The Associates of the Boston Public Library is pleased to invite you to the 29th Annual Literary Lights awards dinner.
Join the BPL on Sunday, April 23, 2017, at the Boston Park Plaza for a spectacular black tie (optional) evening honoring distinguished authors from the Northeast for their contributions to literature and the written word. The evening begins with a reception at 6:00 PM, followed by dinner and the awards program at 7:00 PM.
The Associates of the Boston Public Library are honored to recognize the following authors as their 2017 Literary Lights:
Presented by: Hentry Louis Gates, Jr.
Appiah is a philosopher, novelist, professor and cultural theorist. He grew up in Ghana and earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy at Cambridge University in London. Professor Appiah has lectured around the world and taught at Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Duke and Harvard Universities before moving to New York University where he now teaches in the Department of Philosophy. In 2009 Forbes Magazine named him one of the world’s most powerful thinkers, in 2010 he was on the list of Foreign Policy Magazine’s top global thinkers, and he was awarded the National Humanitarian Medal at a White House ceremony in 2012. Appiah, the author of numerous books and articles, has traveled around the world giving lectures on multiculturalism, global citizenship, courage, identity, and religion. One of his early books, In My Father’s House, which explores the role of African American intellectuals in shaping contemporary African life, won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and the Herskovits Award for the most important scholarly work on African studies published in English. Appiah is well known for his columns and podcasts as the Ethicist for the New York Times.
Presented by: Christopher Lydon
Faludi is a journalist and author who has written extensively on gender issues. In 1991 she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism for a piece on the leverage buyout of Safeway Stores, focusing on the “human cost of high finance.” After graduating from Harvard University, where she wrote for The Harvard Crimson, she was a contributor to the New Yorker, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Nation, as well as many other publications. In the 1980s Faludi wrote several pieces on the feminist movement and the resistance to it, resulting in her 1991 book, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, for which she won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. She went on to write Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, The Terror Dream, and, most recently, The Darkroom, which was inspired by her father’s transsexuality. She was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies in the 2008-2009 academic year and a 2013-2014 Tallman Scholar in the Gender and Women’s Studies Program at Bowdoin College.
Presented by: Andre Dubus III
Lamb is the best-selling author of She’s Come Undone, I know This Much is True, The Hour I First Believed, and Wishin’ and Hopin’. His first two books were selected for Oprah’s Book Club, were New York Times best-sellers, New York Times Notable Books of the Year and, between them, have been translated into 18 languages. His latest novel is We Are Water. Lamb has also edited two volumes of essays: Couldn’t Keep it to Myself and I’ll Fly Away, written by students in his writing workshops at a women’s prison in Connecticut. He has taught creative writing in the English department at the University of Connecticut, was founder and director of the Writing Center at Norwich Free Academy, has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Connecticut Commission for the Arts, and was honored with the Connecticut Center for the Book’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Presented by: Gregory Maguire
Selznick graduated from RISD where he studied illustration and, while there, took classes in set design at Brown University. After graduation, he worked at a children’s book store in New York City while writing his debut book, The Houdini Box. In 2008 he won the Caldecott Medal from the American Library Association, for The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the first such award for a book this long; 533 pages with 284 illustrations. The book was adapted into a 2011 film, Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese. He has also been awarded a 2002 Caldecott Honor for his illustrations of Barbara Kerley’s The Dinosaurs of Waterhorse Hawkins. In addition, Mr. Selznick has received the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award and the Christopher Award, given to media which “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.”
Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall (Keynote Speaker)
Presented by: David Leonard
Marshall was born in South Africa where, as a student, she led the National Union of South African Students, working to end oppressive minority rule and achieve equality for all South Africans. Marshall first came to the US as a high school exchange student in Wilmington, DL in 1962, as the civil rights battles were beginning to boil over, and later returned to the US for graduate school, where she became involved with the anti-war and the women’s movements. After Yale Law School, she entered private practice, became President of the Boston Bar Association, Vice President & General Counsel for Harvard University, and then went on to the State’s Supreme Court, where she became the first female Chief Justice of the oldest continuously serving appellate court in the Western Hemisphere. Though she has had many accomplishments, Justice Marshall is most renowned for her 2003 opinion which led Massachusetts to become the first state in the nation to outlaw the ban on same-sex marriage. Although she loved her time on the bench, Justice Marshall stepped down in 2010. She now mentors young lawyers at her former law firm, Choate Hall & Stewart, and teaches at Harvard University.
In addition to celebrating the accomplishments of these outstanding writers, proceeds from Literary Lights support the David McCullough Conservation Fund, William O. Taylor Art Preservation Fund, Associates Endowment Fund, and the Associates of the Boston Public Library’s operations. The Associates created the McCullough Fund in 2001 to provide a consistent source of funding for the conservation and preservation of books, manuscripts, works of art and historic documents in the BPL’s Special Collections.
If you would prefer to receive a mailed invitation or for more information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact the Associates office at associates@bpl.org or (617) 536-3886. Thank you.
On June 21, Fairmont Copley Plaza will celebrate one of the longest days of the year with a White & Bright Summer Solstice Party.
Break out your whitest of whites or brightest of brights and toast to the start of summer. Bubbles and cocktails will be provided including Billecart Salmon Champage, Square One Vodka, New Age White, and Charles de Fere “Cuvée Jean Louis” Blanc de Blanc “Ice.”
Chef Laurent Poulain has created a menu of sophisticated hors d’ouevres to complement perfectly with the cocktails.
The White & Bright Summer Solstice Party will be on Wednesday, June 21 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person, including cocktails, hors d’ouevres, taxes and gratuity.
It’s finally fall in New England and in honor of one of autumn’s time-honored traditions – apple-picking with family and friends – Artisan Bistro at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston is pleased to once again host a pop-up apple orchard within the restaurant so guests can enjoy the ‘fruits’ and flavors of the season, right here in the heart of the city.
On September 30 from 10am – 12 Noon, Artisan Bistro brings an orchard to life where guests can purchase homemade cider donuts, caramel apples, apple chutney and more. Apple seeds will be given as a takeaway with any purchase and guests can also venture to Artisan Bistro’s bar where the “Boston Green Apple,” an apple infused sangria, is available for purchase as well.
As part of The Ritz-Carlton’s Community Footprints social and environmental responsibility to better serve and partner with local community organizations, Artisan Bistro is pleased to be supporting the family-operated Russell Orchards farm in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The hotel will showcase and sell a variety of their fresh picked apples and seasonal apple products at the urban apple orchard pop-up including apple strudel, honey, apple cider and vinegars.
For more information, please contact The Ritz-Carlton, Boston, 10 Avery Street, Boston at (617) 574-7100 or visit www.ritzcarlton.com/boston. Guests visiting Artisan Bistro’s pop-up apple orchard are invited to share their favorite fall memories: @artisanbistroboston, #RCMemories
It’s finally fall in New England and in honor of one of autumn’s time-honored traditions – apple-picking with family and friends – Artisan Bistro at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston is pleased to once again host a pop-up apple orchard within the restaurant so guests can enjoy the ‘fruits’ and flavors of the season, right here in the heart of the city.
On October 7 from 10am – 12 Noon, Artisan Bistro brings an orchard to life where guests can purchase homemade cider donuts, caramel apples, apple chutney and more. Apple seeds will be given as a takeaway with any purchase and guests can also venture to Artisan Bistro’s bar where the “Boston Green Apple,” an apple infused sangria, is available for purchase as well.
As part of The Ritz-Carlton’s Community Footprints social and environmental responsibility to better serve and partner with local community organizations, Artisan Bistro is pleased to be supporting the family-operated Russell Orchards farm in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The hotel will showcase and sell a variety of their fresh picked apples and seasonal apple products at the urban apple orchard pop-up including apple strudel, honey, apple cider and vinegars.
For more information, please contact The Ritz-Carlton, Boston, 10 Avery Street, Boston at (617) 574-7100 or visit www.ritzcarlton.com/boston. Guests visiting Artisan Bistro’s pop-up apple orchard are invited to share their favorite fall memories: @artisanbistroboston, #RCMemories
Join Us on Thursday, March 29, from 7 to 10pm, to Celebrate and Support Women-Owned Food Businesses In and Around Boston.
Fairmont Copley Plaza is inspired by the amazing talent and delicious food & drink produced by women in the city, and this special four-course dinner will creatively incorporate provisions from a participating group of local female-led companies: Curds & Co., Nella Pasta, Bantam Cider, nuFudge.
The dinner is part of Fairmont Copley Plaza’s popular 140 Supper Club series where guests descend a century-old staircase and whisper a password to be immersed into an intimate gathering hosted by Executive Chef Laurent Poulain.
Menu
Vermont Burrata sourced from Curds & Co. cheese shop
tomatoes, micro basil, sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, aged balsamic
Nella Pasta Beet Campanelle
goat cheese feta, sweet and spicy pumpkin seeds, organic mushrooms sauté mix, brown butter lemon sauce, fresh sage, sherry vinegar aspic
Bantam Wunderkind Cider Braised Beef Short Rib
creamy parsley risotto, fine herbs salad, maple roasted baby vegetables, crispy julienne horseradish
nuFudge Ganache Tasting Plate
sea salt, citrus vanilla, goji berry
The historic Swan Boats kick off another season in the Public Garden.
On April 13, the Swan Boats officially open for the 2019 Season, bringing joy to families from near and far until Labor Day, September 2.
Spring hours (April 13 – June 20) are 10 am to 4:00 pm. Summer hours (June 21 – Labor Day) are 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
The Swan Boats are open every day, weather permitting. We cannot operate in rain, high winds or extreme heat.
Purchasing Tickets
The Swan Boat ride lasts about 12-15 minutes while the driver pedals you around the Public Garden lagoon. Tickets are purchased at the Swan Boat dock prior to boarding the boat. No reservations are needed. We accept cash or credit card. The wait for a ride is typically no more than 5-10 minutes.
Adults $4.00
Children $2.50 (age 2 to 15 years)
Under 2 yrs. Free
Seniors $3.50
Join Bright Horizons Back Bay for a pizza dinner in the park!
Bright Horizons at Back Bay invites you and your family to join us at the Frieda Garcia Park for Pizza in the Park. Meet and socialize with other Back Bay families — and enjoy some sheet painting fun with your little ones!
Toast to the autumn season in true Italian-style: with a glass (or more) of wine in hand!
As the days grow shorter, farmers and artisans alike work tirelessly to fill our plates and our glasses with the riches that their land has to offer. From the olive and grape harvests in Italy to apple picking and corn mazes in New England farms, now is the time of the great harvest.
In honor of the bounty of food and drinks fall brings us, Eataly Boston is celebrating the season with a Fall Wine & Cheese Fest. On September 26, from 5:30-9:00 p.m., gather your friends and join Eataly Boston for a celebration of all things autumn.
For just $60, you will receive an all-access pass to explore all cheeses and cheese-centric bites, along with a wide selection of Italian wines. Let yourself get lost as you explore the food stations throughout marketplace, tasting and sipping as you go.
Tickets are limited, so choose the time that works best for you and reserve your spot at the Fall Wine & Cheese Fest! Tickets are available for 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm or 7 pm to 9 pm. PLUS, 15% off tickets with code FallFest15 at check-out!
Ex’s and Ohhh’s they haunt us… So off to the Valentine’s Day themed Drag Brunch…
Hosted by Robyn Edges and Neon Calypso-OH-OH-OH
Whether you’re trying to find your squeeze or forget them, join Back Bay Social at our Valentine’s edition Ex’s and Ohhh’s Drag Brunch on Saturday, February 15th. Doors at 11am, Show at 1pm.
One, two, three they’re going to bring the mimosas to me.
We always want to come but we never want to leave!
Performances by Mizery Mcrae and Teasha.
Check out the brunch menu here
