January 29: Playwright Sean O'Leary

Lunch With Books to Welcome Playwright with Local Ties

Playwright Sean O’Leary will visit Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, January 29 at noon. Sean has written five plays, four of them produced professionally. VALU-MART, is the 2007 winner of The University of Alabama at Birmingham's Ruby Lloyd Apsey Award for plays confronting racial and ethnic issues. VALU-MART is also the winner of the 2007 Best Play award from the West Virginia Writers Conference and was a finalist in the National Arts Club's 2006 Playwrights First competition. BENEATH SHELTON LAUREL was commissioned by The Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre where it played for 20 consecutive sold-out performances and won a National Endowment for the Arts "Access to Artistic Excellence" grant. POUND, about the poet Ezra Pound, premiered at The Washington Stage Guild in Washington, DC and recently won the Ostrander Award as Best New Play of the 2006 – 2007 theatre season in Memphis. POUND has had five other productions. RAIN IN THE HOLLOWS received its professional premiere at Tri-State Actors Theater in New Jersey and has gone on to numerous productions as well. Between them POUND and RAIN have won or been finalists in more than a dozen national playwriting competitions. Sean's first play, WINE TO BLOOD was produced by Oglebay Institute's Towngate Theatre and selected by Brandeis University for its permanent collection of works inspired by the Spanish Civil War. Sean is a winner of the West Virginia Commission on The Arts Fellowship for Drama and is listed on The Literary Map of West Virginia. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America and the Playwrights Forum of Washington, DC. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Wheeling's Glass Industry

Book Review: Michael Owens and the Glass Industry

On Tuesday, January 22nd at noon join local historian Margaret Brennan for a review of Michael Owens and the Glass Industry by Quentin Skrabec. Michael Owens was a glass industry pioneer who honed his craft at J.H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company in Wheeling, where he became a master glassblower. His innovations in automated glass bottle production helped eliminate the scourge of child labor in turn of the century glass factories. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Next Tuesday!

Jan 15th 2008, History Alive: Victoria Woodhull

Long before Hillary Clinton, there was Victoria Woodhull. Portrayed by Betty Leavengood, Woodhull was the first female candidate for president of the United States, and she will visit the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books Program on Tuesday, January 15th at noon. The History Alive program is sponsored by the West Virginia Humanities Council. Woodhull ran against Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 as the nominee of the Equal Rights Party. Woodhull was a staunch advocate for social reforms and equality for women, including the right to vote. Her views on marriage were seen by some as too radical and led to rivalries within the suffrage movement. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

John Billheimer Photos

Here are some photographs from John Billheimer's January 8 Lunch With Books appearance. Billheimer spoke to an audience of 45 about his new books, Stonewall Jackson's Elbow and Baseball and the Blame Game.

Author John Billheimer to Visit Library

Nationally known author John Billheimer, a native West Virginian, will appear at the Ohio County Public Library’s Lunch With Books program on Tuesday, January 8 at noon. The coalfields of his native state inspired his first novel, THE CONTRARY BLUES, the first book in a mystery series set in Appalachia. The second book in the series, HIGHWAY ROBBERY, explores West Virginia roadbuilding scandals, while the third, DISMAL MOUNTAIN, covers strip mining. The fourth, DRYBONE HOLLOW, deals with the false claims and scams that follow in the wake of a devastating flood, while the most recent, STONEWALL JACKSON’S ELBOW, tracks the aftermath of a bank fraud. Billheimer has also published a non-fiction book on baseball scapegoats called BASEBALL AND THE BLAME GAME. The author is currently teaching a series of courses on “The Modern Mystery in Film and Print” as part of Stanford University’s Continuing Studies Program. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

December 18th at NOON

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Celebrate the Holiday Season with the Madison School Choir as they sing a selection of Christmas favorites.

BICYCLING IN DECEMBER

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE TO RIDE

On Tuesday, December 11, Pittsburgh resident and former Wheeling teacher Jim Joyce will present a tribute to the bicycle by and for those who ride. Joyce is the editor of a new book called The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom, & Wanderings. It is a celebration of the bicycle by people who love to ride—a tribute to one of the finest, most efficient, useful machines ever invented. The book is packed with original stories, narratives and cartoons from a talented corps of writers and cartoonists, covering cycling fact, humor, recollection, commentary, or prediction, not only in the U.S., but also in Europe and North Africa. Editor Jim Joyce is the founder of Bikexchange.com. He contributes several of his own stories to the book, and plans to donate 15% of his royalties in equal shares to SoldierRide, the League of American Bicyclists, and the United States Association of Blind Athletes’ tandem cycling program. Published by Satya House Publications, The Bicycle Book will be available November 2007 via http://www.satyahouse.com/. Copies of the book will also be available for purchase and signing at Lunch With Books. Schedules permitting, Jim will be joined by Andy Wallen of Wheelcraft Bicycles, book contributor and Wheeling attorney Jay T. McCamic, and Wheeling area graphic artist Kate O'Kelley. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.