2010

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.

Mary

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.

Alan Susan

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.

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