Bestselling non-fiction author and Salon founder David Talbot and professor/Forum host Michael Krasny will take center-stage at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center on May 21 for a rare and intimate author talk. The event is a fundraiser for the SCCC, a vibrant touchstone for local cultural events, and a pivotal SebDocs partner.
Talbot is the New York Times-best selling author of The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA and the Rise of America’s Secret Government, Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love, which examines San Francisco’s wild era (1960s-80s), and Between Heaven and Hell, a memoir about his 2017 stroke. His most recent book, By the Light of Burning Dreams: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Second American Revolution, written with this sister, The New Yorker journalist Margaret Talbot, won the Northern California Book Award for General Nonfiction and was named the Best Nonfiction Book of 2021 by the Northern California Book Reviewers. The book uses seven critical moments from the 1960s-70s to render a gripping history of this turbulent era of American history with parallels in the present.
Talbot is also known for the impact he has had in elevating the status of online journalism, founding Salon in 1995. Before Salon, he worked as a senior editor of Mother Jones magazine and as a features editor at the Hearst-owned San Francisco Examiner. Talbot recently penned a screenplay for director Oliver Stone and is currently writing a fictional serial for Will Hearst’s Alta journal, based on his father Lyle Talbot’s storied journey with other Warner Brothers stars to Franklin Roosevelt’s 1933 inauguration.
Michael Krasny, PhD, is an author, broadcaster and academic, who recently retired as Professor Emeritus of English at San Francisco State. Krasny hosted KQED’s popular regional program Forum for almost 25 years before stepping away in early 2021. At Forum, he was the recipient of many awards and interviewed most of the nation’s leading writers, politicians and thinkers. He is the author of a number of books, including Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life, Spiritual Envy: An Agnostic’s Quest, and Let There Be Laughter: A Treasury of Great Jewish Humor and What It All Means.
The Author Talk is an intimate fundraiser for the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center, the conversation, itself, will take place at the facility’s Main Hall on Sunday, May 21 from 5:45-7 p.m. and is covered by a General Admission ticket ($35). However, a VIP experience ($150) is also available and includes a pre-talk event at 4 p.m. in the SCCC Annex, as well as VIP seating during the Main Hall talk, and a signed copy of a David Talbot book. For tickets and additional information, visit the SCCC Author Talk event website.