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History Mysteries with Mystery Authors Carrie Bebris, Susanna Calkins, Anna Lee Huber, and Sam Thomas
Mystery buffs will marvel at this panel of award-winning historical mystery authors, each with a brand new mystery book that has just been released!
Robin Agnew of Aunt Agatha’s Mystery Bookshop moderated this event, which will included opportunities for audience questions.
Panelists included:
• Award-winning author Carrie Bebris, author of the critically acclaimed Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery series (the further adventures of Jane Austen’s most beloved characters) is also a life member and regional coordinator of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Her seventh book in the Jane Austen-based series, The Suspicion At Sanditon, finds Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy have moved to Sanditon, the setting of Jane Austen’s final work. They have barely settled into their lodgings when they receive an unexpected dinner invitation from Lady Denham, one of the town’s most prominent residents. Thirteen guests assemble at Sanditon House—but their hostess never appears. The Darcys, like most of their fellow attendees, speculate that one of her ladyship’s would-be heirs has grown impatient … but then the guests start to vanish one by one.
• Susanna Calkins is the author of the award-winning Lucy Campion novels, which are set in 17th century London, a time period that gives Calkins the ability to write about both the plague and the Great Fire. Her main character, Lucy, began the series as a chambermaid, but in this third novel, The Masque of a Murderer, Lucy is working as a bookseller's apprentice, selling broadsides with her fellow apprentice on the streets of London. On a freezing winter afternoon in 1667, she accompanies the magistrate's daughter, Sarah, to the home of a severely injured Quaker man to record his dying words, a common practice of the time. The Quaker, having been trampled by a horse and cart the night before, has only a few hours to live and Lucy is unprepared for what he reveals to her — that someone deliberately pushed him into the path of the horse, because of a mysterious secret he had uncovered.
• Anna Lee Huber is the award-winning and national bestselling author of the Lady Darby Mystery series, set in Scotland in the 1830’s. In A Study In Death, the fourth riveting mystery in the series, Lady Kiera Darby is commissioned to paint the portrait of Lady Drummond, but is saddened when she recognizes the pain in the baroness’s eyes. Lord Drummond is a brute, and his brusque treatment of his wife forces Kiera to think of the torment caused by her own late husband. When she finds Lady Drummond prostrate on the floor, the physician is called and Lord Drummond appears satisfied to rule her death natural. However, Kiera is convinced that poison is the culprit and intends to discover the truth behind the baroness’s death, no matter who stands in her way.
• Historian and teacher Sam Thomas is the author of the Bridget Hodgson series, set in 17th century York. All of the mysteries in the series focus on Bridget's work as a midwife. His latest novel, The Witch Hunter’s Tale, finds the Puritans scouring the British countryside for witches with often heartbreaking consequences. As women and children sicken and die, midwife Bridget Hodgson is pulled against her will into a full-scale witch-hunt that threatens to devour all in its path, guilty and innocent alike. As the trials begin, and the noose begins to tighten around her neck, Bridget must answer the question: How far will she go to protect the people she loves?
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Poets & Patriots: A Tuneful History of the United States Through The Tale of Francis Scott Key’s Most Famous Song
The story of “The Star-Spangled Banner” is the story of the United States itself. The melody was famously set to new words by amateur poet and lawyer Francis Scott Key after the Battle of Baltimore in 1814.
Since the “dawn’s early light” on that now emblematic day, the song has grown and changed in ways largely forgotten today. This lecture and discussion by U-M Associate Professor of Musicology and American Culture Mark Clague explores the history of the American national anthem as a witness to the story of the nation itself.
Mark Clague is a native of Ann Arbor and longtime fan of the Ann Arbor District Library. He serves as Associate Professor of Musicology and American Culture at the University of Michigan and is editor-in-chief of the George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition and director of the University’s Gershwin Initiative.
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Researching Your Home's History
Wonder what secrets your house may hold? Who lived there 25, 50, or even 100 years ago?
Join Patrick McCauley, co-author of Historic Ann Arbor: an Architectural Guide as he walks you though his own experience as a researcher. Along with the considerable research required for his book, McCauley spent years doggedly uncovering his own home's history, and has plenty of guidance, tips and advice.
Whether you're just starting to dig into your work, or already an bit of researcher, McCauley will relate a few of his own research scenarios and share resources, extract lessons and highlight useful tips that you can use in your own historical hunt. Copies of Historic Ann Arbor will be available for sale and signing at the event.
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The Star-Spangled Bannercast with Mark Clague: Alternate Lyrics for the Banner
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of The Star-Spangled Banner, UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance Professor Mark Clague talks with us about the banner and its place in the tradition of broadside ballads.
In this Bannercast, Mark discusses the lyrics of the anthem, with special focus on the verses of the original song that are no longer commonly sung.
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AADL Talks to Mark Clague: The Musical Changes to Our Banner
In celebration of the 200th anniversary year of The Star Spangled Banner, UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance Professor Mark Clague talks with us about musical changes to our national anthem over time.
The celebration continues at your downtown library with Banner Moments: The National Anthem in American Life - an exhibit that illustrates through interpretive panels, historical documents and photographs, the cultural 200-year history of “The Star-Spangled Banner” from June 14, 2015 through August 30, 2015 in the Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
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The Star-Spangled Bannercast with Mark Clague: The Banner at War
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of The Star-Spangled Banner, UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance Professor Mark Clague talks with us about our national anthem during wartime start with the war of 1812.
In this Bannercast edition, Mark traces the role that music, and especially The Star-Spangled Banner, played in the United States military conflicts, starting with the War of 1812, and traveling through years when the anthem and its various versions were embraced for their patriotism and message.
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The Star-Spangled Bannercast with Mark Clague: Translating Our Anthem
In celebration of the 200th anniversary, of The Star-Spangled Banner, UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance Professor Mark Clague talks with us about the controversy surrounding translations of our national anthem.
This Bannercast features a conversation about the challenges of translating a national anthem, and capturing the nuances of meaning that make The Star-Spangled Banner such an expressive song.
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The Star-Spangled Bannercast with Mark Clague: Writing Our Anthem
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of The Star-Spangled Banner, UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance Professor Mark Clague talks with us about Francis Scott Key and the writing of our national anthem.
In this Bannercast, Mark shares the story of The Star-Spangled Banner's author and his shipboard seat for the Battle of Fort McHenry, during which he wrote the anthem. Mark discusses the events surrounding the writing of the song, as well as the manner in which it was distributed and how it grew in popularity.
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The Star-Spangled Bannercast with Mark Clague: Jimi's Banners
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of The Star-Spangled Banner, UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance Professor Mark Clague talks with us about Jimi Hendrix and his personal relationship with our nation anthem.
Mark discusses one of the most famous national anthem performances of all time in this Bannercast, recounting the story of Jimi Hendrix's rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner at the Woodstock music festival. He elaborates on the significance of this performance, its creativity and craft, as well as the intent behind it. For more from Mark on this iconic Banner moment, see his article "'This is America' : Jimi Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner Journey as Psychedelic Citizenship" in the November 2014 volume of the Journal of the Society for American Music.