Ben Bradlee Jr. Coming to Marlborough Library May 14

Renowned Special Guest Author Ben Bradlee Jr., author of “The Kid - The Immortal Life of Ted Williams," and former Boston Globe reporter and editor will be appearing on Wednesday, May 14, at 7 PM at the Marlborough Public Library for The Friends of the Marlborough Public Library’s “2014 McConnell Author/Celebrity Series No. 31,” Hosted by Alyson Cox!! 

Ben will be the third of four blockbuster timely authors scheduled for this 31st year series in the Bigelow Auditorium, Marlborough Public Library, 35 West Main St., Marlborough. Admission is free, open to the public and the auditorium is full handicapped accessible. Ben will autograph his new bestselling book “The Kid“for you. His book will be on sale the evening of the program.

Ben Bradlee, Jr. spent 25 years, from 1979 to 2004, with The Boston Globe – 10 years as a reporter and 15 as an editor.  As a deputy managing editor, Bradlee oversaw the Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, and also supervised the production of a book on the subject, Betrayal, which Little, Brown published to critical acclaim in June, 2002.  As a reporter, Bradlee served on the Spotlight Team, at the State House bureau, and as the paper’s roving national correspondent.  He covered the 1988 presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis and also reported overseas for the Globe from Afghanistan, South Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Vietnam. 

Bradlee has written three previous books.  His first was Ambush Murders, published in 1979, and later made into a television movie for CBS.  He was co-author of Prophet of Blood, which explored the interplay between sex, violence and religion in an offshoot of the Mormon Church, published in 1981.  Bradlee’s third book was Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North, the basis for a four-hour television mini-series which aired on CBS in May of 1989.

The Kid:  The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, published in December 2013, is a current New York Times Best Seller.  The Boston Globe says the books is “packed with great moments,” The Wall Street Journal called it “superb,” and The New York Times Book Review said, “Bradlee's expansiveness enables his book to transcend the familiar limits of the sports bio and to become instead a hard-to-put-down account of a fascinating American life. It's a story about athletic greatness but also about the perils of fame and celebrity, the corrosiveness of money and the way the cycle of familial resentment and disappointment plays itself out generation after generation.”

Bradlee has three children.  He and his wife Janice live outside Boston.

Alyson Cox holds a Master of Library Science from Southern Connecticut State University. She has worked in children’s and teen ser­vices in Massachusetts libraries including the Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy, the Abbot Public Library in Marblehead, and the Northbor­ough Free Library. Most recently, she held the position of Teen Services Librarian in Marlborough.

Alyson’s experience interviewing authors began when she fearlessly cold-called her idol, teen literature pioneer Robert Cormier, in 1997. What ensued was a lively discussion of The Chocolate War for her teen book group with the author himself. She was hooked! 

Since then, she has been sharing the talents of various children’s performers with church and library audiences. Along the way, she has hosted writers such as Deborah Savage, Alex Packer, and Newbury Honor winner Alan Armstrong.

The Author Series programs are funded and sponsored in part by grants from the Ezra Cutting Trust-- Bank of American Trustee; the Marlborough Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; The Friends Memorial Fund established by an anonymous donor of $25,000; A Gift from Cummings Properties in Honor of Ginger Ryan and the Brigham Family Trust and Major Media Sponsor MetroWest Daily News and the Marlborough Enterprise.  Thanks to Richard Lodge, Editor-in-Chief of the Marlborough Enterprise and Kristen Mello for their assistance in making the Series possible.  Also thanks to the Tatnuck Bookseller of Westborough, Charlie Napoleon, Manager, for his assistance also. Thanks to Dan Guindon, General Manager, and Mike Lawton of WMCT-TV Channel 8-Marlborough for the taping of the Series and airing the programs on Channel 8.

The remaining blockbuster author to appear for The Friends Author Series is William Martin, author of “The Lincoln Letter” on the rescheduled date of Wed., June 4th at 7 PM.

For further information on the Author Series, please call 413-648-9663 or email: rajohnson736@gmail.com or go on-line to:  mpl-riends.org.

Submitted by the Friends of the Marlborough Public Library.