Three to Five Year Old Story Time

Thursday March 7, 2013
10:00 AM
Come listen to stories with children your own age. We'll meet every Thursday morning through March 21st. You may register in person or by phone at 973-538-6161. Sponsored by The Friends of the Library.

Computer Savvy Seniors

Thursday March 7, 2013
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
This beginners program is for seniors with little or no experience using computers. The seven week series will begin with learning mouse skills and will include instruction in windows management, the keyboard, the internet, and email. This program is designed with beginners in mind and will include lots of review. Registration is required and is for the whole seven week program. Registration begins on Monday, January 7. Please call 973-538-2592.

Youth Advisory Council

Thursday March 7, 2013
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM
The Youth Advisory Council (Y.A.C.) is a library group that meets monthly for teens between 6th and 12th grade. We want your opinion on a variety of library decisions!

Y.A.C. gives you an opportunity to have your voice heard. Y.A.C. participants get to recommend books, movies, music and more. You will also have a say on what programs and events are held for teens.  The time you spend at Y.A.C. meetings can count as volunteer hours.  Come on by for one of our meetings and see for yourself!

Book Lovers' Circle

Thursday March 7, 2013
7:00 PM
Do you have a passion for reading and for books? Then come to our Book Lovers' Circle on the first Thursday of every month.

You will hear about the newest books available at the library, receive a reading list and have a chance to share your own favorites, both old and new. A great way to expand your reading horizons, meet other readers and have fun! Refreshments will be served.
 

The Trial of the Century: Examining the Lindbergh Kidnapping and the Growth of a New Kind of American Journalism

Thursday March 7, 2013
7:00 PM
Join us as two authors, both of fiction and non-fiction, provide a thought-provoking talk about the Lindbergh trial, the role of the media and how reporting has devolved to create the crime-saturated and celebrity-obsessed media we have today. With authors Mark Di Ionno and James Davidson.

Although it happened over 75 years ago, the trial of Bruno Hauptman and the alleged kidnapping of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. is conceivably the largest media event ever.

Learn about some fascinating real-life events from the kidnapping to the conspiracies that surrounded the whole affair that took place in NJ in the 1920s and 30s and how it lead to the birth of tabloid journalism and how Charles Lindbergh became the first “celebrity” to be hounded by the press.

This is a special opportunity to meet and greet with two authors on this fascinating subject. The first, is Star-Ledger columnist Mark Di Ionno whose debut novel is The Last Newspaperman, a gripping critique about present-day journalism which focuses on sensationalism and often irrelevant and superficial news coverage. Although Di Ionno’s new book is fiction, The Last Newspaperman explores the real roots of tabloid journalism where it was born, in New Jersey! The second, is historian and native Flemingtonian, James Davidson, who wrote a history of the whole affair with Mark Falzini called New Jersey’s Lindbergh Kidnapping and Trial. Davidson’s entire life has been intertwined with that of Charles Lindbergh, from living across the street from the Lindbergh home to amassing one of the largest collections of Lindberghiana in the nation. Both authors will have copies of their books for sale and for signing.

Many thanks to Tom Williams at Mendham Books for helping to organize this program.

Mark Di Ionno

Mark Di Ionno is a lifetime newspaperman and a four-time winner of the New Jersey Press Association’s first-place award for column writing for The Star-Ledger. His pieces have followed the most controversial Garden State stories including in recent years the Dharun Ravi trial and Governor James McGreevey’s resignation, both having fueled a tabloid frenzy. Besides his work as columnist and author, he is also an adjunct professor of journalism at his alma-mater Rutgers Newark, the State University of New Jersey. Di Ionno is the author of three award-winning nonfiction books. New Jersey’s Coastal Heritage and A Guide to New Jersey’s Revolutionary War Trail won the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance’s Author Award, which is judged by a consortium of librarians and historians. Backroads, New Jersey was named among the most notable New Jersey books (1995–2005) by the New Jersey Center for the Book. (Photo of Mark Di Ionna by Matt Rainey)

James Davidson

Jim Davidson’s entire life has been intertwined with that of Charles Lindbergh. Growing up in Flemington, he first encountered Lindbergh when his parents said they attended a Hauptmann execution party at the Stacy-Trent Hotel in Trenton the night of Bruno Richard Hauptmann’s electrocution. The execution was broadcast live on the radio and his father said the lights dimmed all over Trenton when the switch was pulled! Davidson met and personally knew William Allen (who found the Lindbergh baby) as well as Hauptmann’s attorney Lloyd Fisher, some of the jurors, and numerous others associated with the trial.

 Trained in history at Muhlenberg College and later Lehigh University for graduate work, he taught history at Hunterdon Central High School in Flemington. As historian for East Amwell, N.J. he writes a monthly history article for a local newsletter and gives numerous local history and Lindbergh talks.

This program is supported through funding from the Friends of the Morristown & Morris Township Library.