California Authors Night - 2004 Edition   Hunter Anderson photos at the bottom of the page

The twelfth annual California Authors night was produced by the Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District in cooperation with the CWC Mt. Diablo Branch at the Pleasant Hill Community Center. Three performers portrayed these authors -

Anaïs Nin is known internationally for her diary written in 1931 and 1932, in which one can find the genesis of her widely recognized erotic writings, collected in Delta of Venus and Little Birds. Born in Paris in 1903, she also lived in New York City and Los Angeles where she died in 1977. Nin is known for her fiery affair with Henry Miller, which liberated her sexually and morally. She will be performed by Pat Edwards, a former president of the Mt. Diablo Branch of the California Writers Club, who portrays Gertrude Stein, Helen Hunt Jackson, Lillian Hellman, Gertrude Atherton, Jessica Mitford, M.F.K. Fisher and Dorothy Parker on the road throughout Northern California.

Ayn Rand is equally reviled and exalted. This Russian-born author developed the philosophy of Objectivism. Rand, who lived in California from 1926 - 34 and from 1943 - 51, dramatized her beliefs through novels such as The Fountainhead (for which she also wrote the screenplay) and Atlas Shrugged, on which she struggled for some 17 years. Both books continue to sell over 100,000 copies a year. A Library of Congress survey cites Atlas Shrugged as the second most influential book right after the Bible. Author and journalist Beverly Lauderdale will become Rand. Previously she portrayed Alice Tisdale Hobart, Mary Austin, Jessamyn West, Kathleen Norris and Mary Hallock Foote

Raymond Chandler is acclaimed as the finest writer of American crime fiction. He's famous for his ‘hard-boiled school' detective mysteries starring his hero, Detective Philip Marlowe. Humphrey Bogart played him in the famous 1946 film adaptation of The Big Sleep. Chandler's other books include Farewell, My Lovely, The Lady In The Lake and the author's personal favorite, The Long Goodbye. Later film adaptations starred Alan Ladd, Robert Mitchum, Dick Powell, James Garner and Elliot Gould as Marlowe. Chandler revolutionized entertaining mysteries into social criticism. Actor and Director Dave Pinkham has become Herb Caen, Dashiell Hammett and William Saroyan for past Author Nights.

February 27th, 2004  Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320 Civic Dr. Net proceeds donated to the annual CWC Mt. Diablo Branch Young Writers Contest for Contra Costa Middle School Students.

 Pat Edwards (Anaïs Nin)     Bev Lauderdale (Ayn Rand)   Dave Pinkham (Raymond Chandler)
     

Director - Liz Pentacoff        Pianist - Fran Wojnar                         Kitten On The Keys
         

                                 Curtain Call

Intermission - Time for goodies!

 

 Previous Authors Nights
 

 Return to main page