Michael Nelson - Vaulting Ambition: FDR's Campaign to Pack the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is dominating the news right now. Discussions around the politicization of the Court and proposals to increase the number of Justices are front and center in public forums. Providing a unique and timely perspective, award-winning author and senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, Michael Nelson will be on hand to talk about his book Vaulting Ambition: FDR’s Campaign to Pack the Supreme Court. The book sheds historic and essential light on today’s controversy over changing the Supreme Court. Retired Judge Andre M. Davis moderates.

Michael Nelson is a senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center and a professor at Rhodes College. His book Resilient America: Electing Nixon, Dividing Government, and Channeling Dissent, won the American Political Science Association's Neustadt Award for best book on the presidency in 2015.  He also wrote award-winning articles for Baltimore magazine on the Orioles and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, including the prestigious ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award.

Moderator: Andre M. Davis served for thirty years as a judge on four courts: the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City; the Circuit Court for Baltimore City; the United States District Court for the District of Maryland; and finally, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Earlier in his career he served as law clerk to two federal judges, as an appellate attorney for the Civil Rights Division for the U.S. Department of Justice, as an assistant United States attorney and as an assistant law professor.  Judge Davis received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. He has received numerous commendations and awards for his leadership of community-based non-profits and attorney organizations. In 2017, Judge Davis retired from the bench and was appointed the Baltimore City solicitor and head of the City Law Department. He retired in 2020.

Michael Fanone & John Shiffman - Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul

Michael Fanone and co-author John Shiffman will be discussing their book which chronicles the experiences of police veteran and former Trump supporter Fanone during the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Self-deploying when he heard what was happening at the Capitol and urging his fellow officers to “hold the line” against the growing mob of insurrectionists, Fanone was dragged into the attack, tased until he suffered a heart attack, and beaten nearly to death. Determined that no one forgets what happened at the Capitol on January 6th, Hold the Line is a call to action to preserve American democracy for future generations. Key School Humanities teacher Brian Boyd moderates.

Michael Fanone is a former officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, where he spent the majority of his career as a vice investigator assigned to various specialized units. Officer Fanone received numerous medals and commendations for his work during his time with the MPD. On January 6, 2021, he responded to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and fought back against the violent mob. Officer Fanone received the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Citizens Award for his efforts. Photo Credit - Jaime Roberts

John Shiffman is a Reuters reporter and has co-authored two New York Times best-sellers. He has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and has won the Hillman Prize, the Thurgood Marshall Award, the Loeb Award, and the Shadid Award for Ethics. His other books are Operation Shakespeare and Priceless. Website

Moderator: Brian Boyd is a member of the Key School Humanities Department and has been teaching at the independent school and collegiate levels for the past thirty years. In addition to his work with the students at Key, he also co-created and facilitates the Seminar Series for Adults that provides adults in the wider community the opportunity to participate in discussions of great works of literature.

Keith Boykin & Thomas E. Ricks - The Long March: The Past, Present and Future of Civil Rights in America

These acclaimed authors will gather to focus on racial justice and social change across several decades. Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas E. Ricks, in Waging a Good War, likens the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s to a military-style campaign, one where victories were won by recruiting, training, discipline, and organization. Keith Boykin, former White House aide to President Bill Clinton, in his book Race Against Time, argues that the divisions bubbling over in politics today stem from the fear of a darkening America, where there is no longer a White majority. To make Black lives not just matter but be truly equal, Boykin encourages all Americans to fight racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia. Gilbert King, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Devil in the Grove and host of “Bone Valley,” a nine-part narrative podcast about murder and injustice in 1980’s central Florida, moderates.

Keith Boykin is a TV and film producer, national political commentator, New York Times best-selling author, and a former White House aide to President Bill Clinton. His latest book is a memoir, Quitting: Why I Left My Job to Live a Life of Freedom. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Mr. Boykin has taught at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University and currently teaches at City College of New York. He is a co-founder and first board president of the National Black Justice Coalition and a Lambda Literary Award-winning author of six books. Instagram

Thomas E. Ricks is a military history columnist for the New York Times Book Review. He is the author of eight books, including Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country, and Waging a Good War: A  Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968. Photo Credit: Alessandro Vulcano. Twitter

Moderator: Gilbert King is the writer, producer and host of “Bone Valley,” a nine-part narrative podcast about murder and injustice in 1980’s central Florida. He is the author of Devil in the Grove, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 2013. Mr. King has written about race, civil rights and the death penalty for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic, and he was a 2019-2020 fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars at the New York Public Library. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. Photo Credit:  Luminaire Foto. Website • Twitter

Cody Keenan - Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America

President Obama’s chief speechwriter Cody Keenan details ten days in June 2015 when he and the president composed the statements needed to heal a nation after several events threatened to destroy America’s soul. From a massacre to looming Supreme Court decisions, Keenan lays out the behind-the-scenes moments of the late-night writing sessions when speechwriting of the highest caliber was called for. The work culminated in the stunning moment when President Obama led the country in a chorus of “Amazing Grace.” Co-host of "The Circus," Obama White House director of communications, and director of communications for Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Jennifer Palmieri, moderates.

Cody Keenan rose from a campaign intern in Chicago to become chief speechwriter at the White House and Barack Obama’s post-presidential collaborator. A sought-after expert on politics, messaging and current affairs, he is now a partner at leading speechwriting firm Fenway Strategies and teaches a popular course on political speechwriting to undergraduates at his alma mater Northwestern University. Mr. Keenan lives in New York City with his wife and daughter. Photo Credit: Melanie Dunea. Instagram • Twitter • Website

Moderator: Jennifer Palmieri is a co-host of Showtime’s Emmy-nominated “The Circus.” She is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Dear Madam President and She Proclaims: Our Declaration of Independence from a Man’s World. Ms. Palmieri is one of the most accomplished political and communications strategist in the country. She served as White House communications director under President Barack Obama and was head of communications for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Prior to joining the Obama White House, Ms. Palmieri was president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the advocacy arm for a premier progressive think tank. She was also national press secretary for the Democratic Party, White House deputy press secretary for President Bill Clinton, and national press secretary for the 2004 John Edwards for President campaign. She is a graduate of American University and lives with her husband in Maryland.

Scott Higham & Sari Horwitz - American Cartel: Inside the Battle to Bring Down the Opioid Industry

The opioid epidemic continues to rage in America, causing thousands of deaths and wreaking havoc for countless families. In American Cartel, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporters Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz spin a fascinating tale that follows a small group of DEA agents and a band of lawyers who fought to hold the drug industry responsible for the worst drug epidemic in American history. This definitive investigation exposed corporate greed and moral corruption across various governmental agencies, including the DOJ, DEA and Congress. Retired Judge Lynn Battaglia moderates.

Scott Higham is a Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award winning investigative reporter for the Washington Post. For the past six years, he has been investigating the companies responsible for the opioid epidemic and is the co-author of American Cartel: Inside the Battle to Bring Down the Opioid Industry.

Sari Horwitz is a four-time Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter who has been at the Washington Post for four decades, where she has covered the Justice Department and criminal justice issues. She was a lead reporter on the Post’s “The Opioid Files” series, which was a Pulitzer Finalist for Public Service in 2020. Ms. Horwitz has authored or co-authored three books: Finding Chandra: A True Washington Murder Mystery, Sniper: Inside the Hunt for the Killers Who Terrorized the Nation, and Justice in Indian Country. Twitter • Instagram • Facebook 

Moderator: Lynne Battaglia is a senior judge with the Maryland Judiciary who serves as both a trial and an appellate judge, as well as a mediator for the courts. She served both in the Clinton Administration as the United States attorney for Maryland and as chief of staff for Senator Barbara Mikulski. In retirement, Judge Battaglia attended Johns Hopkins University and was awarded a master’s of science degree in counseling. She is licensed as a graduate professional counselor and provides services through the Pro Bono Counseling Center.

Elizabeth Williamson - Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth

School shootings tragically and infuriatingly remain a nearly daily occurrence. Named as a Best Non-Fiction Book of 2022 by the Washington Post, reporter Elizabeth Williamson’s book Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth chronicles her investigation into the aftermath of the tragic elementary school shooting in 2012 which left twenty first graders and six educators dead. Williamson's work, based on hundreds of hours of research and interviews, is the story of the families who refused to stand by when the purveyors of far-right conspiracy theories attempted to disparage and dishonor those who lost their lives. Karen Herren, executive director of Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence, moderates.

Elizabeth Williamson is a feature writer for the New York Times. She joined the Times as a member of its editorial board, writing about national politics during the 2016 campaign. Previously, Ms. Williamson was a reporter on the Wall Street Journal's Washington, DC-based special projects team, writing features about national politics and the culture of Washington. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Marquette University. She grew up in Chicago and resides in Washington, DC, with her family. Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan. Twitter 

Moderator: Karen Herren is the executive director of Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence (MPGV). She practiced law for a number of years before taking time away to raise her young children. Her youngest was a first grader in Maryland when the Sandy Hook shooting occurred and compelled her to step into the fight to reduce gun violence. Ms. Herren helped begin a Sandy Hook Promise "Start with Hello" program at her children’s elementary school and went on to get involved with state advocacy efforts through Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence.  She previously served as MPGV’s legislative director until recently when she stepped into the executive director position. Twitter • Facebook

Mahnaz Afkhami - The Other Side of Silence: A Memoir of Exile, Iran, and the Global Women's Movement

Iran continues to crack down on citizens who have taken to the streets to protest the killing of a young woman named Mahsa Amini while in police custod for wearing her hijab improperly. In this timely discussion, author Mahnaz Afkhami, Iran’s first minister for women’s affairs, recounts her personal journey to fight for women’s rights across the globe after being exiled from her home nation in 1978. Facing familial, cultural and political obstacles along the way, Afkhami persevered in her quest to bring opportunity and choice to women across the world. Iranian-American physician Shirin Sahandy moderates.

Mahnaz Afkhami is founder and president of Women’s Learning Partnership and former minister for women’s affairs in Iran. She serves on the advisory boards of a number of organizations including the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, Foundation for Iranian Studies, and Global Fund for Women. Ms.Afkhami’s publications have been widely translated and distributed internationally, including Women in Exile. Her new memoir The Other Side of Silence: A Memoir of Exile, Iran, and the Global Women’s Movement explores her journey from English professor to the first minister of women’s affairs in Iran, to her life in exile following the 1979 Revolution. Twitter • Instagram

Moderator: Shirin Sahandy is an Iranian-American born and raised in Maryland. She is a board certified anesthesiologist in private practice in Annapolis, MD. Dr. Sahandy has a B.S. from Duke University and earned her  M.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. She served her anesthesiology residency at Johns Hopkins University.  Dr. Sahandy is a Key School alumni/ae/x from the Class of ‘95 and is the parent of two Key students. Instagram

Jason Steinhauer - History, Disrupted: How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past

Social media, Wikipedia, mobile networks, and the viral nature of the Web have inundated the public sphere with historical information and misinformation, changing what we know about our history and History as a discipline. This is the first book to chronicle how and why it matters. As an historian with over twenty years of experience in American cultural and historical institutions, Jason Steinhauer argues in his book History, Disrupted, that the internet has actually changed the past. The Web has drastically altered our view of history, ultimately impacting how our future history is presented. Columnist and author Drew Magary moderates.

Jason Steinhauer is a bestselling author, public historian, podcast host, founder of the History Communication Institute, creator of History Club, and a global fellow at the Wilson Center. He is a contributor to TIME and CNN; a past editorial board member of the Washington Post "Made By History" section; and a presidential counselor of the National WWII Museum. Mr. Steinhauer worked for seven years at the U.S. Library of Congress. Instagram • Twitter • Website • Substack 

Moderator: Drew Magary is a columnist for Defector and SFGate and the author of six books. Twitter

Mari K. Eder & Elisabeth Griffith- 100 Years of Women Changing the World

Women today continue the struggle for racial, educational and sexual equality begun by their mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers. Retired U.S. Army General Mari K. Eder and academic and activist Elisabeth Griffith join forces to discuss the strength of American women as they fought for their country and for their rights. In The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line, Eder writes of the unknown and unsung heroes of the Greatest Generation—women in and out of uniform who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen during WWII. Griffith, in Formidable: American Women and the Fight for Equality, spins the story of the fight by both Black and White women for equality since the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Professor at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, Paula A. Monopoli, moderates.

Mari K. Eder, retired U.S. Army Major General, is a renowned speaker and author, and a thought leader on strategic communication and leadership. General Eder has served as director of public affairs at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and as an adjunct professor and lecturer in communications and public diplomacy at the NATO School and Sweden’s International Training Command.  She served in senior positions in the Pentagon, in the Department of Defense, and on the Army Staff. General Eder is the author of the award-winning The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of WWII. Her next book in the ‘Girls’ series, The Girls Who Fought Crime, will feature groundbreaking policewomen and will be released in June 2023. When not writing, lecturing or traveling, she works with animal rescue groups and fosters rescue dogs. Facebook • Twitter • Website

Elisabeth Griffith is an academic, activist and an expert on American women’s history. Oprah and the Wall Street Journal hailed her biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, In Her Own Right, as “one of the five best books on women’s history.” It was the basis of Ken Burns’ documentary, Not for Ourselves Alone. The New York Times called her new book, Formidable, an account of the struggles of White and Black women to expand their rights, “a profoundly illuminating tour de force.” A graduate of Wellesley College with a doctorate from American University, Dr. Griffith led the Madeira School for twenty-two years. Instagram • Website 

Moderator: Paula A. Monopoli is the Sol & Carlyn Hubert Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law.  She has been a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge. Professor Monopoli received her B.A. from Yale College and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. She is the author, editor and co-author of four books: Constitutional Orphan, American Probate, Law and Leadership, and Contemporary Trusts and Estates, as well as a number of articles including “Gender and Constitutional Design” in the Yale Law Journal. Twitter 

Anthony Marra - Mercury Pictures Presents

Acclaimed New York Times best-selling author Anthony Marra has released his latest novel, Mercury Pictures Presents. The story follows the life of Roman-born Maria Lagana, who immigrates to Los Angeles and works as an associate producer at Mercury Pictures. As the world becomes engulfed in World War II, Maria must face the past transgressions of her father and somehow keep her world from falling apart. Marra is the author of the award-winning novel A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. Angie Kim, author of the international bestseller and Edgar Award winner, Miracle Creek, moderates.

Anthony Marra is the New York Times bestselling author of The Tsar of Love and Techno and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, winner of the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and longlisted for the National Book Award. His new novel is Mercury Pictures Presents.

Moderator: Angie Kim is a Korean immigrant, former editor of the Harvard Law Review, and author of the international bestseller and Edgar Award winner Miracle Creek, which has been translated into over twenty languages and named a "Best Book of the Year" by TIME, the Washington Post, Kirkus, and the Today Show. Her second novel, Happiness Falls, is forthcoming from Hogarth/Random House this fall. Twitter • Instagram • Website  

Bethanne Patrick - Life B: Overcoming Double Depression

Festival fan favorite Bethanne Patrick returns this year to discuss her book on overcoming depression. Plagued by depression her entire life, it wasn’t until her early fifties that she began taking her mental healthcare struggle into her own hands and received a medical diagnosis that would set her on the path to wellness and stability. Recognizing the intergenerational effects of trauma and mental health struggles, Patrick dismantles the stigmas surrounding mental health challenges that can plague families into silence and resignation. Heather Kelly, a clinical psychologist with over thirty years in academia, the nonprofit sector and Congress, moderates.

Bethanne Patrick is a writer, critic and podcaster whose new book Life B: Overcoming Double Depression is a memoir about heredity, mental illness and the path to health. She hosts the "Missing Pages" podcast. Her work appears in the LA Times and publications including the Atlantic.com, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and Publishers Weekly. Ms. Patrick, who tweets @TheBookMaven, serves as first vice president and programs chair for the PEN/Faulkner Foundation and has served on the boards of the Smith College Libraries and the National Book Critics Circle. She lives in Northern Virginia with her family and far too many books. Photo Credit: Michelle Lindsay Photography. Instagram • Facebook • Twitter

Moderator: Heather Kelly is a clinical psychologist with over thirty years in academia, the non-profit sector and Congress. Dr. Kelly began her career as a researcher and clinician specializing in children, adolescents and families before spending twenty years at the American Psychological Association as senior director of congressional affairs and the organization’s first director of military and veterans health policy. She has just left the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, staffing the chairman and the Democratic majority as senior advisor on the development and enactment of significant laws related to veteran mental health, suicide prevention, substance use, and research. Twitter • Instagram

Kerri K. Greenidge - The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family

Historian Kerri K. Greenidge tells the fascinating story of the Black relatives of famed and revered abolitionists Sarah and Angelina Grimke. By shining a light on the lives of the Black Grimkes, Greenidge highlights the fact that the sisters, who left their lives of privilege on a plantation in South Carolina for lives of activism in the North, could envision the end of slavery but could not envision racial equality. Diving deep into the Grimke family history, Greenidge details the significant roles played by the Black women in the family’s complicated and rich story. Chanel Compton, executive director of the Banneker-Douglass Museum moderates.

Kerri K. Greenidge is a historian at Tufts University and the author of Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter, winner of the 2020 Mark Lynton History Prize, among other honors. She lives in Westborough, MA. Photo Credit: Matthew Gillory. Website 

Moderator: Chanel C. Johnson is inspired and passionate about her role as executive director for the Banneker-Douglass Museum and the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture. She is dedicated to serving the great state of Maryland to amplify and support African American heritage initiatives, groups and museums to gain further access to resources and partnerships and reach new audiences and heights. Ms. Johnson earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Rutgers University and completed a graduate degree in arts management from American University. She is also a visual artist, expressing Black diasporic experiences, history and identity through portraits, abstract paintings and mosaics. She has a home and art studio in Baltimore. Instagram

Lewis M. Simons - To Tell the Truth: My Life as a Foreign Correspondent

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lewis M. Simons has been a foreign correspondent for half a century. Simons’s storied career helped topple a Philippine dictatorship, opened the world’s eyes to what was happening at Tiananmen Square, and saved the life of a teenage Tibetan monk. He chronicles a world of poverty living side-by-side with extreme wealth, war and murder, larceny and governmental corruption with real-life drama unfolding on every page. Former senior foreign service officer and USAID mission director John Beed moderates.

Lewis M. Simons is a Pulitzer Prize winner who began his career as a foreign correspondent in 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War. He saw the war through to the end, covering the fall in quick succession of the three former Indochinese states. Mr. Simons has reported on civil unrest, politics and economics for AP, the Washington Post, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, TIME, and National Geographic. He is the author of To Tell The Truth, Worth Dying For, and co-author with Senator Christopher S. Bond of The Next Front. He and fellow journalist Carol Simons have three grown children and reside in Washington, DC. Website • Twitter • Facebook 
 

Moderator: John Beed is the chief partnership officer for LifeRamp, Inc., a talent development company providing young professionals everything they need to thrive in a career of their dreams. He is a former senior foreign service officer and USAID mission director in Guatemala, India and Paraguay. He also served as the U.S. development counselor in Tokyo, was appointed to the faculty of the National Defense University, and worked as a Congressional staff member. Mr. Beed lives in Annapolis with his wife, while their three children pursue creative careers and studies in Baltimore, LA and Berkeley.

 

Jack L.Talley & Susan Gurwell Talley - Never Give Up the Jump: Combat, Resilience, and the Legacy of World War II

Never Give Up the Jump is a personal account of Lt. George L. Gurwell, a World War II paratrooper and the PTSD he struggled with until his death in 2016. His daughter Susan and her husband Jack Talley culled through thousands of pieces of wartime correspondence, photographs, maps, and other memorabilia from her father’s days in war to document not only the resiliency but also the trauma America’s most honored veterans endure for years. Author and publisher, Andy Symonds, moderates.

Jack L. Talley and wife Susan share a rich history of familial and personal involvement with the U.S. military. Both have volunteered with the Patriot Guard Riders and American Legion Post 304. A Georgia-licensed Ph.D. psychologist with over thirty years of postdoctoral experience, Dr. Talley has specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of veterans with PTSD since 2014.

Susan Gurwell Talley is the daughter of Lt. George Gurwell, who was an original member of the 508th PIR and the Hq Executive Officer in WWII. She is a retired office manager. Her daughter served two tours, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves, and is married to a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer. Ms. Gurwell Talley and her husband Jack share a passion for competitive sports, favoring WWII-era rifles and the M1 Garand in particular since 2004. They were shooting members on teams that won the National Match Winner plaques for the high M1 team in the National Team Infantry Trophy Match for 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011, where they earned a record score. Website • Facebook

Moderator: Andy Symonds is the founder, president and publisher of Ballast Books and Blue Balloon Books. First and foremost, he is a writer who is overjoyed to be able to help so many aspiring authors find a quality publishing solution. Mr. Symonds is married and has two daughters and a large dog. ballastbooks.com; blueballoonbooks.com

Kathy Bergren Smith - Deadly Gamble: The Wreck of Schooner Levin J Marvel

Maryland native, writer and photographer Kathy Bergren Smith tells the tale of the Chesapeake Bay’s worst sailing disaster, that of the Schooner Levin J Marvel. It was late summer 1955 when Hurricane Connie quickly tracked her course from the mid-Atlantic coast up through the Bay, hitting full-on the schooner’s twenty-seven crew and passengers, who were enjoying a pleasure cruise. Fourteen of them lost their lives. Smith outlines how this tragedy led directly to legislation to protect travelers on the water for pleasure and employment.  Annapolis-based sailor, author and historian David Gendell moderates.

Kathy Bergren Smith covered maritime industrial subjects as a photojournalist for over twenty years. She covered shipping and shipyards, commercial fishing, tugboats, and the regulatory environment around these industries. Her work has appeared in many publications, and her photography has been exhibited widely. Deadly Gamble is her first book. Website

Moderator: David Gendell is an Annapolis-based sailor, author and historian. His book Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse: A Chesapeake Bay Icon was published in 2020. He is the co-founder of SpinSheet Publishing Company, the publishers of SpinSheet and Prop Talk magazines.

 

C.C. Harrington - Wildoak

Winner of the 2023 Schneider Family Book Award, Wildoak follows Maggie Stephens and her visit with her grandfather in an attempt to overcome the anxiety she feels centered around her stutter. Harrington uses a wild snow leopard to show how humans, animals and the natural outdoors are all connected and can help each of us find inner strength. This book for upper elementary and middle-grade readers teaches kindness, compassion and the necessity to care for nature and all its creatures.

C.C. Harrington grew up in the English countryside. She spent her summer holidays in Cornwall where she loved to climb trees and run barefoot along pebbly beaches. She graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English literature and has since worked for a newspaper, studied printmaking and taught literacy to children with learning differences. Wildoak, Ms. Harrington’s first book, recently won the 2023 American Library Association’s Schneider Family Book Award for best middle grade title. The award honors an author or illustrator for the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. She lives in Maryland with her family and a dog who loves to eat manuscripts. Photo Credit: Ana Fallon. Instagram • Website

Moderator: Laurel Lennon

Nicholas Reynolds & Craig L. Symonds - Our Finest Hour: The Rise of Intelligence and Leadership During WWII

The legacy of WWII is ever-present, it is a legacy of death and destruction but also hope, sacrifice, determination, and innovation. In Need to Know, New York Times best-selling author, historian and former CIA officer Nicholas Reynolds explores the history of U.S. intelligence during World War II, highlighting the code breakers and spies and their critical role in the Allied victories. In Nimitz at War, naval historian Craig L.Symonds profiles Commander Chester Nimitz as the transformative leader in the U.S. naval fleet, from the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 to the Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay  in 1945. Key School Humanities teacher Bob McCarthy moderates.

Nicholas Reynolds has held two of the best niche jobs in the U.S. government: officer-in-charge of field history for the Marine Corps and historian for the CIA Museum at Langley. His varied career took him from Oxford University, where he obtained a Ph.D. in modern European history, to USMC and then CIA. In 2017 he published the New York Times bestseller Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: The Secret Adventures of Ernest Hemingway, 1935-1961. Website

Craig L. Symonds is professor emeritus of history at the U.S. Naval Academy where he taught for thirty years and served as history department chair. From 2017 to 2020 he was the Ernest J. King Professor at the U.S. Naval War College. Dr. Symonds has just won the prestigious 2023 Pritzker Military Museum & Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. He is the author of seventeen books, including Decision at Sea (2005), Lincoln and his Admirals (2008), The Battle of Midway (2011), Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings (2014), and World War II at Sea (2018) all with Oxford University Press. His newest book is Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay. 

Moderator: Bob McCarthy has taught in Key School’s Upper School Humanities department, which he also chairs, for over 20 years. He teaches Comparative Literature, American Civilization and electives including Economics, Psychology, and International Film. Before Key he taught philosophy at a variety of colleges in the Boston area.

Karen Baum Gordon - The Last Letter: A Father's Struggle, a Daughter's Quest, and the Long Shadow of the Holocaust

The Last Letter is a poignant family memoir of Karen Baum Gordon’s father Rudy and his parents, and his struggle to accept the past. Using letters written between Rudy and his mother from 1936-1941, Gordon details her family’s trauma as they struggled to survive the Nazi camps and ghettos. The psychological scars from that time have reverberated to the generations that follow as they seek to know what it means to remember. Gary D. Reiner, author and Holocaust educator, moderates.

Karen Baum Gordon’s book, The Last Letter: A Father’s Struggle, a Daughter’s Quest, and the Long Shadow of the Holocaust, focuses on her father’s story and the long shadow of the Holocaust that took her grandparents’ lives and irrevocably altered her father’s life and her own.  A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Business School, she co-founded Strategic Horizons, an executive coaching firm, after being a McKinsey & Co. consultant, managing restaurants, and training as a chef. She also served as Brooklyn Heights Synagogue president.  A Dallas native, Ms. Baum Gordon lives with her husband in Brooklyn and Vermont and is the proud mother of two sons. Photo Credit: Adam Gordon Website • Instagram • Facebook 

Moderator: Gary D. Reiner is an author and Holocaust educator who has provided book-signings and presentations to local and national groups, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He is active online as founder and administrator of three Facebook Holocaust education groups. In one of his groups, “Family Holocaust Stories, Videotapes and Documentaries,” he has over 21,000 followers. Mr. Reiner is also a member of the Holocaust Committee, Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. Currently, he is collaborating with Citizen Film for a documentary based on Counting on America, the Holocaust memoir he co-authored with his father. Facebook • Website

Susan Coll & Jung Yun - Novels Exploring Contemporary America

This panel of amazing authors will discuss writing novels that reflect on their experience of contemporary America, exploring larger questions about power, belonging, division, and culture in America. In The Sleep of Apples, Ami Sands Brodoff uses the interconnections of several distinct characters to show that, though all may have scars from trauma, each human possesses the gift of resiliency. Susan Coll writes with a lighthearted approach in Bookish People as she details the quirks and idiosyncrasies of her characters, and all readers who just love a good book. Jung Yun, in O Beautiful, writes about a woman struggling to find peace when she returns to her beloved home, once a pristine spot of land that has now been overrun by oil tycoons and greedy business owners. Short story writer, essayist and poet, Leeya Mehta, moderates.

Susan Coll is currently the president of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. Her books include The Stager—a New York Times and Chicago Tribune Editor’s Choice—and Acceptance, which was made into a television movie starring Joan Cusack. Bookish People is Ms. Coll’s sixth novel. Her work has appeared in publications including the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, Washingtonian Magazine, Moment Magazine, NPR.org, and Atlantic.com. She is part of the events team at Politics and Prose Bookstore. Newsday has called Ms. Coll the “Queen of Literary Comedy.”  Photo Credit: Sarah Pavlovna Goldberg. Instagram • Twitter • Facebook

Jung Yun is the author of O Beautiful, a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a San Francisco Chronicle Book of the Year, and Shelter, which was long listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award. Her work has appeared in Tin House, the Massachusetts Review, the Indiana Review, the New York Times, the Atlantic, and the Washington Post, among others. Currently, she is an associate professor of English at the George Washington University and serves on the boards of directors at the PEN/Faulkner Foundation and the Alan Cheuse Center for International Writers. Photo Credit: Gregory Dohler. Website • Instagram 

Moderator: Leeya Mehta is a short story writer, essayist and poet, whose most recent collection is The Story of the World Before the Fence. Her essays on the reading and writing life can be found here. She is the director of the Alan Cheuse International Writers Center promoting literary citizenship and international literary diplomacy. Ms. Mehta grew up in Bombay and lives in Washington, DC. Website • Instagram 

Todd B. Kashdan - The Art of Insubordination

Professor of psychology at George Mason University, Todd B. Kashdan, takes a unique approach to the art of dissent and conflict resolution in The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively. He believes the term “insubordination” should not evoke negative feelings but, rather, should be cultivated by rebels seeking justice for all people here in America and across the globe This book is an essential guide for anyone seeking to be heard, make great change or rebel against an unhealthy status quo. Key School counselor, Jennifer Ford, moderates.

Todd B. Kashdan is a world-recognized authority on well-being, curiosity, psychological strengths, mental agility, and resilience. Dr. Kashdan is a professor of psychology at George Mason University, has published over 250 scholarly articles, and is the author of five books including his newest, The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively. Photo Credit: Scott McDermott. Twitter • Website • Flier

Moderator: Jennifer Ford is an educator and social worker who originally hails from Philadelphia, PA. She earned her bachelor of arts as well as a master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. After working in education in a variety of roles, she returned to school to earn a master’s degree in social work from Bryn Mawr College. As a clinical social worker, Ms. Ford has been a therapist to clients across the age span most recently with school-aged children and teens. When not working, she likes traveling with her partner and snuggling with her sheepadoodle. Facebook • Instagram

James Kirchick - Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington

For decades in Washington, DC, the mere suggestion that a person might be gay destroyed reputations, ended careers and ruined lives. Utilizing thousands of pages of declassified documents, interviews with over one hundred people, and material unearthed from presidential libraries and archives around the country, James Kirchick has written a chronicle of American politics like no other. Secret City illuminates how homosexuality shaped each presidential administration from Franklin Roosevelt through the end of the twentieth century. Associate professor in the University of Maryland’s Department of American Studies, Christina B. Hanhardt, moderates.

James Kirchick is a columnist for Tablet magazine, a writer-at-large for Air Mail, and author of the instant New York Times bestseller, Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. A widely published journalist, he has reported from over 40 countries, and his reportage, essays and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Spectator, the Atlantic, the New York Review of Books, New York Magazine, Rolling Stone, and the Times Literary Supplement, among many other publications within the United States and around the world. His first book, The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues and the Coming Dark Age, was published by Yale University Press in 2017. Photo Credit - Paul Morigi. Twitter

Addison Armstrong & David O. Stewart - Historical Fiction: Stories of Sacrifice and Courage During Wartime

Great historical fiction transports readers to another place and time where everything is different but the feelings and struggles are familiar. Addison Armstrong's novel, The War Librarian, travels back and forth in time telling the stories of Emmaline, one of the first women volunteer librarians on the frontlines during World War I and Kathleen, one of the first female midshipmen accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy in 1976. Their stories are woven together to create a novel about the sacrifice and courage necessary to live a life of honor. David Stewart’s The Burning Land is the second book of The Overstreet Saga. It tells the tale of Henry and Katie, two lovers from Maine, just as the Civil War explodes. This riveting historical fiction novel shows the devastating effects war has on relationships, both physically and emotionally. Heather Webb, best-selling and award-winning author of historical fiction novels, moderates.

Addison Armstrong is a historical fiction author and ESL teacher in Brooklyn. She graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in elementary education in 2020 and with a master's degree in reading education in 2021. While an undergraduate, she wrote what would become The Light of Luna Park. Ms. Armstrong’s second novel The War Librarian came out in 2022. She lives in Manhattan with her husband. Photo Credit: Ryan Armstrong. Instagram • Website

David O. Stewart is a recovering lawyer and proud graduate of Curtis High School on Staten Island who has published five books of history and four historical novels. His most recent nonfiction work, George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father, won several awards and is a finalist for Mount Vernon’s George Washington Prize.  His most recent novel, The Burning Land, coming out in April 2023, is the second book in a trilogy (The Overstreet Saga) inspired by family stories his mother told.  He lives in Maryland with his wife of 48 years; they have three children and five grandchildren. Photo Credit: Patrice Gilbert. Facebook • Website

Moderator: Heather Webb is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of eight historical novels. In 2015, Rodin’s Lover was a Goodread’s Top Pick, and in 2018, Last Christmas in Paris won the Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award. Meet Me in Monaco, was a finalist for the 2020 Goldsboro RNA award in the UK and the 2019 Digital Book World’s Fiction prize. Ms. Webb’s latest, Strangers in the Night, is a novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner and the glamour and dark underbelly of Old Hollywood. To date, her books have been translated to seventeen languages. Instagram • Twitter • Facebook

Rob Hart - The Mystery Genre Reimagined

Mystery lovers rejoice! Rob Hart takes murder mystery to another level in The Paradox Hotel, using science fiction as his medium to create a novel where the protagonist, January Cole, is forced to face not only the hotel’s dark secrets, but also those of his own. International thriller writer, Doug Norton, moderates.

Rob Hart is the author of The Paradox Hotel, as well as The Warehouse, which sold in more than twenty countries and was optioned for film by Ron Howard. He also wrote the Ash McKenna crime series, the short story collection Take-Out, Scott Free with James Patterson, and the comic book Blood Oath with Alex Segura. Photo Credit: Michael McWeeney. Website • Twitter • Instagram

Moderator: Doug Norton writes international thrillers, drawing on twenty-six years of seagoing and diplomatic service in the Navy, from Vietnam to Desert Storm. Armed with plot ideas and characters from naval and diplomatic adventures spanning most of the Cold War, Captain Norton first wrote Code Word: Paternity. The sequel, Code Word: Pandora, appeared in 2017. Next came Code Word: Persepolis in 2021. He’s now working on Code Word: Pluto. A graduate of the Naval Academy and of the University of Washington, Captain Norton was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and Director of International Studies at the Naval Academy. Website

Manil Suri - The Big Bang of Numbers: How to Build the Universe Using Only Math

Mathematics professor Manil Suri uses numbers to explain the origins of the universe in The Big Bang of Numbers. Presenting complex ideas such as real and imaginary numbers or infinity and relativity, Suri makes even the most daunting aspects of mathematics understandable and even enjoyable! Appropriate for both adults and high-school aged students, Suri promises an engaging and entertaining program…there will be math cartoons! Key School math teacher, Jennifer Bowman, moderates.

Manil Suri is a distinguished university professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the author of The Big Bang of Numbers: How to Build the Universe Using Only Math, as well as three internationally acclaimed novels, The Death of Vishnu, The Age of Shiva and The City of Devi. Mr. Suri’s fiction has been translated into twenty-seven languages, longlisted for the Booker Prize, shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and has won the Barnes & Noble Discover Award. He is a former contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, for which he has written several widely read pieces on mathematics, India and LGBTQ+ issues. Photo Credit: Jose Villarrubia. Twitter • Website

Moderator: Jennifer Bowman is happy to be helping to highlight a book where the beauty of mathematics takes center stage. Showing students that math is accessible, fun and applicable in many ways beyond the classroom are core tenets of Ms. Bowman’s work, teaching mathematics in Key’s Upper School. Now in her seventeen year at Key, she is also the faculty sponsor for Key’s Math Team. She earned her A.B. in mathematics and geology from Lafayette College and her M.S. in applied mathematics from the University of Delaware.

Jim Toomey - Family Afloat: Two Years Sailing the World with Two Kids and Two Captains

A family of four plus the dog set sail for a journey around the world. Family Afloat chronicles the Toomey family and their 22-month-long journey to see the word by sea.  Author Jim Toomey, the creator of the comic strip “Sherman’s Lagoon,” fills the book with photos, maps and drawings. This memoir is a must-read for all adventurers, not just those who enjoy the water. Annapolis sailor, Jib Edwards, moderates.

Jim Toomey is an internationally published humor writer and syndicated cartoonist best known as the creator of the popular comic strip “Sherman’s Lagoon,” published daily in over 150 newspapers including the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune. His most recent book is a travel memoir entitled Family Afloat, about his two years sailing the world’s oceans with his wife, two children and the family dog, visiting 32 countries and crossing an ocean along the way. In addition to Family Afloat, Mr. Toomey has authored 28 Sherman’s Lagoon books, published by Andrews McMeel. Website

Moderator: Jib Edwards has grown up around all sizes of boats in Annapolis. He has crewed and captained countless open water sailing experiences, and considers it a rite of passage for all family members to do the same. Currently, he works in multi-family housing property development and management, and is looking forward to spending more time on the open seas. Mr. Edwards is a Class of 1982 Key School alum.

Iris Krasnow - The Art of Journaling: How Writing Your Heart Can Lead to Getting Published (Workshop)

Bestselling author Iris Krasnow will lead a workshop on “The Art of Journaling: How Writing Your Heart Can Lead to Getting Published.” Her literary career spans appearing on Oprah twice, writing seven books which include bestsellers, appearing as a columnist for the Annapolis Capital, and serving three decades as a journalism professor at American University. In this workshop, she will focus on how to tell your story, in detail, with passion, with truth. Participants should bring a good pen and a writing pad, and be prepared to resume, or start up, daily journaling, a craft that boosts self-esteem and can lead to book writing—as Krasnow’s long history of journaling illustrates.

Iris Krasnow is a bestselling author of seven books on relationships, and a longtime journalism professor at American University. She is also the senior editor of aarpethel.com, an online publication for women over fifty. Ms. Krasnow is a Key School parent of four sons.

Christine Grillo, Nikki Payne & Martha Anne Toll - Not to be Missed: Buzz-Worthy Debut Novels

Debut novels often turn out to be spectacular, with years of thought going into this first endeavor. This excellent panel comprises authors debuting their first novels to great effect. Christine Grillo’s Hestia Strikes a Match imagines an America engaged in a second Civil War with her characters grappling with the same questions from the past: How do we live with political collapse? and How can we love those who don’t believe in the same things we do?  Nikki Payne spins an updated version of the classic Pride and Prejudice in her novel, Pride and Protest. DJ Liza B. is in a head-to-head battle with Dorsey Fitzgerald the CEO of a property development firm threatening to destroy her neighborhood. Will love ensue? Three Muses by Martha Anne Toll is a love story between John Curtin, a Holocaust survivor, and Katya Symanova, the prima ballerina of the New York State Ballet. It explores the role song, discipline and memory play in the relationship. Writer and professor, Michelle Brafman, moderates.

Christine Grillo is a writer and editor covering food systems, agriculture and climate change, whose nonfiction has been published in outlets such as the New York Times, the Atlantic, CityLab, Audubon, NextTribe, and Real Simple. Her short fiction has appeared in Story Quarterly, the Southern Review and LIT. Hestia Strikes a Match is her debut novel. Read Ms. Grillo's interview with Baltimore Fishbowl about Hestia Strikes a Match. Photo Credit:  Howard Korn. Instagram • Twitter

Nikki Payne is an author, who by night, dreams of ways to subvert canon literature. By day, Nichole Carelock, is a curious anthropologist, asking the right questions to deliver better government. She works at Facebook as a qualitative researcher and has a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology.

Martha Anne Toll writes fiction, essays and book reviews, and reads anything that’s not nailed down. Her debut novel, Three Muses, won the Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction. Ms.Toll brings a long career in social justice to her work covering writers of color and women writers. She is a book reviewer and author interviewer at NPR Books, the Washington Post, Pointe Magazine, The Millions, and elsewhere. She also publishes short fiction and essays in a wide variety of outlets. Ms. Toll has recently joined the board of directors of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. Instagram • Twitter • Website • Facebook

Moderator: Michelle Brafman is the author of Bertrand Court: Stories and the novel Washing the Dead. Her new novel, Swimming with Ghosts, will be published in June of 2023 by Turner Publishing. Ms. Brafman teaches in the Johns Hopkins University M.A. in writing program. Photo Credit:  Sam Kittner. Website • Instagram • Facebook • Twitter

Nicole Sodoma - Please Don't Say You're Sorry: An Empowering Perspective on Marriage, Separation, and Divorce from a Marriage-Loving Divorce Attorney

Please Don’t Say You’re Sorry by attorney Nicole Sodoma provides advice on sustaining a loving and happy marriage but also helps couples recognize when that may not be possible. Using humor to talk about what may be uncomfortable situations, Sodoma gives the reader a look into what to expect and how to move on when divorce is the only option.

Nicole Sodoma is the founder and managing principal of Sodoma Law. For the past 25 years, she has pioneered a way through the often-dreaded field of family law with integrity, compassion and tenacity. Ms. Sodoma’s deep commitment to her clients and community has resulted in tremendous success in the courtroom, and thousands of lives have been positively impacted by her work. Over the years, she has risen to prominence as a national authority on divorce, custody and co-parenting, and her insights have been featured in TODAY, the Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, and the Washington Post, among others. Ms. Sodoma has been recognized as a top attorney and entrepreneur by several regional publications. Facebook • Instagram • Website • Twitter 

Moderator: Phipps Senft is an attorney and nationally recognized transformative mediator for complicated business, family, divorce, and organizational Issues. She authored Being Relational: The Seven Ways to Quality Interaction & Lasting Change (2015) and created the “Blink of an Eye” podcast focused on storytelling with trauma-healing insights. In 1993, she founded Baltimore Mediation. Ms. Senft has been named a top Maryland CEO, a top minority business CEO, and has received The Daily Record’s “Top 100 Women” in Maryland honor. Website

Barbara Carroll Roberts - A Rose Named Peace

In A Rose Named Peace: How Francis Meilland Created a Flower of Hope for a World at War, author Barbara Carroll Roberts tells the true story of French gardener Francis Meilland and his passion for roses. On the precipice of World War II, Meilland grafts a new rose and sends cuttings to growers around the world. This nonfiction picture book for elementary-age children, with beautiful illustrations by Bagram Ibatoullin, shows how one person, through his creation of the Peace Rose, provided the world with a symbol of hope during a dark time.

Barbara Carroll Roberts is a children’s author whose debut middle-grade novel, Nikki on the Line, was a finalist for two state children’s book awards and made numerous best-of-the-year lists. Her nonfiction picture book, A Rose Named Peace, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection and received a starred review from School Library Journal. Ms. Roberts has two grown children and lives in Virginia with her husband, two cats and one goofy springer spaniel. Photo Credit: Craig Vetter. Twitter • Website

Alyssa Colman - The Tarnished Garden

In her follow-up to The Gilded Girl, Alyssa Colman, reintroduces us to Izzy O’Donnell and we meet her younger sister Maeve, both students at the Manhattan School for Magic. In The Tarnished Garden, Maeve’s magic skills go awry and threaten both the school and her sister. She attempts to redeem herself and discovers a secret garden in the poor neighborhood, Tarnish, where she learns her magic actually works. As her magic skills improve, so does the confidence she will need to save the school from destruction. This book for both elementary and middle-grade readers explores themes of trust, self-discovery, family, and social equity in a setting that is both historically accurate and magical.

Alyssa Colman is the author of The Gilded Girl and The Tarnished Garden. Her debut novel won the 2021 Northern Lights Book Award for middle grade fantasy and was selected as a best book of the year by Bank Street College of Education and A Mighty Girl. Ms. Colman lives with her family in Virginia where she enjoys making messes in her kitchen, reading, and hiking with her dog, Daisy. Photo Credit: Christina Gandolfo. Instagram • Twitter • Website 

Howard L. Siskind - Honabeats Says: Crazy Words!

Howard Siskind’s debut book, Honabeats Says: Crazy Words!, is a poetic play on words sure to entertain children and adults alike with silly word combinations and manipulations. Siskind co-wrote the book with his wife Karen and daughter Sarah and lives locally in Annapolis.

Howard L. Siskind is an accountant, musician, performer, songwriter, photographer, artist, and author.  He holds degrees in business and psychology. He has thirteen original published songs and is in the studio weekly. He created, directed and starred in a short video documentary entitled The Making of Dance with Me, which is about one of his songs, and has played lead guitar in the rock band “Stillwaters” for more than forty-five years. He is currently working on a follow-up to Honabeats Says: Crazy Words!, which is his first book (coauthors Karen L. Siskind & Sarah J. Siskind). He lives in Annapolis with his wife and daughter. Photo Credit: Jeanette Kreuzburg

Kathleen Best - Soups, Stews & Stories

First as an Army photographer, then as a reporter, the late Andy Schneider traveled the world. As he collected facts and photos, he also collected hundreds of recipes. The dishes Andy collected were delicious, of course. But the stories that inspired them were delectable. He only got around to writing down a fraction of them as he had planned to publish this cookbook later. His widow, Kathleen Best, has compiled the recipes and the stories and invites you to sit at Andy’s table as she shares them with you. Annapolis restaurateur and sommelier, Hilarey Leonard, moderates.

Kathy Best is director of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland and a former newspaper editor who led her newsrooms to two Pulitzer Prizes and numerous other national awards for investigative, explanatory and breaking news reporting. She was married to investigative reporter Andy Schneider for nearly two decades, acting as his sous chef, taster and kitchen cleaner. When Andy died in 2017, Ms. Best decided to complete the cookbook he had begun, compiling the recipes with completed tales of how he acquired them and adding context by telling the story of his life and extraordinary journalism career. Twitter

Moderator: Hilarey Leonard has always enjoyed working in restaurants between jobs and while in school, so when she met her husband Brian, a veteran in the hospitality industry, they realized they shared a passion for entertaining. Today they own two DC bars, Lost & Found in Shaw and Free State in Chinatown. In March, they opened their first restaurant in Annapolis, Leo, on West Street,, focusing on seasonal ingredients from local purveyors.  Ms. Leonard is a sommelier and runs the wine programs at all their locations.  She loves teaching wine classes to friends and customers and making connections in her community.  She is a proud mom of a Key student. Instagram • Website 

A photo exhibit featuring the surviving family members of the Capital Gazette shooting victims will be available for viewing all day. Find out more about the exhibit. 

Paul W. Gillespie is a photojournalist and visual storyteller with over twenty-five years of experience. He is a 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner and 2018 Time magazine Person of the Year with the staff of the Capital newspaper in Annapolis. Mr. Gillespie’s work over a quarter-century-plus—the last twenty-two at the Capital Gazette—has been recognized by professional organizations with many awards from groups like the Maryland, Delaware and DC Press Associations, the Associated Press, and the City of Annapolis. He created “Journalists Matter: Faces of the Capital Gazette” after surviving the 2018 mass shooting in the Capital newsroom, in which five of his colleagues and friends were murdered. To him, the project is incredibly personal and involves the survivors and victims’ families. Mr.Gillespie has continued to work at the Capital amidst a shrinking newsroom and dramatically declining working conditions due to his unrelenting love and passion for Anne Arundel County and its community. Instagram • Website

Andrea Chamblee, widow of Capital reporter, John McNamara, and David Elfin will be on hand to discuss McNamara's book The Capital of Basketball: A History of DC Area High School Hoops (of which both Chamblee and Elfin are co-authors).  There will also be a discussion of gun control and gun violence.

JJ Janflone, producer, and co-host, of Brady’s award-winning educational podcast, “Red, Blue, and Brady" will moderate.