Seattle-based author Erik Larson, whose skill in turning
unrecognized stories from history into best-selling books is
remarkable, will be the featured speaker for Douglas County
Libraries’ annual benefit event. Larson will appear at Lone Tree
Arts Center, 10075 Commons St., Lone Tree, on Oct. 19.
Two options are available; at 6 p.m., there will be a VIP wine
reception with Larson in the Event Hall ($60 includes a copy of “In
the Garden of Beasts”). At 7:30 p.m. Larson will speak in the Main
Stage Theatre. ($15 talk only).
Tickets are available only at the Lone Tree Arts Center,
lonetreeartscenter.org, 720-509-1001
The writer is currently on tour to promote his most recent
spellbinding narrative, “In the Garden of Beasts.” It offers a
portrait of a decadent 1933 Berlin on the eve of WWII and the story
of an American family who began to realize the evil that was rising
there, as Nazis came increasingly into power, climaxing in the
“Night of the Long Knives.”
Larson has traveled widely (including down numerous alleys, his
website comments) to scenes of his nonfiction crime writing.
“Devil in the White City,” (on the New York Times’ best seller
list for three years) is set in Chicago’s classically designed 1893
World’s Fair, designed by architect Daniel Burnham near the shores
of Lake Michigan. Despite it’s beauty and influence on American
architecture, evil lurked, as serial killer Dr. H. H. Holmes lured
unfortunate young women. Leonardo Di Caprio purchased the film
rights in 2010.
“Isaac’s Storm” and “Thunderstruck” are other titles of note —
the latter about Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the radio and one
Hawley Harvey Crippen.
Larson, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and
received a journalism degree from Columbia. He wrote for the “Wall
Street Journal” and “Time Magazine” and had articles published in a
number of main line publications such as “The Atlantic“ and “The
New Yorker.”
He has taught non-fiction writing at San Francisco State, Johns
Hopkins Seminars and the University of Oregon.
Books will be for sale, courtesy of the Tattered Cover
Bookstore.
The Libraries plan a series focusing on local and national
authors in the future. Watch for announcements.
