Rachel Simon (1)

***** TIME TBD -- CALL FOR DETAILS, (770) 650-READ (7323) ***** New York Times bestselling author of RIDING THE BUS WITH MY SISTER, BUILDING A HOME WITH MY HUSBAND, and others, has written a love story about a developmentally disabled couple. In the late 1960s, Lynnie, a young white woman with limited ... (more)speech, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are placed at the Pennsylvania State School for the Incurable and Feebleminded. Despite the poor living conditions, abusive staff members, strict rules, and a language barrier, Lynnie and Homan fall in love. They escape the institution to a farmhouse owned by Martha, a retired schoolteacher, where Lynnie gives birth to their child, Julia, whom they leave with Martha when Lynnie is apprehended and returned to the school. Although their lives diverge and unfold in different ways, their short time together nurtures Lynnie and Homan over the years as they develop confidence, learn to sign and speak and finally reunite.

***** TIME TBD -- CALL FOR DETAILS, (404) 486-0307 ***** New York Times bestselling author of RIDING THE BUS WITH MY SISTER, BUILDING A HOME WITH MY HUSBAND, and others, has written a love story about a developmentally disabled couple. In the late 1960s, Lynnie, a young white woman with limited speech, ... (more)and Homan, an African American deaf man, are placed at the Pennsylvania State School for the Incurable and Feebleminded. Despite the poor living conditions, abusive staff members, strict rules, and a language barrier, Lynnie and Homan fall in love. They escape the institution to a farmhouse owned by Martha, a retired schoolteacher, where Lynnie gives birth to their child, Julia, whom they leave with Martha when Lynnie is apprehended and returned to the school. Although their lives diverge and unfold in different ways, their short time together nurtures Lynnie and Homan over the years as they develop confidence, learn to sign and speak and finally reunite.

It is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution, the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, and have been left to languish, forgotten. Deeply in love, they escape, and find refuge in the farmhouse ... (more)of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. But the couple is not alone-Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them that same night, Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. But before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers two words to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the 40-year epic journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia-lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love. Rachel Simon is an award-winning author and nationally known public speaker. She is best known for her critically acclaimed, bestselling memoir Riding The Bus with My Sister, which was adapted for a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie of the same name. The book has garnered numerous awards, and is a frequent and much beloved selection of many book clubs, school reading programs, and city-wide reads throughout the country.

Join queer feminist poet and Chicago native Rachel M. Simon (THEORY OF ORANGE), to celebrate the publication of her second book, MARGINAL ROAD, a collection that moves from the real to the surreal and back. Simon teaches Gender Studies and writing at SUNY Purchase College and at a maximum security prison ... (more)for women in New York.