Join us as we welcome author Tim Spofford for a conversation about his new book What The Children Told Us. Tim will discuss the lives and work of Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark, including Clark/Phipps genealogy (guided by vintage family photos), the Doctors’ famous Doll Test, and their roles as Black activists, humanitarians and intellectualists in Springfield, MA and nationally.
This event is drop-in and masks will be required.
Author Bio:
Tim Spofford’s writing career was inspired by the May 1970 slayings on the Kent and Jackson State campuses amid antiwar unrest. He wrote Lynch Street, the only book about the black students slain in Mississippi. A writing career focused on racial issues in education followed the completion of his first book.
For seven years, Spofford covered educational policymaking for the Albany Times Union, including at the NYS Education Department, the NYS Legislature and the 64-campus State University of New York system. He often interviewed Kenneth Clark, a policymaker on the NYS Board of Regents.
Spofford has taught writing and journalism in schools and colleges and has a Doctor of Arts in English degree from the State University at Albany. He’s published articles in the New York Times, Newsday, Mother Jones, Columbia Journalism Review and other publications. He also worked as a copy editor, most recently at the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, where he coached young editors. Spofford is an avid but unaccomplished hiker, swimmer and landscaper. He lives with his wife, Barbara, in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Lee, Massachusetts.
Join local artist Dave Wallace (incendavery.com) to learn about their process for creating diary comics, and turn your own life into a work of art! Dave will lead participants through exercises that incorporate free writing, character creation, and scripting, before helping us put it all together into a finished comic. Space is limited for this in-person event, so please contact the Youth Department to register. Recommended for ages 9 and up.
The Book Sale is BACK, out on the Library Lawn! Come score bargains galore and help the Emily’s Friends of the Library do what they do best–support Library programs and projects!
Donations for the sale will be accepted at the Library through Saturday, October 1st. Please refer to our materials donation policy to learn what we can accept, and bring all donations to a staff member to evaluate.
If you are interested in volunteering at the sale, or helping to make it happen, please email kschapiro@ewmlibrary.org.