Welcome! Here’s what’s coming up:
Long Island LitFest Presents Henry Winkler IN PERSON
Wednesday, November 1, 2023, 7:30 pm
At Madison Theater, Molloy College, Rockville Centre
Your $50 ticket includes a talk with Henry Winkler, audience Q&A, book signing and photo op
Please join us for an exclusive Long Island event when Newsday Senior Lifestyle Host Elisa DiStefano sits down for an intimate conversation with superstar Henry Winkler. Henry will be talking about his memoir, BEING HENRY: The Fonz… and Beyond.
From Emmy-award winning actor, author, comedian, producer, and director Henry Winkler, this is a deeply thoughtful memoir of the lifelong effects of stardom and the struggle to become whole. Henry Winkler, launched into prominence by his role as “The Fonz” in the beloved Happy Days, has transcended the role that made him who he is. Brilliant, funny, and widely-regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood (though he would be the first to tell you that it’s simply not the case, he’s really just grateful to be here), Henry shares in this achingly vulnerable memoir the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you.
Since the glorious era of Happy Days fame, Henry has endeared himself to a new generation with roles in such adored shows as Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation, and Barry, where he’s revealed himself as an actor with immense depth and pathos, a departure from the period of his life when he was so distinctly typecast as The Fonz, he could hardly find work.
Filled with profound heart, charm, and self-deprecating humor, Being Henry is a memoir about so much more than a life in Hollywood and the curse of stardom. It is a meaningful testament to the power of sharing truth and kindness and of finding fulfillment within yourself.
Henry Winkler will celebrate 50 years of success in Hollywood this year and continues to be in demand as an actor, producer, and director. He co-stars as acting teacher Gene Cousineau on the hit HBO dark comedy, Barry. For this role, he won his first Primetime Emmy Award in 2018 for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy as well as two Television Critics Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, he was cast in 1973 in the iconic role of Arthur Fonzarelli, aka “The Fonz,” in the TV series Happy Days. During his 10 years on the popular sitcom, he won two Golden Globe Awards, was nominated three times for an Emmy Award and was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In recent years, Winkler appeared in a number of series, including Medical Police, Arrested Development, Children’s Hospital, Royal Pains, New Girl, and Parks and Recreation. He is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous children’s books, including Alien Superstar, A Trilogy and Hank Zipzer the World’s Greatest Under-Achiever, a 28-book series inspired by Winkler’s own struggle with learning challenges. Of all the titles he has received, the ones he relishes most are husband, father and grandfather. Winkler and his wife, Stacey, have three children, Jed, Zoe and Max, and six grandchildren. They reside in Los Angeles with their two dogs.
We thank Newsday Live and Elisa Distefano for being a part of this exciting program.
Much appreciation to Locust Valley Bookstore for proving the books for this event.
Long Island LitFest & Gold Coast Arts Center Present
Adriana Trigiani, IN PERSON
with best-selling author Hellen Ellis
News: Books are now SOLD OUT for this event. But we’ve just added general admission ticket pricing at $15 for the author talk with audience Q&A. For a $15 ticket that does NOT include the book, purchase here.
Wednesday, May 31, 7:30 pm at Manhasset Cinemas, 430 Plandome Rd, Manhasset
Your $30 ticket includes a paperback copy of The Good Left Undone
Join us for an exclusive in-person talk with bestselling author Adriana Trigiani! This event includes an author talk, audience Q&A and book signing.
Adriana Trigiani is the New York Times best- selling author of twenty books in fiction and non-fiction, published in 38 languages around the world. She is also an award-winning playwright, television writer/producer and filmmaker, with screen credits that include writer/director of the major motion picture of her debut novel Big Stone Gap, the adaptation of her novel, Very Valentine, and director of Then Came You. Adriana grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where she co-founded the Origin Project, an in-school, year-round writing program that serves more than 2,700 students in Appalachia. Adriana is proud to serve on the New York State Council on the Arts. She lives in New York City with her family.
The New York Times has called her a “comedy writer with a heart of gold.” The paperback edition of her latest bestselling historical novel, THE GOOD LEFT UNDONE was a People book of the week and a Read with Jenna Today show beach read when first released. Adriana also has a massively popular show on her Facebook page (with more than 100K followers) called Adriana Ink which has accumulated millions of views.
This talk will be moderated by Hellen Ellis, the author of five books including the national bestseller American Housewife and Southern Lady Code. She has published in Modern Love and Garden & Gun. She is a poker player and a plant lady. Raised in Alabama, she lives with her husband in New York City. Her new book Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge: Intimate Confessions from a Happy Marriage, will be published in June 2023.
We thank Locust Valley Bookstore for providing the books for this exciting event!
Long Island LitFest & Gold Coast Arts Center Present Susan Isaacs, IN PERSON
with best-selling author Meg Wolitzer
Tuesday, May 9, 2023, 7:30 pm
Your $45 ticket includes a copy of Bad, Bad Seymour Brown
Author Talk, Audience Q&A And Book Signing
NEW: Your name can become a character in Susan’s next novel! Look for a special “golden bookmark” in your copy of Bad, Bad Seymour Brown on entering Manhasset Cinema on May 9!
Meet bestselling author and Long Islander Susan Isaacs in her first in person appearance for her latest novel, Bad, Bad Seymour Brown!
New York Times-bestselling author Susan Isaacs’ female protagonists are her calling card. As Rachel Martin put it on NPR’s Weekend Edition, “The women who inhabit Isaacs’ books are smart, sexy, a little snarky, and filled with some serious chutzpah.”
Readers will now be thrilled by the return of two favorite characters, former FBI agent Corie Geller and her retired cop dad, in Bad, Bad Seymour Brown, in which they are tasked to solve one of the NYPD’s coldest homicide cases before the crime’s sole survivor is killed.
Susan Isaacs is the author of fourteen novels, including Takes One to Know One, As Husbands Go, Long Time No See, Any Place I Hang My Hat and Compromising Positions. A recipient of the Writers for Writers Award and the John Steinbeck Award, Isaacs serves as chairman of the board of Poets & Writers, and is a past president of Mystery Writers of America. Her fiction has been translated into 30 languages. She lives on Long Island with her husband.
Our moderator, Meg Wolitzer, is the New York Times bestselling author of many books, including The Ten-Year Nap, The Interestings, and The Female Persuasion. Her novel The Wife was made into the film starring Glenn Close, and the film version of her novel This Is My Life marked the directorial debut of Nora Ephron. Wolitzer is currently a member of the MFA faculty at SUNY Stony Brook, where she co-founded and co-directs BookEnds, a yearlong, non-credit intensive in writing novels. She was guest editor of The Best American Short Stories 2017, and is the host of the literary radio show and podcast Selected Shorts.
We thank Locust Valley Bookstore for providing the books for this exciting event!
Long Island LitFest & Newsday Live Present Lauren Fleshman
A free, virtual chat!
Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 7 pm
Join us and Newsday Live for a free virtual chat with Lauren Fleshman, as she tells us about her new book, Good for a Girl. Fleshman is one of the most decorated American distance runners of all time, having won five NCAA championships at Stanford and two national championships as a professional. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times and Runner’s World. She is the brand strategy advisor for Oiselle, a fitness apparel company for women, and the co-founder of Picky Bars, a natural food company. She lives in Bend, OR with her husband, triathlete Jesse Thomas, and their two children.
Please register in advance at Newsdaylive.com.
Long Island LitFest Presents Paulina Porizkova IN PERSON
with Christie Brinkley!
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT
Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 2:30 pm, Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington
Tickets are on sale now, $40/$45 non-members and include a copy of the book
Meet writer and supermodel Paulina Porizkova, who will talk with actress and supermodel Christie Brinkley about her amazing career, the complexities of womanhood at every age, and her intimate, introspective, and enlightening essay collection, No Filter: The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful. This event includes audience Q&A and book signings.
Born in Cold War Czechoslovakia, Porizkova’s first Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover was in 1984. As the face of Estée Lauder in 1989, she was one of the highest-paid models in the world, and when she was nineteen, she fell in love with The Cars front man Ric Ocasek. The decades to come would bring marriage, motherhood, a budding writing career; and later sadness, loneliness, and eventually divorce. Following her ex-husband’s death—and the revelation of a deep betrayal—Paulina stunned fans with her fierce vulnerability and disarming honesty as she let the whole world share in her experience of being a woman who must start over.
Porizkova has starred in 16 movies and a slew of TV shows as an actress, and she has served as part of the judging panel on Cycle 10 of America’s Next Top Model. Her debut novel, A Model Summer, was published in 2007. This is her nonfiction debut.
Please join us for this unique event!
Long Island LitFest & Newsday Live Present Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt
A free, virtual chat with Elisa DiStefano!
Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 7 pm
Long Island LitFest and Newsday Live Present Kevin Nealon
Join us for a free virtual talk on January 31, 2023 at 7 pm
Comedian and actor Kevin Nealon shares original full-color caricatures and funny, endearing personal essays about his famous friends in his latest book, I Exaggerate. Alongside his portraits and doodles from script margins and cocktail napkins, Nealon takes readers through his memories of everything from the set of Saturday Night Live with Chris Farley and Dana Carvey, to his idolization of James Taylor, the eulogy he gave at his dear friend Garry Shandling’s funeral, and much more. This is a charming and gorgeously illustrated project from a comedy all-star that is sure to delight.
This virtual talk is moderated by Newsday’s Rafer Guzman. Register at Newsdaylive.com.