Renowned Orators Address Hot Topics

On Saturday, May 12, The East Hampton Library will launch the fourth annual “Tom Twomey Series” at 6 PM. The free lecture series kicks off with “Fake News, Real News, and Failing Upward at the New York Times.” Jim Rutenberg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times media columnist will be interviewed by Brooke Kroeger, a New York University journalism professor.

The series aims to balance topics ranging from local interest to national interest, including real estate, the economy, corporate culture, the media, life lessons, and the arts. The series will include seven programs over a six-month time period, May through October.

The series is inspired by and named after Tom Twomey, who was an integral part of the library for nearly 20 years. Joining in 1995, Twomey became President of East Hampton Library in 1998 and Chairman in 2006, until his unfortunate passing from a heart attack in 2014.

Chip Rae is the Tom Twomey Series Committee Chair and has been involved for the past three years. “In his last six months on the board, he wanted to figure out how to engage board members in what the library was doing. He came up with this idea of running a speaker series where each board member would be responsible for an event or program,” Rae described.

“When he passed away he left us money to run this, which pays for advertising, some refreshments, and printing the brochures. This year we have five or six board members involved. This year, more than ever, we’re realizing what his vision was,” Rae added.

An accomplished speaker is chosen to lead discussions in the library’s Baldwin Family Lecture Room. As the library hopes to draw in a crowd of all ages, this year there will be a craft brewery program featuring interviews and tastings from Montauk Brewing Company, Mustache Brewing Company, and Greenport Harbor Brewing Company. Average attendance ranges from 50 to 100 people, the highest being 125 last year, with water and the environment being the most popular topics in previous years.

East Hampton Library Director Dennis Fabiszak said, “We’re really excited to have [Starbucks Chairman] Howard Schultz speak. To our knowledge, he hasn’t done a talk like this on the East End, so that should be an interesting lecture to attend.”

The series schedule is as follows:

• Saturday, May 12, at 6 PM is “Fake News, Real News, and Failing Upward at the New York Times,” a conversation with Jim Rutenberg, New York Times media columnist
• Friday, June 22, at 6 PM is “Life Lessons and the Economic Outlook: Byron Wien Interviewed by Ron Baron” featuring renowned Wall Street strategist Wien interviewed by the Baron Funds CEO
• On Saturday, July 7, an illustrated lecture from 9:30 to 10:30 AM with Charlotte Frieze will be held on “Big Ideas for Small Gardens,” followed by self-led garden tours until 12:30 PM
• Friday, July 20, at 6 PM is “Craft Brewing Out East,” a panel discussion on the local craft beer boom with three leading East End brewers, followed by a complimentary tasting
• Friday, August 17, at 6 PM, “Building a Better Company” will feature Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz interviewed by New York Times journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin
• Saturday, September 15, at 6 PM will be “The Creeks: Epicenter of the 1950s Hamptons Arts Community,” a lecture led by artist and the Ossorio Foundation’s founding director, Mike Solomon
• Saturday, October 13, at 6 PM will be “The 2018 Tom Twomey Lecture in Local History: The Gardiner Family Legacy — Two Iconic Estates,” an illustrated lecture by library board members Bruce Collins and Chip Rae with an introduction by Richard Barons, East Hampton Historical Society

For more information, visit www.tomtwomeyseries.org.

@NikkiOnTheDaily
Nicole@indyeastend.com