When editor Judith Jones received the manuscript for Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, it was exactly what she had been looking for in her own kitchen. “And if I felt that way, there must be others out there,” Mrs. Jones said from her summer home in Vermont. For her and many Americans, it wasn’t just another cookbook. It was a teaching book.

Emperor of Ocean Park author, Yale law professor and seasonal Islander Stephen L. Carter will discuss Why Democracy Needs Books, the subject of his next book, on Sunday, July 18 at 2 p.m. at the Vineyard Haven Public Library.

The event, with a reception following, is presented by the Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library.

Law professor Ray Madoff will discuss her new book, Immortality and the Law: The Rising Power of the American Dead, on Thursday, July 15, 8 p.m. at the Chilmark Community Center. Described by the Financial Times as a “stunning polemic,” Ms. Madoff examines the distinctly American approach taken to the law of the dead; when it comes to property in America, the dead have greater control than anywhere else in the world.

Patty Howell Publishes

Island native Patty Howell has published World Class Marriage: How to Create the Relationship You Always Wanted with the Partner You Already Have, a book on marriage she cowrote with her husband, Ralph Jones. The book identifies 16 pillars essential for marital success, based on research as well as their more than 30 years as a married couple. Patty Howell is the daughter of E. Everett and Dorothy Howell of Vineyard Haven. Her father was a well-known photographer and her mother taught for many years at the Tisbury School.

The Suspense Ends Friday Night

Mary Higgins Clark had yet to write one of her 42 (so far) bestselling books when her fourth baby, Carol, arrived just months after the author sold her first short story. Both bring their pens to the Bunch of Grapes tonight to sign and discuss, in Mary’s case, The Shadow of Your Smile, and in Carol’s case, Wrecked, a new Regan Reilly mystery set on the Cape.

Two Island authors will speak at the Oak Bluffs Public Library this week.

On Thursday, July 8, at 6:30 p.m. Cynthia Riggs will read from her soon to be published book, The Bee Balm Murders.

On Friday, July 9, at 11 am, Tom Dresser will talk about his latest book, African Americans on Martha’s Vineyard: From Enslavement to Presidential Visit. He will answer questions and sign his book.

Some years ago, as a fresh washashore, I made the mistake of honking my car horn.

It was at the blinker, coming from Vineyard Haven on an off-season day. There were but two cars: mine, and that of the woman in front who had been unaccountably stopped, for maybe a minute, maybe less. I didn’t lean aggressively on the horn, just a little beep, to say “I’m here.”

Bargain With the Devil

Harvard University professor Robert Mnookin will discuss his new book, Bargaining with the Devil, in a 7:30 p.m. program on Thursday, July 1, at the Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven.

Gilded Age Gardener

Landscape historian, author and Vineyard gardener Judith Tankard offers a look at the life and work of Beatrix Farrand, one of the foremost landscape designers of the early 1900s, at the Polly Hill Arboretum on Wednesday, June 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Born into a prominent New York family, Ms. Farrand eschewed the social life of the gilded age to pursue her passion for landscape and plants.

Festival of Poetry

Featherstone Center for the Arts, in conjunction with the Martha’s Vineyard Writers Residency, presents a summer-long festival of poetry at Featherstone.

All readings will be held on the third Thurday of each month at 7 p.m.

This summer’s lineup includes both local and nationally known poets.

On Thursday, June 17, locals Jennifer Tseng and Clark Myers will be sharing recent and published work.