Events this week (though two are already at capacity and two more are close to it): Allison Pataki, Amy and Dave Freeman, Jon M. Sweeney, Dan Egan, Patricia Skalka, Rhonda Leet, Robert K. Elder, Jamin Creed Rowan.

Please note that the following library events are full to capacity and are no longer taking reservations. If you have registered, please arrive by 15 minutes before start time to guarantee entry. Please note that it is likely that we will not be able to accommodate walk-ups at either event.

--Katherine Applegate for Endling: The Last on Tuesday, May 15 at the Greenfield Public Library. For more information, contact the Greenfield Public Library at (414) 321-9595. We hope to have signed copies after the event.

--Victoria Aveyard, author of War Storm, with special guests Brittany Cavallaro, and Lori M. Lee on Sunday, May 20 at Delafield Public Library. For more information, contact Books and Company at (262) 567-0106. Also please note that if you are attending, there are signing restrictions for this event.

Here's what else is going on.

Monday, May 14, 7:00 pm reception, 7:30 talk, at Lynden Sculpture Garden, 2145 W Brown Deer Rd in River Hills:
A ticketed event with Allison Pataki, author of Beauty in the Broken Places: A Memoir of Love, Faith, and Resilience

Please note, this event is now filled to capacity.

Please note that registration for this event is near capacity. If you are planning on attending, please register at lyndensculpturegarden.org/allisonpataki-2018 or call (414) 446-8794. Walk-ups may not be available for this event.

Milwaukee Reads presents Allison Pataki as a part of the Women’s Speaker Series at the Lynden Sculpture Garden, produced by Milwaukee Reads. Pataki, author of several historical novels including The Traitor's Wife and Sisi, now tells her own story, chronicling her husband's brush with death, his slow recovery, and how their relationship was affected by the experience.

From Allison Klein's Washington Post profile, reprinted in the Seattle Times: "Dave Levy leaned over and asked his wife (Pataki) if his eye looked strange. Pataki looked up. She watched as her 30-year-old husband had a stroke and lost consciousness while they were 35,000 feet in the air. The plane made an emergency landing in Fargo, North Dakota. Pataki spent the night in a hospital waiting area while doctors worked on her husband. She didn’t know if he’d ever wake up."

If you haven't been to the a Lynden Sculpture Garden event, know that the evening begins at 7 with a short reception Enjoy a glass of wine or light appetizers from MKE Localicious. The talk begins at 7:30. If it's not raining, you're welcome to walk the grounds. Tickets are $30, $25 for Lynden members, include a copy (autographed if you wish) of her new memoir, Beauty in the Broken Places, and are available at lyndensculpturegarden.org/AllisonPataki-2018 or by phone, at (414) 446-8794.

Monday, May 14, 7:00 pm, at Riverside Park Urban Ecology Center, 1500 E Park Place:
Amy and Dave Freeman, author of A Year in the Wilderness: Bearing Witness in the Boundary Waters

Amy and Dave Freeman are biking to DC from Ely, Minnesota in support of their new book and to continue to raise awareness of their efforts to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. They’re stopping in Milwaukee as they take their book and a petition of support over 1,750 miles across the country to the nation’s capital. Please note this event is pay what you can.

On September 23, 2015, Amy and Dave Freeman embarked on a yearlong adventure in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in support of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters to protect the Boundary Waters from sulfide-ore copper mining. They shared their year in the wilderness in their blogs with hundreds of thousands of concerned citizens. This book tells the story of their adventure in northern Minnesota: loons whistling under a moonrise, ice booming as it forms and cracks, a moose and her calf swimming across a misty lake.

With the magic, urgent message that has rallied an international audience to the campaign to save the Boundary Waters, A Year in the Wilderness is a rousing cry of witness activism and a stunning tribute to this singularly beautiful region. This stop on their cross-country trip is being held at the Riverside Park Urban Ecology Center. Admission is pay what you can.

Amy and Dave Freeman's expeditions have taken them over 30,000 miles by canoe, kayak, and dogsled through some of the world's wildest places, from the Amazon to the Arctic. National Geographic named Amy and Dave Adventurers of the Year in 2014 and their images, videos, and articles have been published by the Chicago Tribune, National Geographic, and Minnesota Public Radio.

Wednesday, May 16, 7:00 pm, at at All Saints Cathedral, 818 E Juneau Ave in Milwaukee: Jon M. Sweeney, author of Phyllis Tickle: A Life

Sweeney, a locally-based independent scholar who is also the publisher of Paraclete Press, presents his newest work of biography, Phillis Tickle: A Life. Sweeney was in active conversation with Phyllis Tickle at the time of her death about co-authoring her biography and is the official biographer of Tickle’s estate. This event is sponsored by All Saints Cathedral.

The founding editor of the Religion Department at Publishers Weekly, Tickle’s work influenced the growth of spiritual writing and interfaith understanding during the 1990s. By the time of her death in 2015, Phyllis Tickle was one of the most beloved and respected figures in American religious life. Sweeney examines Tickle’s personal and professional roots, from her family, and life on The Farm in Lucy, Tennessee, to her academic career and move into book publishing.

Sweeney also looks at pivotal relationships with John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg, and Brian McLaren, as well as her great influence on the increasing number who adopted fixed-hour prayer, the Episcopal Church as a whole, and the Emerging Church, for which she served as historian, forecaster, and champion. A look at her early, passionate advocacy for the LGBT community, lecture circuit controversies, and projects left unfinished completes the picture.

Jon M Sweeney is editor in chief and publisher of Paraclete Press and author/editor of more than 20 works of religious scholarship. His recent books include What I Am Living for: Lessons from the Life and Writings of Thomas Merton, Meister Eckhart's Book of the Heart: Meditations for the Restless Soul, and The Pope's Cat, a book for kids.

Thursday, May 17, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:
Patricia Skalka, author of Death Rides the Ferry

Patricia Skalka returns to Boswell for the latest installment in the mysterious Sheriff Dave Cubiak series, in which another Door County summer’s end is disturbed by a gruesome death, one that dredges the depth of Lake Michigan and draws up crimes from the past.

It’s a sparkling August day on Washington Island and the resonant notes of early classical music float on the breeze toward the sailboats and ferries that ply the waters of Death’s Door strait. After a forty-year absence, the Viola da Gamba Music Festival has returned to the picturesque isle on the tip of Wisconsin’s Door County peninsula. Sheriff Dave Cubiak enjoys a rare day off as tourists and a documentary film crew hover around the musicians.

The jubilant mood sours when an unidentified passenger is found dead on a ferry. Longtime residents recall with dismay the disastrous festival decades earlier, when another woman died and a valuable sixteenth-century instrument—the fabled yellow viol—vanished, never to be found. Cubiak follows a trail of murder, kidnapping, and false identity that leads back to the calamitous night of the twin tragedies. With the lives of those he holds most dear in peril, the sheriff pursues a ruthless killer into the stormy northern reaches of Lake Michigan.


Thursday, May 17, 7:00 pm, at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, 1111 E Brown Deer Rd in Bayside Dan Egan, author of The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

Please note that registration for this event is near capacity. If you are planning on attending, please register at (414) 352-2880, x0 today. Walk-ups may not be available for this event. This event is free with admission ($8) or membership to the Schlitz Audubon.

Dan Egan returns to Schlitz Audubon Nature Center for the paperback release of his compelling and nimble chronicle of the many man-made hazards threatening the world’s largest source of accessible fresh water. Boswell is cosponsor of this event.

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan’s compulsively readable portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come.

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes was recently awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History. Egan’s book is also the current pick for the PBS NewsHour – New York Times book club. In addition, UW-Madison just named The Death and Life of the Great Lakes the Go Big Read title for incoming freshmen.

Friday, May 18, 4:00 pm, at Boswell:
After-school storytime and activities with Rhonda Leet, author of Franny's Father Is a Feminist

DePere-based Leet appears at Boswell for an after-school afternoon of empowerment perfect for young feminists and parents alike, regardless of gender, with a sweet, straight-forward picture book that portrays the loving bond between a young girl and her father, who isn’t afraid of bucking gender norms to ensure that his daughter grows up smart, strong, and self-confident. We’ll have themed activity sheets before and after the event.

From Kirkus Reviews’ starred review: “Little readers learn what it means to be a feminist. As the title says, Franny’s father is a feminist. Feminists believe “that girls can do everything boys can do, and [that girls deserve] all the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities that” boys have. The book’s tone is informative rather than preachy, presenting feminism not as the only way to be but rather a sensible caregiving choice. An excellent primer on what feminism and allyship entail.”

Rhonda Leet grew up in Green Bay, and her passion for children’s books has grown from reading them to writing her debut picture book. A former educator, Rhonda believes all children deserve to thrive in the classroom and throughout their lives, regardless of their gender.

Friday, May 18, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:
Robert K. Elder, author of The Mixtape of My Life: A Do-It-Yourself Music Memoir

Mix up your own musical memoir at Boswell with Chicago-based author Elder. No matter which musical generation you belong to, from doo-wop to Daft Punk, The Mixtape of My Life is an instant conversation starter and a great way to rediscover the special tunes that played during key moments of your life. Elder provides more than 200 questions and prompts to help readers chronicle their lives through music and explore their personal soundtrack.

Evoking memories, stories, and long-forgotten mix tapes, this guided journal includes questions like "What was the first record you owned?" and "What song did you later realize was smutty?" and provides room to draw a favorite album cover or create the perfect road trip playlist. With dozens of quirky illustrations throughout, The Mixtape of My Life can be a great tool for your next dinner party, or simply something any music lover can enjoy for themselves.

Listen to Elder talk to Amy Guth on WGN's Saturday Night Special.

Robert K. Elder is the author of seven books, including 2016's Hidden Hemingway. His work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Salon. He has worked for Sun-Times Media and Crain Communications, and is the founder of Odd Hours Media.

Saturday, May 19, 2:30 walk, 4:30 talk, at Boswell:
Jane’s Walk presents Jamin Creed Rowan, author of The Sociable City: An American Intellectual Tradition

Jane’s Walk, MSOE Scholar’s Honor Program, and Boswell present an informative afternoon stroll through the city with author Jamin Creed Rowan, Assistant Professor of English and American Studies at Brigham Young University, and MSOE Associate Professor Michael Carriere. Walkers meet at Boswell at 2:30 pm for a guided walking tour through the East Side that will return to Boswell for Rowan’s 4:30 talk.

Registration for the walk is requested, at eventbrite.com/e/45170056856. And find out more about Jane’s Walk Milwaukee at janeswalkmke.com.

The Sociable City chronicles how, as the city's physical and social landscapes evolved over the course of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, urban intellectuals developed new vocabularies, narratives, and representational forms to explore and advocate for the social configurations made possible by urban living. Jamin Creed Rowan aims to better understand why we have built and governed cities in the ways we have, and to imagine an urban future that will effectively preserve and facilitate the interpersonal associations and social networks that city dwellers need to live manageable, equitable, and fulfilling lives.

Read Tom Daykin's story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the Jane's Walk on the High Rise Bridge that previewed development plans below on the old Kneeland Properties.

And more about other Boswell upcoming events here.

Photo credits:
--Allison Pataki and Dave Levy credit Beatrice Copeland
--Amy and Dave Freeman credit Nate Ptacek
--Dan Egan credit Sara Egan
--Robert K. Elder credit Greg Rothstein