2024 Nonfiction Author Series

The 2024 Nonfiction Authors will be announced soon!

To purchase tickets or be placed on a wait list (if the series is sold out)please email Marlene Haywood at mhaywood@collier-friends.org.  To receive emails about the series join the mailing list on the homepage.

We are pleased to announce that the 2024 Nonfiction Author Series will be held at the Hilton Naples and will include breakfast.

The author presentations will begin shortly after 9:15 am on the dates referenced below.  The author’s book will be available for sale and autograph at the end of the sessions.

The authors from the 2023 series are identified below.  We will soon update the website with information about the authors for the 2024 series.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Monday, January 23, 2023

The Daughters of Kobani is based on years of Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s on-the-ground reporting in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East.  The book tells – according to Angelina Jolie – the “extraordinary and humbling story” of the women of the Kurdish militia who helped defeat ISIS by going house to house, street by street, town by town.  In the process of performing that daunting task, the women not only contributed to a remarkable military victory; they also tried to foster a world where women would be the equal of men and where men could not buy and sell women.  In a starred review, Publishers Weekly said that “Lemmon delivers a fascinating portrait….This deeply reported account enthralls and informs.” Kirkus Reviews said the book highlights a “well-told story of contemporary female warriors and the complex geopolitical realities behind their battles.” And People said the book provides “an inspiring look at the all-female militia that helped fight ISIS.”  The book is in production for a video streaming series.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon covered presidential politics and public policy issues for ABC News between 1997 and 2004, served as an editorial producer for ABC’s The Week with George Stephanopoulus, and began her first on-ground reporting in Afghanistan in 2005.  She is the author of two other best-selling books:  The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, and Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield.  Gayle is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism, a graduate of Harvard Business School, and a former Fulbright Scholar and a former Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow.

Amy Gajda

Monday, February 6, 2023

Seek and Hide:  The Tangled History of the Right to Privacy explores with facts and anecdotes the battle that has long raged in the media, in the courts, and in the legislatures around the country between an individual’s right to privacy and the public’s right to know.  The battle has loomed especially large ever since lawyer Louis D. Brandeis wrote his seminal article at the end of the nineteenth century to urge better protection for the right to privacy.  But the law’s protection for the right to privacy is in danger of being eclipsed in the digital age, where the press – not to mention other people – can mine smartphones, webcams, and the internet to uncover and publicize the most intimate details of a person’s private life.  The New York Times said the book is “wry and fascinating….Gajda is a nimble storyteller.”  The Library Journal also called the book “fascinating.”  And best-selling author Walter Isaacson said the book is “brilliant and thought-provoking.”

Amy Gajda is the Class of 1937 Professor of Law at Tulane Law School and one of the country’s foremost experts on privacy and the media.  She is an award-winning legal commentator on Illinois public radio stations, has written articles for The New York Times, and has provided expert commentary for The New Yorker, Newsweek, and The Los Angeles Times, as well as C-SPAN, CBS Television’s morning telecast, and other media.

Bob Harig

Monday, February 27, 2023

Tiger & Phil:  Golf’s Most Fascinating Rivalry drills down on the decades-long competition between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.  As author Bob Harig shows, the relationship is much more complicated than two men competing on the golf course.  They have needled each other.  They have shared the media’s attention on health issues and legal controversies.  And over the course of their time together, they have gradually become not just rivals but also friends.  Best-selling golf writer John Feinstein said, “There is no one more qualified to write a book on Tiger and Phil than Bob Harig.  He’s probably walked more holes with them than anyone – with the POSSIBLE exception of their caddies!”  Book Reporter agreed, saying that Tiger & Phil is a “wonderful story of two men who will long be remembered for their contributions to professional golf.”  And Ian O’Connor, best-selling author of Arnie & Jack, said the book is “brilliant….The ultimate insider’s look at the real Tiger-Phil relationship.”

Bob Harig is a journalist who has long covered golf, first for the Tampa Bay Times, then with ESPN, and now with SI.com.  He holds degrees in journalism and history from Indiana University and is an active member of the Golf Writers Association of America.

Cynthia Barnett

Monday, March 20, 2023

The Sound of the Sea:  Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans is an exotic and often surprising history of how seashells are created and – more importantly – how seashells have influenced events and shaped stories around the world: the great cities of shell that arose in North America; the slave castles of Ghana; the formation of Shell Oil Company, which originated as a family business that imported colorful shells; and so much more.  The New York Times said that The Sound of the Sea “spirals out…to a much larger story about the sea, about global history and about environmental crises and preservation.”  CBS Sunday Morning agreed, saying that The Sound of the Sea is “a literal ‘beach read’ to treasure.”  And Kirkus said – in a starred review – that The Sound of the Sea is “an absolutely captivating nature book.”

Cynthia Barnett is a Journalist in Residence at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications.  The Sound of the Sea is her fourth book.  Cynthia’s first book – Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern United States – won the gold metal for the best nonfiction book in Florida and was named one of the top 10 books that everyone in Florida should read.  Her two subsequent books have received comparable awards, including for one selection as a Finalist for the National Book Award.  Cynthia’s articles have appeared in numerous publications around the country, including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Atlantic Magazine.

Location Details

We are pleased to announce that the 2024 Nonfiction Author Series will be held in person at the Hilton Naples.

5111 Tamiami Trail N, Naples, FL 34103
Directions

Event Schedule

Breakfast at 8:30 am, featuring multiple choices of hot and cold entrees, including eggs with bacon and sausage, cereals, yogurts, fruits, a variety of breads, juice and coffee.

Lecture to begin shortly after 9:15 am

Book signing to follow

Lectures will last approximately 30-45 minutes with Q&A following the lecture.

Tickets

TO BE UPDATED SOON.

Contact Information

Email: Marlene Haywood at mhaywood@collier-friends.org.

Call:  239-262-8135

Nonfiction Author Series Gallery

Lew Paper, Chairman of the Nonfiction Author Series, Patricia DeGroot, Author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Board Members, Cindy Ruddy, VP, Dan Kozlowski and Saul Curtis
2023 Nonfiction Author Series - Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Saul Curtis, Board Member; Cindy Ruddy, VP; Author Amy Gajda; Ken Assal, President and Lew Paper, Chairman of the Nonfiction Author Series.

We want to thank again our 2023 Nonfiction Author Series Sponsors. The 2024 Sponsor List will be updated in due course.

Stock Development 2021 Nonfiction Author Series Sponsors | Friends of the Library of Collier County
Bigham Jewelers 2021 Nonfiction Author Series Sponsors | Friends of the Library of Collier County
John R. Wood Properties
BAM Books A Million Logo

Vicky Tracy

The Capital Grille Logo

Wynn’s Market

Tradewind Pools

Gulf Coast International Properties

The Club at Olde Cypress

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS AND POLICIES

  • WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ATTENDEES AT OUR EVENTS TO FOLLOW THE PROTOCOLS ESTABLISHED BY OUR VENUE HOSTS. UNVACCINATED PATRONS ARE REQUESTED TO WEAR MASKS.
  • PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND ANY EVENT IF YOU ARE FEELING ILL OR IF YOU HAVE HAD CONTACT WITH ANYONE WITHIN THE LAST TEN DAYS THAT HAS TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19.