Dorothy Lazard at the New Parkway
Join celebrated Oakland librarian, public historian, and author Dorothy Lazard for a special evening celebrating the release of Behind the Desk at the Main: A Librarian's Memoir. Lazard will be joined by journalist and author Alexis Madrigal for a wide-ranging conversation about the enduring role of public libraries, the people who sustain them, and why these civic institutions matter more than ever.
Hosted at The New Parkway Theater in Oakland, with books provided by Nomadic Books in partnership with the Bay Area Book Festival, this event offers a rare opportunity to hear from one of Oakland's most beloved librarians as she reflects on two decades behind the scenes at Oakland's Main Library.
Drawing from stories in her new memoir, Lazard illuminates the often-unseen work of librarians—from helping patrons uncover family histories and navigate archives to fostering lifelong learning, cultural connection, and democratic access to information. She also explores the growing challenges facing libraries today, including censorship efforts, funding pressures, and the evolving role of public institutions in an increasingly polarized society.
Together, Lazard and Madrigal will discuss libraries as places of memory, possibility, and civic life, and consider what it means to protect these essential public spaces for future generations.
Following the conversation, Dorothy Lazard will sign copies of Behind the Desk at the Main, available for purchase from Nomadic Books.
Whether you're a devoted library lover, a history enthusiast, or simply curious about the hidden life of one of our most treasured public institutions, this promises to be an engaging and timely evening.
Dorothy Lazard is a writer, public historian, and former librarian. She is celebrated for her library career at the Oakland Main Library (especially at the Oakland History Center) and for her 2023 memoir, What You Don’t Know Will Make a Whole New World, that tells the story of her youth in the Bay Area of the 1960s and ’70s, connecting her early intellectual pursuits to the career that made her a community pillar.
Alexis Madrigal is a journalist in Oakland, California. He co-hosts KQED's current affairs show, Forum, and is a contributing writer at The Atlantic. Alexis spent many hours in the Oakland History Center while researching his book The Pacific Circuit : A Globalized Account of the Battle for the Soul of an American City, which explores how a logistical revolution that began in Oakland has reshaped American cities. He is also the proprietor of Local Economy, a community space in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood.
Dorothy Lazard at Books Inc.
Join celebrated librarian and public historian Dorothy Lazard at Books Inc. Alameda to celebrate her memoir, Behind the Desk at the Main!
Behind the Desk at the Main details the promise of public libraries in a fractured world.
Dorothy will be in conversation with Angela Dalton.
When Dorothy Lazard became a public librarian, she returned to the building that had shaped her life from childhood. At the flagship branch ("the Main") of the Oakland Public Library, she connected with her hometown to a degree that few people experience. Helping her fellow community members and ultimately becoming the keeper of Oakland's public history archives, she witnessed the joys and dilemmas that shape one of the most diverse cities in the US.
In Behind the Desk at the Main, Lazard takes readers through the day-to-day life of library work with love, wit, and candor. As the cracks in American society grow and our public institutions are strained to the breaking point, libraries remain the cherished containers of our ideals: They are places of curiosity, imagination, memory, and togetherness. Lazard reveals the pressures that library workers face—from economic crises to book bans and political upheaval—as they uphold these ideals in a fractured world.
Filled with humor and urgency, Behind the Desk at the Main is a testament to the power of books and community in a time of division.
Dorothy Lazard is a writer, public historian, and former librarian. She is celebrated for her library career at the Oakland Main Library and for her 2023 memoir, What You Don’t Know Will Make a Whole New World, that tells the story of her youth in the Bay Area of the 1960s and ’70s, connecting her early intellectual pursuits to the career that made her a community pillar.
Angela Dalton is a children’s book author living in Oakland, California. Her picture books include To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights, Ruby’s Reunion Day Dinner, Show the World!, and her award-winning debut, If You Look Up to the Sky. Visit her online at angeladalton.com.
Please join us!
Dave Perlis at Copperfield's Books
Marin native David Perlis launches Morning in Marin with a reading, conversation, audience Q&A and signing. Free; registration recommended.
Copperfield’s Books is delighted to welcome Marin County native David Perlis to Petaluma for the launch of his captivating debut novel, Morning in Marin —a poignant exploration of home, memory, identity, and the enduring pull of the places that shape us.
Join us for a special evening featuring a reading and intimate conversation followed by a live audience Q&A and book signing.
Free and open to all ages. Registration recommended for seating.
A
Cross the Golden Gate and enter the rollicking creative scene of midcentury Marin County, a fertile font of risk-takers and radical thinkers. In these misted hills, currents of art and philosophy swirl, giving rise to the seismic cultural awakening out of which Star Wars, Alan Watts, and the Grateful Dead all emerge. Marin is where Anna Halprin dances, Philip K Dick dreams, Gary Snyder circumambulates, and Janis Joplin hides. What made Marin such a galvanizing force of iconoclasm and counterculture: Was it the money, Mount Tamalpais, the acid trips? With a fresh voice steeped in local lore, David Perlis dips into parties on Sausalito houseboats, hangs around communes in West Marin, and introduces us to the visionaries who sowed the seeds of an organic inner revolution that bloomed into a global commercial empire--transforming Marin along the way as outsider elements became the consummate insiders. Blending pop culture, biography, and a deeply affectionate sense of place into an immersive narrative history, Morning in Marin traces a movement of Zen thinkers, Beat poets, mystic feminists, and psychedelic rockers from their radical beginnings through their crises and contradictions. Forging an unbroken chain from bohemians and Beats to New Age and New Hollywood, Perlis reveals how the people, places, and ideas of Marin combined to create a lasting American mythology.
Author: David Perlis is a writer, musician, and filmmaker from Marin County, California. For nearly a decade he co-hosted the late night talk show Night People on WFMU. He has worked for the New York Public Library and the American Museum of Natural History. He now lives in Corrales, New Mexico. Morning in Marin is his first book.
Dave Perlis at Mill Valley Historical Society
Between World War II and the 1980s, Marin County became the unlikely epicenter of a cultural awakening, one whose reverberations would be felt across the country and around the world. In his new book Morning in Marin: Zen, Drugs, and Ewoks on the California Coast, David Perlis delivers the first comprehensive narrative history of this awakening—what he calls the "Marinaissance."
In this talk, Perlis will delve into the early figures and cultural influences of this movement, which would give rise to Star Wars, the Grateful Dead, Alan Watts, and much more, seeding a creative revolution that would script the American imagination for generations.
David Perlis is a writer, musician, and filmmaker from Marin County, California. For nearly a decade he co-hosted the late night talk show Night People on WFMU. He has worked for the New York Public Library and the American Museum of Natural History. He now lives in Corrales, New Mexico. Morning in Marin is his first book.
Loralee Sepsey at Quiet Quail Books
Join Quiet Quail Books for an event featuring two Indigenous Children's Authors in conversation: Loralee Sepsey, author of Alice Piper Speaks Up and Desiree Wetz, author of Sitting Rock and the Rock that Became a Mountain.
No RSVP required.
1906 Commercenter E Suite 118
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Loralee Sepsey at Arvinda Book Co.
Join Arvinda Book Co for an event with Loralee Sepsey, co-author of Alice Piper Speaks Up.
This event is free with an RSVP.
Greg Sarris at the 222
Indigenous Voices Series: Greg Sarris, returns to THE 222 with more stories and passion for Sonoma County as he presents his new novel, The Last Human Bear. In conversation with Jane Ciabattari, he will share back stories about the area from an Indigenous perspective in this unforgettable tale inspired by the Native women elders who shaped Greg in his youth.
The novel's main character Mary Hatcher lives with a curse—or is it a power that could make her life whole? A Native Pomo woman who comes of age in 1930s California, Mary keeps trying to make sense of her enigmatic family. Strange rumors spread about her. Her stepmother may have taught her how to become a Human Bear, a shapeshifter who can menace and poison enemies. Two men may love her—or love who they think she is. A mystery even to herself, Mary learns to pass between Native and white societies, tenaciously carving her own path as an independent woman. But as she explores love and desire, family inherited and chosen, and the secrets of the natural world, one question gnaws at her: Is she fated to do harm? Wry and richly lyrical, The Last Human Bear follows Mary from the Great Depression to the twenty-first century, when she commits a haunting final act.
Terria Smith and Ursula Pike at Portland Literary Arts
Join Heyday authors Terria Smith and Ursula Pike for an event at Portland's Literary Arts bookstore in celebration of Terria's new memoir, I Love You So Many: A Native Memoir of Adventure, Culture.
I Love You So Many begins with a question: do other California Indians travel? After spending decades working in journalism and publishing to uplift and tell about the lives of Native people, Terria Smith turns her ear for story toward her own life. If travel writing is so often bound up with the complications and histories of settler colonialism, how do Indigenous folks interact with it? Following her journey from the Torres Martinzes Desert Cahuilla reservation to journalism school and beyond, I Love You So Many takes readers across North America on a journey of self-discovery, kinship, and adventure.
Sophie Wood Brinker at Point Reyes Books
Bolinas-based artist and illustrator Sophie Wood Brinker joins Point Reyes Books at the Dance Palace to celebrate the publication of her new book, Birds of Santa Cruz (Heyday Books). Lisa Olivera, author of When the Ache Remains, will serve as interlocutor.
This is a free event. No registration required.
This charming, full-color guide to the birds of Santa Cruz is infused with California coastal soul and the quiet fierceness of love one can only derive from ardent attention. Author-illustrator Sophie Wood Brinker profiles 25 species you're likely to spot hopping the sands or soaring overhead in Surf City, and shares what we can learn not only about them but from them. From the collective organizing of the Brown Pelican, to the community protection of the California Quail, to the Band-Tailed Pigeon flock that Wood Brinker likens to a mutual aid cooperative, these birds have stories to tell. Vivid hand-painted portraits accompanied by identification and song notes help everyone get to know their avian neighbors, with descriptions of each species that invoke reflections from Diane di Prima, Mary Oliver, and dreamers of all stripes. A joy to read and pore over, Birds of Santa Cruz shimmers with poetic sensibility and a conservationist ethos. Wood Brinker's findings, gleaned from patient observation, will enchant readers far beyond the city limits.
Sophie Wood Brinker (she/her) is a science illustrator who works with paint and pencil to communicate the brilliance and intricacy of the ecosystems that surround us. Her art scales from drawing the texture of butterfly wings to painting 15-foot protest banners. She also works in a small town library, helping spread library joy and community resources. As a Quaker, she grew up sitting in intergenerational circles hearing messages spoken out of silence. She has a BA in Peace and Global Studies from Earlham College and is a graduate of the Science Illustration Program at California State University, Monterey Bay. Wood Brinker grew up in Santa Cruz, California, on unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe, and lives in Bolinas, California, on unceded Coast Miwok territory. sophiewoodbrinker.com
Lisa Olivera is a writer, author, licensed psychotherapist, mother, and creator of the Human Stuff newsletter. Over the last decade, she has supported thousands of people in remembering their true selves and embracing the multitudes of being human. She has worked in schools, community-based mental health, and private practice, all of which inform her lens of the world. Lisa’s work has been highlighted in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Good Morning America, and The Guardian. She has appeared on many podcasts including Adoptees On, Hurry Slowly, and Off the Grid. Her debut book, Already Enough, was published in 2022. She lives in Northern California with her husband, daughter and two cats.
Sophie Wood Brinker at Point Reyes Books
Bolinas-based artist and illustrator Sophie Wood Brinker joins Point Reyes Books at the Dance Palace to celebrate the publication of her new book, Birds of Santa Cruz (Heyday Books). Lisa Olivera, author of When the Ache Remains, will serve as interlocutor.
This is a free event. No registration required.
Sophie Wood Brinker (she/her) is a science illustrator who works with paint and pencil to communicate the brilliance and intricacy of the ecosystems that surround us. Her art scales from drawing the texture of butterfly wings to painting 15-foot protest banners. She also works in a small town library, helping spread library joy and community resources. As a Quaker, she grew up sitting in intergenerational circles hearing messages spoken out of silence. She has a BA in Peace and Global Studies from Earlham College and is a graduate of the Science Illustration Program at California State University, Monterey Bay. Wood Brinker grew up in Santa Cruz, California, on unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe, and lives in Bolinas, California, on unceded Coast Miwok territory. sophiewoodbrinker.com
Lisa Olivera is a writer, author, licensed psychotherapist, mother, and creator of the Human Stuff newsletter. Over the last decade, she has supported thousands of people in remembering their true selves and embracing the multitudes of being human. She has worked in schools, community-based mental health, and private practice, all of which inform her lens of the world. Lisa’s work has been highlighted in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Good Morning America, and The Guardian. She has appeared on many podcasts including Adoptees On, Hurry Slowly, and Off the Grid. Her debut book, Already Enough, was published in 2022. She lives in Northern California with her husband, daughter and two cats.
Terria Smith at Bart's Books
Join Bart's Books in Ojai, CA for an event with Terria Smith in conversation with Weshoyot Alvitre celebrating the release of I Love You So Many: A Native Memoir of Adventure, Culture, and Family.
Growing up on the Torres Martinez Reservation in Southern California, Terria Smith longed for adventure. She became a journalist, hitting the road and reporting on the rich lives of Native people around the United States. As her hunger for travel grew, so did her understanding of community, and what it means to be a world citizen today. I Love You So Many—named after a favorite expression of her Spanish-speaking relatives—follows Smith from her ancestral homelands to Cuba, Iceland, Guyana, and back again. With exuberant, laugh-out-loud style she tells stories about forging profound friendships, falling in and out of love, and celebrating the determination that carried her through hard and heady times alike. She brings a fresh sensibility to travel writing, building enduring relationships with the people and cultures she visits. For Smith, travel is deeply rooted in Native traditions: It’s about sharing, reciprocity, risk-taking, and the valuable (and sometimes awkward) work of bridging and holding differences. As fun as it is poignant, I Love You So Many is an irresistible tribute to getting out and living a life in full.
Terria Smith is a tribal member of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians and a proud original Californian. She is the editor of News from Native California magazine and director of the Berkeley Roundhouse, Heyday’s California Indian publishing program. Smith is also the editor of the 2023 anthology Know We Are Here: Voices of Native California Resistance. She received her undergraduate degree at Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State University) and earned her master’s degree at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She lives on her ancestral homelands in the Coachella Valley with her puppy Havana.
Weshoyot Alvitre is a Tongva and Scottish comic book artist, writer and illustrator. She was born in the Santa Monica Mountains on the property of Satwiwa, a cultural center started by her father Art Alvitre. She grew up close to the land and raised with traditional knowledge that inspires the work she does today. Weshoyot has been working in the comics medium for over 15 years. Her work focuses on art and writing that visualizes historical material through an Indigenous lens. She has also contributed art response to contemporary Indigenous issues using pop-culture, sci-fi and archival research materials to spark conversations and re-frame colonial narratives. Her work has been featured in the anthologies of Moonshot Volumes 2 and 3, Deerwoman: An anthology, Imminent Cuisine the Zine, and Marvel Voices: Indigenous Voices. Alvitre has also received numerous awards for her childrens book illustrations in 'At The Mountains Base' (Kokila 2019) and 'Living Ghosts & Mischeivous Monsters' (Scholastic 2021). Alvitre’s current projects 'Toypurina: Our Lady of Sorrows' and 'Lone' focus on the re-telling of stories from her own tribal community, using historical fact, primary accounts and tribal knowledge to provide fuller representation of those from her Tongva history. Alvitre has made a conscious choice to work primarily within Native-owned publications and educational avenues, to further support a self-funded narrative on past, present and future native issues. It is through this voice, and through her artwork, she feels she is able to communicate her unique viewpoint and continue a strong dialogue on issues that are important to her as a Native woman.
Heyday Presents: Terria Smith at Clio's Books
Join Heyday for another installment of Heyday Presents*,* an ongoing conversation series presented in collaboration with Clio's Books.
Terria Smith's book I Love You So Many charts the intersection of travel and Indigeneity, telling Terria's journey from the Torres Martinez Reservation to the Cuban seaside and beyond. I Love You So Many is an ode to adventure and an account of what it means to leave one's comfort zone—and what can happen on the other side. She will be joined in conversation by fellow author Chris La Tray, whose 2024 book Becoming Little Shell (Milkweed Editions) recounts Chris' exploration of his family's past and his Native heritage, kept secret from him for years.
About the Speakers
Terria Smith is a tribal member of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians and a proud original Californian. She is the editor of News from Native California magazine and director of the Berkeley Roundhouse, Heyday’s California Indian publishing program. Smith is also the editor of the 2023 anthology Know We Are Here: Voices of Native California Resistance. She received her undergraduate degree at Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State University) and earned her master’s degree at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She lives on her ancestral homelands in the Coachella Valley with her puppy Havana.
Chris La Tray is a Métis storyteller, a descendent of the Pembina Band of the mighty Red River of the North, and an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, he is also the author of One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large, which won the 2018 Montana Book Award and a 2019 High Plains Book Award, as well as Descended from a Travel-Worn Satchel, a collection of haiku and haibun poetry. La Tray is the Montana Poet Laureate for 2023–2025 and a former bookseller at Fact & Fiction. He writes the weekly newsletter “An Irritable Métis” and lives near Frenchtown, Montana.
About Heyday Presents
This series is part of our Heyday Presents program. Heyday Presents features Heyday authors in conversation with notable luminaries and thought leaders. Heyday Members receive free VIP access to Heyday Presents program and a curation of our top new releases, among a host of other perks. Learn more about Heyday's Membership and becoming a member of Clio's Books as well.
