CARMEL PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION PRESENTS: Annual Arts & Literary Series 2012 Author Presentations & Book Signings

Save the Date: On January 10th at 7pm the First Event of the Series! Douglas Smith Author of the Pearl January 10th at the Sunset Center. End Quote

Salinas, CA (1888PressRelease) November 25, 2011 - Carmel Public Library Foundation Presents its Annual Arts & Literary Series 2011-2012 Authors. The goal of the 2011-2012 season is to create awareness for the Library Foundation's mission with talks and book signings

First event of the series!

Douglas Smith, The Pearl
January 10 at 7 p.m.
Sunset Center, Carpenter Hall

About The Pearl: Filled with a remarkable cast of characters and set against the backdrop of imperial Russia, this tale of forbidden romance could be the stuff of a great historical novel. But in fact The Pearl tells a true tale, reconstructed in part from archival documents that have lain untouched for centuries. Douglas Smith presents the most complete and accurate account ever written of the illicit love between Count Nicholas Sheremetev (1751-1809), Russia's richest aristocrat, and Praskovia Kovalyova (1768-1803), his serf and the greatest opera diva of her time.

Blessed with a beautiful voice, Praskovia began her training in Nicholas's operatic company as a young girl. Like all the members of Nicholas's troupe, Praskovia was one of his own serfs. But unlike the others, she utterly captured her master's heart. The book reconstructs Praskovia's stage career as "The Pearl" and the heartbreaking details of her romance with Nicholas-years of torment before their secret marriage, the outrage of the aristocracy when news of the marriage emerged, Praskovia's death only days after delivering a son, and the unyielding despair that followed Nicholas to the end of his life.
Written with grace and style, The Pearl sheds light on the world of the Russian aristocracy, music history, and Russian attitudes toward serfdom. But above all, the book tells a haunting story of love against all odds.

Background on Douglas Smith: Douglas Smith is an awarding-winning historian and translator and a Resident Scholar at the University of Washington's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. He studied German and Russian at the University of Vermont and has a doctorate in history from UCLA.
Over the past twenty-five years Smith has made many trips to Russia. In the 1980s, he was a Russian-speaking guide on the U. S. State Department's exhibition "Information USA" that traveled throughout the USSR. He has worked as a Soviet affairs analyst at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich, Germany specializing in Russian nationalism and served as an interpreter for late President Reagan.

Smith has taught and lectured widely in the United States, Britain, and Europe and has appeared in documentaries for A&E and National Geographic. A regular contributor to The Seattle Times, he is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including a Fulbright scholarship and a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Study Center.
His newest book, White Bone: The Destruction of the Russian Aristocracy, is scheduled for publication in 2012 with Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Save the dates for upcoming events.
T. J. Stiles, The First Tycoon : The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
March 6, 2012 at 7 p.m.
Sunset Center, Carpenter Hall
Yiyun Li, The Vagrants
April 10 at 7 p.m.
Sunset Center, Carpenter Hall
Jerry Fielder, Curator & Director Estate of Yousuf Karsh
May 15 at 7 p.m.
Sunset Center, Carpenter Hall

The Carmel Public Library Foundation's mission is to raise vital funds for Harrison Memorial Library that will ensure free Library service in perpetuity. Every book, CD, DVD, all the services, equipment, resources and programs are funded by charitable donations.
There is a $10 suggested contribution. Seating is limited, so please arrive early! Proceeds beneﬁt Harrison Memorial Library. Questions? Call the Foundation at (831) 624-2811. www.carmelpubliclibraryfoundation.org

Technology at Harrison Memorial Library:
Did you know that Harrison Memorial Library offers audio books, e-Books and music, all through the click of your mouse? Download thousands of titles to your computer or portable device, or burn to CD on http://www.hm-lib.org/ebooks/ebooks.html. Click on "E-Books & Audio Books" for more information. All you need is your Library Card and PIN number. Don't Know Your PIN? Call the Librarian at (831) 624-4629.

Background:
Harrison Memorial Library has been a treasured resource on the Central Coast of California for over 105 years. Some 106,000 Library cardholders and visitors walk through the Library doors annually. Among these are families, children, teens, and adults of all ages who depend on the Library to advance their practical life skills as well as to provide resources and services that advance literacy, foster cultural awareness, promote healthy living and wellness, and provide arts and cultural education and entertainment. The Carmel Public Library, like no other community institution, exists solely to nourish these most cherished human attributes.

The Carmel Public Library Foundation provides funds for all of the Library's acquisitions, collections, services, equipment, archives, and public programs for children, adults, and seniors. While the City of Carmel funds Library salaries and building maintenance, it is private contributions to the Library Foundation that provide the rest.

For donation/sponsoring questions, contact Amy Donohue, Executive Director of the Carmel Public Library Foundation at 831-624-2811

Press Contact: Marci Bracco (831) 747-7455

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