University of Scranton Plans Award for New York Times Best-selling Author

Mar 4, 2011

The University of Scranton’s Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library will honor Steve Berry, a New York Times Best-Selling author, with the 2011 Royden B. Davis, S.J., Distinguished Author Award on Saturday, March 19. Area residents can attend a 5 p.m. reception in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the Patrick and Margaret DeNaples Center, followed by dinner and an award ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are required to attend the event, which supports the Friends of the Library Endowment Fund.

According to Charles Kratz, dean of the library and information fluency, the Distinguished Author Award Series began with the Friends of the Weinberg Library’s desire to recognize and honor the work of fiction and non-fiction authors. The Friends also saw it as an opportunity for authors to share their literary pursuits and impressions with residents of northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Distinguished Author Award was named for the late Royden B. Davis, S.J., who served as the first president of the Friends of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Memorial Library at Scranton.

Past recipients of the Distinguished Author Award have included Jack Palance, Malachy McCourt, Mary Higgins Clark, Carol Higgins Clark, Lisa Scottoline, Linda Fairstein, James Grippando, Phillip Margolin, Mary Gordon and William Bernhardt.

Committee members planning the event include Gretchen Welby, Ph.D, event chair, Darlene Acosta, Mary McDonald, Midori Yamanouchi-Rynn, Ph.D., Violet Kelly, and University of Scranton faculty and staff members Frank Homer, Ph.D., Carl Schaffer, Narda Tafuri, Kym Fetsko, Betsey Moylan and Annette Kalwaytis.

For further information or to make a reservation, visit www.scranton.edu/authaward, or contact The University of Scranton at (570) 941-7816.

Committee Photo

The University of Scranton’s Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library will honor Steve Berry, a New York Times Best-Selling author, with the 2011 Royden B. Davis, S.J., Distinguished Author Award on Saturday, March 19. Planning the event, which supports the Friends of the Library Endowment Fund are, seated, from left: Friends of the Library Darlene Acosta and Mary McDonald; Charles Kratz, dean of the library and information fluency at The University of Scranton; and Gretchen Welby, Ph.D, event chair. Standing, from left: Frank Homer, Ph.D., professor emeritus of history at The University of Scranton; Midori Yamanouchi-Rynn, Ph.D. Friend of the Library; Carl Schaffer, professor of English at The University of Scranton; Narda Tafuri, acquisitions librarian; Kym Fetsko, assistant to the dean; Violet Kelly, Friend of the Library; Betsey Moylan, chair of the library; and Annette Kalwaytis, special collections assistant. 

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