Journalist and activist Herb Boyd discusses his new book, which covers such figures in Detroit history as abolitionist William Lambert, Motown founder Berry Gordy, the city’s first black mayor Coleman Young, and others.
7-9 p.m., AADL Downtown multipurpose rm. Free. 327-4200.
ToastMasters at SweetWaters is an opportunity to practice your personal and/or professional speaking as well as Leadership in a fun friendly atmosphere.
The club is open to everyone. Attendees have the opportunity to speak, give and receive feedback about speaking, presentations and current events.
We typically have 2-4 prepared speeches followed by (Kind and constructive evaluations) to provide feedback and growth. Attendees will have an opportunity for impromptu speaking as well.
Sweetwaters Cafe, 123 W Washington. Free. chrisjriley@hotmail.com
This Oakland University creative writing professor reads from and discusses his recent work. His short stories and comics blend the mundane with the fantastical, creating largely plausible narratives with small doses of the impossible.
7:30 p.m., Concordia University Kreft Center Recital Hall, 4090 Geddes. Free. 995-7389.
All-star storytelling showdown featuring the last 10 winners of the Ann Arbor Storyslams, the monthly open mike storytelling competitions sponsored by The Moth, the NYC-based nonprofit storytelling organization that also produces a weekly public radio show.
8 p.m., The Ark, 316 S. Main. $25 in advance at themoth.org and at the door. 761-1451.
Civil rights activists Brenda Travis and John Obee discuss their new book about Travis’ arrests in 1961 at age 16 for participating in a sit-in at a bus station and leading a walkout from her high school. She was released from jail the 2nd time on the condition that she leave Mississippi.
7-8:30 p.m., AADL Downtown multipurpose rm. Free. 327-4200.
Oct. 2 & 16. Open mike storytelling competition sponsored by The Moth, the NYC-based nonprofit storytelling organization that also produces a weekly public radio show. 10 storytellers are selected at random from among those who sign up to tell a 3-5 minute story on “Scandal” (Oct. 2) and “Disguises” (Oct. 16). The 3-person judging teams are recruited from the audience. Monthly winners compete in a semiannual Grand Slam. Space limited, so it’s smart to arrive early.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6 p.m.), Greyline, 100 N. Ashley. $10. 764-5118. [map]
Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich (the 1968 World Series MVP) and longtime Detroit News Tigers beat writer Tom Gage read from their new book based on interviews with players and personnel.
7-8:30 p.m., AADL Downtown 4th-floor meeting rm. Free. 327-4200.
ToastMasters at SweetWaters is an opportunity to practice your personal and/or professional speaking as well as Leadership in a fun friendly atmosphere.
The club is open to everyone. Attendees have the opportunity to speak, give and receive feedback about speaking, presentations and current events.
We typically have 2-4 prepared speeches followed by (Kind and constructive evaluations) to provide feedback and growth. Attendees will have an opportunity for impromptu speaking as well.
Sweetwaters Cafe, 123 W Washington. Free. chrisjriley@hotmail.com
Oct. 2 & 16. Open mike storytelling competition sponsored by The Moth, the NYC-based nonprofit storytelling organization that also produces a weekly public radio show. 10 storytellers are selected at random from among those who sign up to tell a 3-5 minute story on “Scandal” (Oct. 2) and “Disguises” (Oct. 16). The 3-person judging teams are recruited from the audience. Monthly winners compete in a semiannual Grand Slam. Space limited, so it’s smart to arrive early.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6 p.m.), Greyline, 100 N. Ashley. $10. 764-5118. [map]
Literati Bookstore is thrilled to welcome John Kerry to Ann Arbor as he reads and discusses his memoir, Every Day Is Extra. The Secretary will be in conversation with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell.
Tickets are general admission and include a hardcover copy of Every Day Is Extra, to be picked up at the venue the evening of the event. A Q&A and signing will follow. To reduce wait times for signing, there will be no personalizations and no posed photographs.
About Every Day Is Extra: John Kerry tells the story of his remarkable American life—from son of a diplomat to decorated Vietnam veteran, five-term United States senator, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, and Secretary of State for four years—a revealing memoir by a witness to some of the most important events of our recent history.
Every Day Is Extra is John Kerry’s candid personal story. A Yale graduate, Kerry enlisted in the US Navy in 1966, and served in Vietnam. He returned home highly decorated but disillusioned, and testified powerfully before Congress as a young veteran opposed to the war.
Kerry served as a prosecutor in Massachusetts, then as lieutenant governor, and was elected to the Senate in 1984, eventually serving five terms. In 2004 he was the Democratic presidential nominee and came within one state—Ohio—of winning. Kerry returned to the Senate, chaired the important Foreign Relations Committee, and succeeded Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State in 2013. In that position he tried to find peace in the Middle East; dealt with the Syrian civil war while combatting ISIS; and negotiated the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement.
Every Day Is Extra is Kerry’s passionate, insightful, sometimes funny, always moving account of his life. Kerry tells wonderful stories about colleagues Ted Kennedy and John McCain, as well as President Obama and other major figures. He writes movingly of recovering his faith while in the Senate, and deplores the hyper-partisanship that has infected Washington.
Few books convey as convincingly as this one the life of public service like that which John Kerry has lived for fifty years. Every Day Is Extra shows Kerry for the dedicated, witty, and authentic man that he is, and provides forceful testimony for the importance of diplomacy and American leadership to address the increasingly complex challenges of a more globalized world.
About John Kerry: John Forbes Kerry is a former Secretary of State and five-term US Senator. Kerry is the author of Every Day Is Extra, A Call to Service: My Vision for a Better America, The New War, and the best-selling This Moment on Earth. He is currently a Distinguished Fellow for Global Affairs at Yale University as well as the inaugural Visiting Distinguished Statesman for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, have two daughters, three sons, and seven grandchildren.
About Debbie Dingell: Congresswoman Debbie Dingell represents Michigan’s 12th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Recognized as one of the 25 hardest-working Members of Congress, Debbie is focused on forging bipartisan solutions that support Michigan’s families and economy, including improving long-term care and ushering in the future of the American auto industry. Before being elected to Congress, Debbie worked in the auto industry for more than three decades, where she was President of the General Motors (GM) Foundation and a senior executive responsible for public affairs. She was also Chairman of the Wayne State University (WSU) Board of Governors, and continues to fight to make education more affordable and accessible in Congress.