Author Dennis Lehane to Visit Forsyth County

Dennis Lehane, best-selling author, screenwriter, and television producer, will speak and sign books at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 27 at the Forsyth Conference Center, 3410 Ronald Reagan Blvd., Cumming. Admission to An Evening with Dennis Lehane is free, but advance registration is requested.

The event is the keynote presentation of the 2016 Forsyth Reads Together program sponsored by the Forsyth County Public Library, FCPL Friends and Advocates, Literacy Forsyth, BookLogix, and The Forsyth County Arts Alliance Fund at the Forsyth County Community Foundation.

Forsyth Reads Together is a county-wide annual event that encourages the entire community to read, discuss, and participate in programs associated with the same book. This year’s book selection is Mystic River by Dennis Lehane.

Mr. Lehane has previously described his crime fiction writing by saying, “In Greek tragedy, they fall from great heights. In noir, they fall from the curb.” That holds true for struggling Boston investigator Sean Devine in Mystic River as he confronts painful memories from his past. When a childhood friend’s daughter is brutally murdered in a public park, the investigation brings Sean face-to-face with a vigilante killer and a man with a dangerous secret.

Mr. Lehane will speak on his experience as a novelist, as well as screenwriting for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and The Wire. Following his talk, Mr. Lehane will take questions from the audience briefly and then sign copies of Mystic River or his other books.

Barnes and Noble will be on-site selling copies of Mystic River, as well as other books such as Gone Baby Gone, Shutter Island, and The Drop. A portion of the sales will benefit the library.

Several other programs will be hosted at library branches in support of Forsyth Reads Together. The Post Road, Cumming, and Sharon Forks Libraries will host book club discussions of Mystic River.

“This year’s book selection is set in a fictional Irish-Catholic neighborhood of Boston, so we’re also offering a program on tracing Irish genealogical records through U.S. newspapers at the Post Road Library. The Cumming Library will host a new virtual tourism presentation focusing on the history and culture of Boston,” explains Laura Bradley, Program Manager.

Readers, writers, and moviegoers will want to mark their calendars for one special Forsyth Reads Together program. Demystified: From Page to Screen will be held at the Cumming Library on Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00 p.m. After a screening of the documentary Mystic River: Beneath the Surface, Ken Feinberg, Owner and Director of Creative Studios of Atlanta, will discuss the process of adapting a book for film, general screenwriting, and Georgia's growing influence on the film industry. This program is intended for adults only.

For more information on additional Forsyth Reads Together 2016 events or to register for An Evening with Dennis Lehane, please visit www.forsythpl.org.