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***** 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.

Free and Open to the Public. This is the charming real-life fairy tale of an American secretary who discovers she has been chosen king of an impoverished fishing village on the west coast of Africa. At 4am on a hot August night in 2008, Peggielene Bartels was startled awake by a call from a cousin in ... (more)Ghana. He was bursting with incredible news: Peggy's uncle, the king of a beautiful fishing village on Ghana's central coast, had died, and a series of sacred rituals performed by the council of elders have revealed Peggy to be the next king of Otuam. Thinking it was a practical joke, she almost hung up. After all, even if it were true, she was hardly fit to be king: an American citizen working as a secretary at the Ghanaian embassy in Washington, D.C., juggling bills, weight issues, and heartbreak? Not to mention the fact that she was a woman! But her cousin insisted he was serious, and in an instant, her life was forever changed.

Lilly Ledbetter, who has become a celebrated icon for women facing daily salary discrimination and sexual harassment issues, will present a lecture on her new book, ”Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond.” The book is the courageous woman at the center of the ... (more)historic legal discrimination case that inspired the Obama administration’s Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, the first piece of legislation passed under President Obama's tenure. She remains a tireless advocate for change, urging women all over the country to press their own cases for equality and civil rights. We are pleased to present her program and hope that women young and old will join us in Presser Hall at Agnes Scott College in Decatur.

Prize-winning novelist Anne Lamott, the author of more than a dozen bestselling books, pays us a visit with a surprising and delightful new nonfiction work, ”Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son.” It is a vibrant, sweet and often funny account of a new and unexpected chapter ... (more)in her life: grandmotherhood. Stunned to learn that her son Sam is about to become a father at the age of 19, Lamott kept a journal about the first year of her grandson’s life. It is full of wonderful, moving details that every parent and grandparent will understand and appreciate, as Lamott describes how relationships throughout her family change and evolve. Can a baby change a family forever? You bet -- and you won’t want to miss the author’s take on this. We’ll have copies of the new book and some of her past novels as well for sale and signing at this free event. (No tickets or reservations required.)

***** UPDATED ***** Fees: Member $15.00; Non-Member $22.00. For more info contact: Shanna Levy, (678) 812-4079. Dr. Gupta makes a house call to the MJCCA to chat with CNN Senior Medical Correspondent ELIZABETH COHEN about his exciting, new thriller, Monday Mornings. Upfront & Unscripted with Elizabeth ... (more)Cohen, CNN Sr. Medical Correspondent: The MJCCA’s Upfront & Unscripted is a unique program of spontaneous, thought-provoking discussion between two luminaries of the medical world.