Events


« Week of September 12, 2010 »
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
12
Start: 2:00 pm

Free Event - Open to the Public
Corte Madera store
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Carolyn Scott Kortge discusses Healing Walks for Hard Times: Quiet Your Mind, Strengthen Your Body, and Get Your Life Back ($15.95). Kortge outlines a practical program for navigating your way through life’s hard times. Within the supportive framework of this program, you set your own pace, taking steps that restore a sense of order.

Start: 5:00 pm

Speaker: Melanie Gideon, Author of The Slippery Year: A Meditation on Happily Ever After
Corte Madera store

Writing Mamas Salon®
A Writing Group • Led by Dawn Yun
2nd Sunday each month • 5:00-8:00 pm. • $120 per year
The Writing Mamas is where motherhood meets writinghood and finds a happy neighborhood at Book Passage. Improve your writing! Meet great mothers who are writers! Learn to perform your work before
the public! Get published! All this and more when you join the popular Writing Mamas! We will write, workshop, gab, and hear speakers. Many members have gone on to be published. Why not you? Let the other mothers/writers help you, while the speakers inspire you. This year lots of Writing Mamas are getting their books, articles, and blogs published. Inspiration is found in the fabulous speakers we have lined up. For a complete list of all speakers, go to www.writingmamas.com.

Start: 7:00 pm

Free Event - Open to the Public
Corte Madera store
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Dennis Portnoy talks about Riding the Point Reyes Equestrian Trails (Written by Horse and Rider) ($22.00). The variety and beauty of the Pt. Reyes National Seashore is one of Marin County’s treasures. There are over 70,000 acres of trails. Riding the Pt. Reye’s Equestrian Trails is more then just a guide book.

What’s so wonderful about this guide is that it is both informative and entertaining. Dennis Portnoy and his horse Phily describe the trails from both of their perspectives. They give detailed information about each trail, shortcuts to waterfalls, lakes, and beaches, great spots to stop for lunch, colorful photographs, readable maps and even poetry. This guide is ideal for horse lovers, hikers and those who are interested in the horse-human relationship. It can fit in your pocket or saddlebag.

13
Start: 9:30 am
End: 11:15 am

Book Passage Class
Eight Mondays: Sept. 13-Nov. 1, 9:30-11:15 am, $235
Corte Madera store
Register for Class

Students will develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills within a framework of Italian literature, culture and language. Readings include early examples of Italian poetry plus short stories and plays by Moravia, Calvino and Ginzburg. Textbook: Sapore de Italia (available through instructor)

Gisella Petrone grew up in Italy. She received a Masters degree from the University of Calabria. She has taught English, Italian, Latin, Roman History, and Italian cooking.

Start: 6:00 pm

Free Event - Open to the Public
San Francisco store
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Left Coast Writers Launch!
Osprey Orielle Lake talks about Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature ($16.95). Lake, a lifelong advocate for environmental protection and cultural transformation, weaves together history, science, culture, governance, spirituality, and the arts to map out an integrated approach to working in partnership with nature while creating a more balanced future.

Start: 6:30 pm
End: 8:30 pm

Book Passage Class
Five Mondays: Sept. 13-Oct. 11, 6:30-8:30 pm, $210

Corte Madera store
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Learn the fundamental tools of narrative writing, including plot, setting, characterization, dialogue, and point of view. The lectures provide published texts as models, and writing exercises help you apply what you learn to your work. Peg Pursell started the creative writing program at the Charleston School of the Arts and taught fiction writing at the College of Charleston. She curates the “Why There Are Words Literary Reading Series” in Sausalito.

Start: 7:00 pm
End: 9:00 pm

Book Passage Book Group
Four Mondays: Sept. 13, Oct. 11, Nov. 8, Dec. 13, 7:00-9:00 pm, $60

Corte Madera store
Register for Book Group

We will discuss the impact of the variety of life changing experiences reported in these stories, and what prepared these men to be open to having them. Joe Herzberg is a Marin psychiatrist with a degree in American Studies.

Theme: Life Changing Experiences
Reading List: Sept. 13: Unfinished Business: One Man's Extraordinary Year of Trying to do the Right Things by Lee Kravitz; Oct. 11: Lighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Headed Out West and Became Mark Twain by Roy Morris; Nov. 8: The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
by Norman Doidge; Dec. 13: TBA

Start: 7:00 pm

Free Event - Open to the Public
Corte Madera store
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David Burke presents "Bad Boys and Bad Girls of Literature in Paris," an illustrated talk based on his long years of literary detective work on his acclaimed book Writers in Paris: Literary Lives in the City of Light ($19.95). The presentation features scandalous "boys" from the days of medieval poet, thief, priest-killer, and Master of Arts in Theology François Villon to such 20th Century shockers as Henry Miller, Jean Genet, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, and such scandalous "girls" as George Sand, Colette, and Anaïs Nin. Burke is a longtime writer/producer of television documentaries, most notably for 60 Minutes, who left New York with his director/editor wife Joanne Burke in 1986 to spend a year in Paris. They have been working there ever since.

14
Start: 10:30 am
End: 12:30 pm

TUESDAY SESSION IS NOW FULL.
You may register for the Friday session at this link.

Book Passage Book Group
Five Tuesdays: Sept. 14, Oct. 12, Nov. 9, Dec. 14 & Jan 11,
10:30-12:30 pm, $105

Corte Madera store
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Pat Holt leads a discussion of books that have captured the contemporary imagination. Holt is the former book review editor of the S.F. Chronicle and publisher of Holt Uncensored. Reading list: Generosity by Richard Powers ($15.00); A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore ($14.95); Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky ($15.00); In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin ($13.95); Chef by Jaspreet Singh ($14.00).

Start: 6:00 pm

Free Event - Open to the Public
San Francisco store
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Richard Lupoff discusses his mystery novel The Emerald Cat Killer ($25.99). Hobart Lindsey is called back to the San Francisco Bay Area for one last case. A local book publisher is being sued over a novel that might actually be the last, lost work of a novelist killed more than a year ago. Lupoff is also the author of Marblehead.

Start: 7:00 pm
End: 9:00 pm

Book Passage Class
Corte Madera store, $40
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Being interviewed is not merely about selling your book; it’s also about selling yourself. Richard Wolinsky offers tips on how to prepare for your interviews, and he discusses dos and don’ts for the interview novice. Wolinsky has been hosting radio interview programs for 30 years. He can be heard on the Bookwaves segment of Cover to Cover on KPFA FM, Thursdays at 3:30 pm.

Start: 7:00 pm
Free Event - Open to the Public
Corte Madera store
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Elizabeth Rosner
talks about her novel Blue Nude ($15.00). Born in the shadow of postwar Germany, Danzig is a once-prominent painter who now lives in San Francisco. But while he shares wisdom and technique with students, his own canvases remain mysteriously empty. When a new model poses for his class, Danzig senses that she may be the muse he has been waiting for.
15
Start: 8:00 am
End: 10:15 am

Book Passage Class
Eight Wednesdays: Sept. 15-Nov. 3, 8:30-10:15 am, $235
Corte Madera store
Register for Class

The class begins study of the subjunctive and continues to develop listening, speaking and reading skills. The study of Italian culture is combined with a review of grammatical structures and usage and linguistic competency. Discussions will be based on authentic literary texts, news clippings, film and Web sites.

Gisella Petrone grew up in Italy. She received a Masters degree from the University of Calabria. She has taught English, Italian, Latin, Roman History, and Italian cooking.

Start: 1:00 pm
Free Event - Open to the Public
Corte Madera store
Order a signed copy


Rick Bass
presents his novel Nashville Chrome ($24.00). Late in 1959, the Brown siblings—Maxine, Bonnie, and Jim Ed—were enjoying international success, rivaled only by Elvis Presley. Lyrical and nuanced, this work evokes an era in American music, while presenting a wrenching meditation on the complexities of fame and family.
Start: 6:00 pm

Free Event - Open to the Public
San Francisco store
Order a signed copy

Steven Saylor presents Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome ($25.99). Continuing the epic story begun in his New York Times-bestselling novel Roma, Saylor charts the destinies of five more generations of the aristocratic Pinarius family, from the reign of Augustus to the height of Rome’s empire. Saylor is the author of The Triumph of Caesar.

Start: 6:30 pm
End: 8:30 pm

Book Passage Class
Four Wednesdays, Sept. 15-Oct. 6, 6:30-8:30 pm, $155
Register for Class

Learn techniques for gaining confidence and develop a clear sense of your book. Leslie Keenan provides advice on the best way to get a book published, suggesting agents, editors, publishers and printers. This is the opportunity to get your book started.

Leslie Keenan
has been in publishing for 28 years as an editor, agent, publisher, writer, and teacher. She has helped hundreds of writers find and complete their writing projects. A student wrote, “Leslie is inspiring, compassionate, and has a natural gift for creating a safe place for a writer. She’s like a living life preserver.”

16
Start: 6:00 pm

Free Event - Open to the Public
Reception 6:00 pm • Event 6:45 pm
Corte Madera store

Sponsored by Book Passage & Bank of Marin
Help us celebrate our adult student-authors. Join host Cheryl Jennings as we celebrate 25 years of the work of the Marin Literacy Program. This event is free to the public and refreshments will be served.

This inspirational evening honors the achievement of those adults who have mastered the skill of reading and have then gone even further to learn the skill of writing as well. One World, Many Voices, an anthology of student writing, will be given to guests at the event. Bank of Marin and Book Passage are proud Partners in Literacy for this event and throughout the year. The Marin Literacy Program provides adults with free student-centered instruction in reading, writing, and speaking to help them reach their full potential at work, at home, and in the community.

Start: 6:00 pm

Free Event - Open to the Public
San Francisco store
Order a signed copy

Joyce Maynard discusses The Good Daughters ($24.99). From the bestselling author of Labor Day comes a spellbinding novel about friendship, family secrets, and the strange, unexpected twists of fate that shape our lives. Maynard is the author of six novels and four books of nonfiction, including her bestselling memoir At Home in the World.

Start: 6:30 pm
End: 8:30 pm

This book group is canceled. We will look forward to a future book group with Lawrence White.

Book Passage Book Group
Five Thursdays: Sept. 16, Oct. 14, Nov. 11, Dec. 9 & Jan. 13
6:30-8:30 pm, $105

Corte Madera store
Register for Book Group

This book group uses literature to explore aspects of medicine, bioethics, and philosophy. The contemporary issues examined will include death and dying, euthanasia, doctor-patient relationships, stem cell research, aging, morality in medicine, and health care policy. Lawrence White is a medical doctor, bioethicist, writer and pharmacologist. Reading list: Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors by Susan Sontag ($14.00); Everyman by Philip Roth ($13.00); The House of God by Samuel Shem ($16.00); The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy ($6.95); The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot ($26.00).

17
Start: 8:30 am
End: 10:15 am

Book Passage Class
Eight Fridays: Sept. 17-Nov. 5, 8:30-10:15 am, $235
Corte Madera store
Register for Class

Students of Italian I will acquire a basic proficiency in speaking, reading, understanding and writing. They are introduced to vocabulary, grammar and syntax through spoken and written exercises. Readings, music and video will be used to present Italian culture. Textbook: Studio Italiano and workbook.

Gisella Petrone grew up in Italy. She received a Masters degree from the University of Calabria. She has taught English, Italian, Latin, Roman History, and Italian cooking.

Start: 10:30 am
End: 12:30 pm

Book Passage Book Group
Five Fridays: Sept. 17, Oct. 15, Nov. 12, Dec. 17, & Jan. 14, 10:30-12:30 pm, $105

Corte Madera store
Register for Book Group

Pat Holt leads a discussion of books that have captured the contemporary imagination. Holt is the former book review editor of the S.F. Chronicle and publisher of Holt Uncensored. Reading list: Generosity by Richard Powers ($15.00); A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore ($14.95); Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky ($15.00); In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin ($13.95); Chef by Jaspreet Singh ($14.00).

18
Start: 10:00 am
End: 4:00 pm

Book Passage Class
Corte Madera store, $105
Register for Class

Sure, there’s “once upon a time” and “happily ever after,” but what about everything in between? Great nonfiction feature stories should be creative and poetic, but if the reader has no idea where the story is going, all the prose in the library isn’t going to save you. Learn the elements of storytelling—and how to ensure your story has a point—with Spud Hilton, the award-winning travel editor of the S.F. Chronicle. A journalist for 20 years, Hilton has written columns, travel essays, and features for more than 70 newspapers.

Start: 1:00 pm
End: 5:00 pm

Book Passage Class
Corte Madera store, $50
Register for Class

Whether you’re new to writing fiction or have been writing for a while, this class is designed to give a major boost to your skills. We’ll look at five critical elements that will make your prose shimmer, make your stories more compelling, and bring your characters alive. Elaine Beale is the 2007 winner of the Poets & Writers California Exchange Award in fiction. Her second novel, Another Life Altogether was recently published by Spiegel & Grau.

Start: 2:00 pm

Free Event - Open to the Public
Corte Madera store
Order a signed copy

Barbara Pope presents The Blood of Lorraine ($25.00). In the wake of murders in Aix-en-Provence, magistrate Bernard Martin moves to a town in Lorraine, along with his pregnant wife Clarie. Both are fervent about French Republican ideals. They are not there long when an infant boy is found dead, perhaps the victim of ritual sacrifice.

Start: 4:00 pm
Free Event - Open to the Public
Corte Madera store
Order a signed copy


Betty de Shong Meador
talks about Princess, Priestess, Poet: The Sumerian Temple Hymns of Enheduanna ($30.00). In 2300 BCE, Sumerian high priestess Enheduanna became the first known author by signing her name to a collection of hymns written for 42 temples throughout ancient Mesopotamia. This work presents the first collection of these hymns.


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