Edition No. 60
Arts and Culture
“An 8-Year-Old Wrote a Book and Hid It on a Library Shelf. It’s a Hit.” New York Times
Community and Family
S. Kirk Walsh will visit The War Memorial this spring for an author talk about her new book The Elephant of Belfast.
American Democracy
Upcoming author talks at The War Memorial featuring Rochelle Riley and AJ Baime.
“An 8-Year-Old Wrote a Book and Hid It on a Library Shelf. It’s a Hit.”
New York Times, February 1, 2022
“My next book,” he said, “is going to be called ‘The Jacket-Eating Closet,’ based on actual events.” - Dillon Helbig
Multiple media outlets have had the heartwarming story of a young man who, at the age of 8, wrote and illustrated his own book. Unlike many adult authors who struggle to find a publisher, Dillon Helbig decided to skip that step entirely and surreptitiously placed his book on the shelf at his local library.
For the rest of the story, we turn to the New York Times at the button below.
The Elephant of Belfast: A Novel
S. Kirk Walsh is a respected writer with family ties to our community. She will be visiting with us later this spring to talk about her new book The Elephant of Belfast. This will be an in-person author talk on Thursday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m.
The Elephant of Belfast explores tender and harrowing story of a young female zookeeper and the elephant, and what they endure together during the German blitz of Belfast. The novel speaks the tragedy of the times, but also to the ongoing sectarian tensions that still exist in Northern Ireland today.
For more about the book, visit www.skirkwalsh.com/novel.
Stay tuned for more information about Walsh’s book talk as details become available at www.warmemorial.org/arts.
S. Kirk Walsh
Author Talks at The War Memorial
Wednesday night conversations with authors have been a mainstay of our American Democracy Initiative. In fact, our first American Democracy live event was a November 2020 online chat with author AJ Baime about his book, Dewey Beats Truman: The Election of 1948 and the Battle for America’s Soul.*
We are continuing author conversations in 2022 because we have found that visiting for an hour or so with authors of thought-provoking books on America’s past, present, and future helps us to take a step back from the day-to-day and reflect on America’s history, our democracy, and our rights and responsibilities as citizens. Look below for information about upcoming author events. Also below, a list of earlier talks and links to recordings of our visits with those authors.
*AJ will be back with us on April 20 – look below for details.
Upcoming author events:
Wednesday, February 16 at 7:00 p.m. (ONLINE)
Rochelle Riley, That They Lived: African Americans Who Made A Difference. In her new book, Rochelle Riley seeks to fill-in some of the gaps in history taught to American children for generations.
Wednesday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m. (ONLINE) or 6:00 p.m. (VIP reception & talk – ticket required)
AJ Baime, White Lies: The Double Life of Walter F. White and America’s Darkest Secret. On April 20th, our friend AJ Baime will be back to talk about his new book and the fascinating life of Walter F. White. A VIP reception for AJ will start at 6:00 p.m. (ticket required - includes a copy of the book) with his talk to follow at 7:00 p.m. (ONLINE access to this event will be free but does require registration)
For more information, to buy tickets for our in-person event, or to register for the free online option, go to www.warmemorial.org/americandemocracyliveevents.
Recordings of some previous American Democracy events with authors are available at the links below.
Inspired Thoughts is a collection of highly curated content that embraces the spirit and purpose of The War Memorial: arts and culture, community enrichment, leadership, and patriotism.
Derived from the notion that learning from others is the key to success, Inspired Thoughts is meant to shine a light on those making a difference in the world around them. This collection features artists, poets, writers, architects, and every thought leader in-between. Inspired Thoughts is the strongest reflection of what The War Memorial stands for, and what we aim to be.
The content featured on Inspired Thoughts is curated by War Memorial leadership — we also look forward to featuring special guest curators in the near future. If you are interested in providing content for Inspired Thoughts, please email our Communications team at dmurphy@warmemorial.org.