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:

Kwame Anthony Appiah 

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.

Susan Faludi

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.

Wally Lamb

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.

Brian Selznick

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.

Chef de cuisine Raphael Lambert

Sommelier Alexandre Sojfer

& Nathan Derri

Menu

Chesnut velouté, truffle oil & parmesan shaving

Pinot gris Grand cru Spiegel 2013 Schlumberger

Pan seared Sea Scallops over a creamy artichokes truffle risotto

Esprit du Chevalier Blanc 2013 Péssac Léognan

Grilled Venison, butternut squash mousseline,

Chanterelles mushrooms, Black truffles, fresh figs, jus naturel

Madiran, 2011 Ch Montus

Brie de Meaux, truffled Mascarpone

Banyuls 2015 Chapoutier

or

Chocolate tart filled in Cappucino creme brûlée

Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc NV Mesnil

Rory Caviness Craft Digest Cocktail

4 courses dinner menu $75 per person.

Add wine pairing $39.

For the whole table only.

Chef de cuisine Raphael Lambert

Sommelier Alexandre Sojfer

& Nathan Derri

Menu

Chesnut velouté, truffle oil & parmesan shaving

Pinot gris Grand cru Spiegel 2013 Schlumberger

Pan seared Sea Scallops over a creamy artichokes truffle risotto

Esprit du Chevalier Blanc 2013 Péssac Léognan

Grilled Venison, butternut squash mousseline,

Chanterelles mushrooms, Black truffles, fresh figs, jus naturel

Madiran, 2011 Ch Montus

Brie de Meaux, truffled Mascarpone

Banyuls 2015 Chapoutier

or

Chocolate tart filled in Cappucino creme brûlée

Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc NV Mesnil

Rory Caviness Craft Digest Cocktail

4 courses dinner menu $75 per person.

Add wine pairing $39.

For the whole table only.

Chef de cuisine Raphael Lambert

Sommelier Alexandre Sojfer

& Nathan Derri

Menu

Chesnut velouté, truffle oil & parmesan shaving

Pinot gris Grand cru Spiegel 2013 Schlumberger

Pan seared Sea Scallops over a creamy artichokes truffle risotto

Esprit du Chevalier Blanc 2013 Péssac Léognan

Grilled Venison, butternut squash mousseline,

Chanterelles mushrooms, Black truffles, fresh figs, jus naturel

Madiran, 2011 Ch Montus

Brie de Meaux, truffled Mascarpone

Banyuls 2015 Chapoutier

or

Chocolate tart filled in Cappucino creme brûlée

Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc NV Mesnil

Rory Caviness Craft Digest Cocktail

4 courses dinner menu $75 per person.

Add wine pairing $39.

For the whole table only.

Try the Best New Brewery in Massachusetts at March’s Beers & Bites

Castle Island Brewing Co. is all about consistency in quality and accessibility, as evidenced by their being named Best New Brewery in Massachusetts for 2017 by Rate Beer. In this tasting, you’ll hear the story of why and how Castle Island’s founder and president Adam Romanow was able to open and operate a successful brewery in the quickly expanding craft beer market of New England. He’ll also delve into how he was inspired to build their brand through a five-year journey that brought the brewery to where they are today. This will be a look behind the beer with fantastic food to match, one you certainly won’t want to miss!

Your ticket includes a flight of Castle Island beer with delectable bar bites specially created and matched to the beer by our chef.

Come at 6:00pm to find a seat and mingle. Guided tasting starts at 6:30pm.

For more information, please click here.

Join the 5th Annual Dana-Farber Unmask Cancer Gala to Benefit Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund.

This exotic rainforest-themed evening will include dancing, dinner by-the-bite, creative cocktails, and music by DJ Joey Carvello. There will also be a live and silent auction, as well as exciting opportunity drawing items from various sponsors.

UnMask Cancer will begin at 8 p.m. Cocktail attire is suggested, and masks are encouraged. Tickets start at $350 and sponsorships are available starting at $5,000. Visit www.unmaskcancer.org for ticket and sponsorship information.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute doctors and researchers work tirelessly to unmask the secrets of cancer and discover the latest developments and breakthroughs to treat patients. UnMask Cancer will raise critical funds to support this lifesaving mission and is made possible by a dedicated committee led by co-chair Mark Scribner.

Back Bay Association Members are
Cordially Invited to Attend
the Back Bay Association’s 

 96th Annual Meeting

 Featuring
Keynote Speaker

The Honorable Martin J. Walsh
Mayor of Boston

 May 13, 2019
9:00 am

 John B. Hynes Veteran Memorial Convention Center
900 Boylston Street

RSVP NOW

 Not a member but still want to attend?
Reach out to us here.

Sponsored by:

Come see what Bright Horizons® at Back Bay has in store for your child this year!

Are you trying to find the perfect fit for your child’s early education? Attend Bright Horizons’ Curriculum Night to find out how Bright Horizons® works with each age group to build on individual strengths and talents.  Come see for yourself how small ideas turn into big projects at Bright Horizons®.

• Learn about World at Their Fingertips® and how it works with each age group to build on individual strengths and talents.
• Meet and talk with our engaging educators and see just how passionate they are about teaching.
• Explore activities your children will get to participate in on-site.
• See our emergent curriculum and how it uses your child’s own interests to inspire learning.
• Childcare and dinner will be provided!

Join the French Cultural Center for a wine  tasting and dinner with La Voile.

Epicureans rejoice! To kick-off the French Cultural Center’s season of wine tastings, they will explore the lovely wines of Alsace with a wine tasting, followed by a separate three-course pairing dinner.

Come discover the lesser-known wines of Alsace, presented by Alexandre Sojfer, Resident Sommelier at La Voile and 1855 Bar à Vins. Alex will share his expertise working with vineyards from Alsace and why this region’s grounds are so prolific yet less available to the American market than other varietals.

Event in English. Advance RSVP strongly recommended. The general tasting is a standing event – this is not a sit-down seminar. Please email culture@frenchculturalcenter.org to request a seat/chair, if needed.

The following dinner is a sit-down three-course dinner in the French Cultural Center’s Library.

The Bristol at the Four Seasons Hotel Boston is hosting a chic tequila dinner with Clase Azul.

Enjoy a six-course meal as Clase Azul ambassador Cris Colle pours tastes of the entire Clase Azul portfolio.

Menu