tickets are required. Free tickets are available at the Reference Desk of the Petaluma Regional Library beginning Monday, September 21, at 10:00 or call the Petaluma Library at 707-763-9801, ext. 5, to reserve them.

Details:
Tuesday, October 13 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Come watch renowned Chef Martin Yan in an entertaining and fun cooking presentation, question and answer discussion and a meet and greet. Copies of Chef Yan’s most recent book Martin Yan’s China will be available for purchase following the program and Chef Yan will autograph copies during a book-signing.

As the host of the famous “Yan Can Cook” television show which he pioneered in 1978, Chef Martin Yan has delighted millions of viewers with his passion for Asian cuisine, his amazing kitchen techniques and his charming wit. Chef Yan is the author of numerous cookbooks on Asian cuisine and the host of over 3,000 cooking show episodes broadcast worldwide, including the famed “Yan Can Cook.” He enjoys distinction as a certified Master Chef, a highly respected food consultant, a cooking instructor and a prolific author. The James Beard Award-winning chef resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Chef Yan’s latest book Martin Yan’s China brings the ancient country's beauty to the table with gorgeous dishes, spectacular photographs and fascinating information about the food, history, and culture of China.

Space is limited so tickets are required. Free tickets are available at the Reference Desk of the Petaluma Regional Library beginning Monday, September 21, at 10:00 or call the Petaluma Library at 707-763-9801, ext. 5, to reserve them.

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In this special storytime, Author Tina Stolberg will read from her book "Little Shrew Caboose." She'll talk about writing and the world of the shrew. . .plus songs and movement rhymes.

For children ages 4 to 8 accompanied by parent or caregiver. Free!

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Mendocino County is known as a scenic destination for its panoramic views of the sea, parks, wineries, and open space. Less well known are the diverse cultural groups who were responsible for building the county of Mendocino.
Lorraine Hee-Chorley’s family lived the history of the Chinese in the area. Her great-grandfather, Lee Sing John, was the founder of the Taoist Kwan Tai Temple in the village of Mendocino in 1854. She researched and wrote Chinese in Mendocino County as a memorial to the several hundreds of Chinese that used to populate the area.

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Join us for a Meet the Author Program featuring Jennifer Robin, author of the recently-published book Growing More Beautiful: An Artful Approach to Personal Style.
Petaluma resident Jennifer Robin, author of the recently-published book Growing More Beautiful: An Artful Approach to Personal Style, will be the featured speaker at a Meet the Author program at the Petaluma Regional Library on Wednesday evening, October 21, at 7:00.
Jennifer Robin is a style consultant and artist as well as a published author. Growing More Beautiful is her second book. Her earlier book, Clothe Your Spirit: Dressing for Self-Expression, helped pioneer new approaches to personal style. Ms. Robin, who has been helping women grow more beautiful for over twenty years, has been awarded the Living Arts Book Awards Gold Medal for Fashion and Design as well as the Benjamin Franklin Awards Silver Medal for Best Self-Help book.
Growing More Beautiful is the first and only major book about fashion and beauty ever written by an artist. The book is a lively resource guide to projecting one’s essence with creativity and flair. It’s not a book about aging gracefully or otherwise but rather a guide for women of all ages to discover and project their unique personal style.
During the Meet the Author program at the Petaluma Library, Jennifer Robin will talk about how she came to write Growing More Beautiful as well as talk about her feeling for color and design. Ms. Robin believes that the intersection of fashion and art is color. She takes a fresh approach to fashion by seeing the process through the eyes of an artist and painter. Paintbrush in hand, during the program she will share her passion for the power of well-chosen color and the principles of design and demonstrate how they both help with any creative endeavor, whether painting or creating an outfit.
The Meet the Author Program featuring Jennifer Robin will be held in the Helen Putnam Community Room of the Petaluma Library. The program is open to the public free of charge. For additional information call the Library’s Reference Department at 707-763-9801, ext. 11.

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Author discusses her book She Flew Bombers and answers questions.
From author's web page: "A funny, sad and heroic historical fiction about heroine Violet Willey and her colleagues who join the experimental civil service organization, the Women Airforce Service Pilots. All the escapades from meeting the Soviet Night Witches to brushes with death and sabotage are based on fact. These daring young women fight against gender discrimination as they portray a vital role for a nation in crisis." Free.

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Don't Just Retire & Die: A New Approach with Craig Nathanson

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Authors visit the Library in November

Join us for lively and informative conversation with authors of mystery novels.

Cara Black, Allison Brennan, Mark Coggins, Michelle Gagnon, and Nadia Gordon discuss their books and their craft.

A special program for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month.

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Author discusses her book She Flew Bombers and answers questions.
From author's web page: "A funny, sad and heroic historical fiction about heroine Violet Willey and her colleagues who join the experimental civil service organization, the Women Airforce Service Pilots. All the escapades from meeting the Soviet Night Witches to brushes with death and sabotage are based on fact. These daring young women fight against gender discrimination as they portray a vital role for a nation in crisis." Free.

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Sonoma County Library presents Our Mother's War: A Biography of a Child of the Dutch Resistance with Christina Radich. Co-author Christina Radich is a landscape designer in Santa Rosa, California who has spent her adult years finding a place in history for her mother's life.

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Eva Rutland is author of When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story, a memoir of her life in the years “before integration, before affirmative action—when segregation was the norm, discrimination was legally tolerated, and blacks were second-class citizens”. She chronicles the lives of an ordinary, yet extraordinary family moving through the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s.

Eva Rutland's website

Books by Eva Rutland at the Library

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Authors visit the Library in November

Join us for lively and informative conversation with authors of fiction in various genres.

Carolyn Jewel, Sophie Littlefield, Rachelle Chase, and Joann Smith Ainsworth discuss their books and their craft.




A special program for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month.

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Our First Tuesday of the Month Book Group will discuss My Ántonia by Willa Cather. Narrated by the protagonist's lifelong friend, Jim Burden, the novel recounts the history of Antonia Shimerda, one of the most winning yet thoroughly convincing heroines in American fiction. Splendid early novel (1918) evokes the Nebraska prairie life of the author's childhood, and touchingly commemorates the spirit and courage of the immigrant pioneers who settled the land.

Bring your lunch and enjoy! Sponsored by the Sonoma County Public Library Foundation. Call 894-5271 ext 5 for more information.

Portrait of Willa Cather, 1915
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.

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A Meet the Author program featuring Jeane Slone. Ms. Slone is the author of "She Flew Bombers", an historical fiction about heroine Violet Willey and her colleagues who join the experimental civil service organization, the Women Airforce Service Pilots. All the escapades from meeting the Soviet Night Witches to brushes with death and sabotage are based on fact. These daring young women fight against gender discrimination as they portray a vital role for a nation in crisis.
A book-signing will follow Ms. Slone's remarks and copies of "She Flew Bombers" will be available for sale.
The Meet the Author program featuring Jeane Slone will be held held in the Community Room of the Petaluma Library. The program is open to the public free of charge.

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Meet the author of Don't Just Retire and Die: A New Approach to Your Life and Work After 40.

Craig Nathanson, vocational coach and Petaluma resident, specializes in working with people over 40 to help them to discover and do what they love and make the income they need as well.

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Craig Nathanson, author of Don't Just Retire and Die: New Approach to Your Life and Work After 40 will be speaking.

Watch This Space - More Information Coming Soon!

Watch This Space - More Information Coming Soon