A Zoom Book Talk: “Expect Great Things!” by Vanda Krefft
We are pleased to welcome Vanda Krefft, author of Expect Great Things! How the Katharine Gibbs School Revolutionized the American Workplace for Women, in recognition of Women’s History Month, on Monday, March 24, at 7 pm via Zoom. Karen Heffner of Greenwich Pen Women will interview Ms. Krefft. The interview will be followed by a Q&A session.
Someone had to do it. In an era when women were supposed to marry young or, if they insisted on working, scrape by in low-paid, low-prestige jobs as teachers, nurses, and librarians, history was waiting for a woman who would stand up and say, No more. What history probably didn’t expect was that this woman would be a middle-aged, near-broke widow with two young sons to support and no work experience outside the home.
But that’s what history got: Katharine Gibbs, who had learned the hard way about the potentially calamitous risks of depending on a man financially. No more, she decided—not for her and not necessarily for any other woman. And so, in 1911, two years after her husband died in a freak accident, she started her school, which during the next five decades emerged as a major liberating force for American women. Trained as executive secretaries, they were encouraged and equipped at Gibbs to reach as high as they could dream. “Expect great things!” was both the school’s mission and motto.
Please join author Vanda Krefft and Karen Heffner of the Greenwich Pen Women as they discuss Katharine Gibbs’s extraordinary success story, the ground-breaking careers of Gibbs graduates, and the complex process of uncovering hidden history.
This is a Zoom program, and registration is required. Click here to register.
Reserve a copy of the book from our catalog, or click here to order a copy from Athena Books.
For more information, contact Judy Sgammato at 203-637-1066 x15 or judys@perrotlibrary.org.
Tree Doctors
You have questions, and we have answers! Join us for a panel discussion where experts are available to answer your questions about tree landscaping design, planting, care, and maintenance. This event is available in person and over Zoom. The panel will be hosted by Mark Greenwald, Greenwich Tree Conservancy board member and landscape architect, and include participation from: John R. Conte, licensed landscape architect, Greenwich Tree Conservancy board president, and vice chairman of the Architectural Review Committee; Allan Fenner, consulting arborist, Bartlett Tree Experts; and Dr. Gregory Kramer, superintendent of parks & trees and town tree warden, Town of Greenwich.
Registration is required for both the in-person event and the Zoom event. Click here to register.
Please submit questions for the Tree Doctors before the event using this form.
The in-person event will be held in the Program Room, Radcliffe Building, Perrot Memorial Library, from 7 to 8:30 pm on Wednesday, March 26.
For more information, contact Kate Dzikiewicz, executive director, Greenwich Tree Conservancy, at 203-622-7380 or at Kate@Greenwichtreeconservancy.com.
Perrot Library Celebrates National Poetry Month
Perrot Memorial Library will celebrate National Poetry Month on Wednesday, Apil 23, at 7 pm in our Program Room, Radcliffe Building. Poets Kevin Pilkington and Laurel Peterson will read selected poems from their respective collections.
Kevin Pilkington is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of ten poetry collections and two novels. His collection Spare Change was a National Poetry Book Series Award winner. His collection Ready to Eat the Sky was a finalist for an Independent Publishers Book Award. In the Eyes of a Dog won the 2011 New York Book Festival Award. His collection Where You Want To Be: New and Selected Poems, published by Black Lawrence Press, was a 2017 Independent Publishers Book Award medalist. His latest poetry collection, Playing Poker With Tennessee Williams, was published by Black Lawrence Press in 2021. His second novel, Taking On Secrets, was published by Blue Jade Press in 2022. His poetry has appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies throughout the country.
Laurel S. Peterson is a community college English professor whose poetry has been published in many literary journals. She has two poetry chapbooks, That’s the Way the Music Sounds (Finishing Line) and Talking to the Mirror (Last Automat), and two full-length collections, Do You Expect Your Art to Answer? and Daughter of Sky (Futurecycle). She has also written two mystery novels, Shadow Notes and The Fallen (Woodhall). She is a member of the Norwalk Public Library Board, and served as Norwalk (Connecticut) Poet Laureate from April 2016 to April 2019. You can find her on Substack at laurelspeterson.substack.com.
Registration is required. Click here to register.
For more information, contact Judy Sgammato at 203-637-1066 x15 or judys@perrolibrary.org.
