Distinguished Author Award Given to Lorene Cary
Best-selling author Lorene Cary received the The Royden B. Davis, S.J., Distinguished Author Award from The University of Scranton’s Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library at a ceremony held recently on campus.From left: Charles Kratz, dean of the library and information fluency at the University; Gretchen Welby, Ph.D., Distinguished Author Award committee chair; Distinguished Author Award recipient Lorene Cary; Jeffrey Gingerich, Ph.D., senior provost and vice president of academic affairs at Scranton, Cathy Ann Hardaway, director of domestic relations for Lackawanna County, and Mary McDonald, president, Friends of the Library.The Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library presented writer Lorene Cary with The Royden B. Davis, S.J., Distinguished Author Award at a dinner reception Oct. 13 in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center.
Cary is the author of the best-selling memoir, “Black Ice,” and novels such as, “If Sons, Then Heirs,” “The Price of a Child,” “Pride,” and “FREE! Great Escapes on the Underground Railroad.” Cary founded Art Sanctuary, which creates unique programs for African-American artists, performers and writers in Philadelphia. Such programs have garnered up to 1,500 participants a year. She has also been a senior lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania.
The program began with a toast by Cathy Ann Hardaway, director of domestic relations for Lackawanna County, and an invocation by Rev. Ronald McKinney, S.J., professor of philosophy at the University. Jeffrey Gingerich, Ph.D., senior provost and vice president of academic affairs at Scranton, welcomed all attendees to the event. Charles Kratz, dean of the library and information fluency, and Gretchen Welby, Ph.D., Distinguished Author Award committee chair and vice-president of the Friends of the Library, also spoke at the event.
“Lorene, tonight, we celebrate the stories that you tell in such searing, exuberant and poignant ways,” Dean Kratz said. “And how eloquently you weave together your roots and your imagination.”
The Royden B. Davis, S.J., Distinguished Author Award series, according to The Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library, is a way to honor notable fiction and non-fiction authors and to give them the opportunity to share their literary pursuits and impressions with Northeastern Pennsylvanians. Proceeds from the event benefit the Friends of the Library Endowment Fund, which supports special gifts for the Weinberg Library collections and services.
“Thank you, thank you so very much. I’m grateful, really grateful to be here,” Cary said upon formally receiving the award. “I’ve been so moved by the Friends of the Library.”
Previous Distinguished Author Award recipients include Stephen Karam, Colum McCann, Susan Campbell Bartoletti and Jay Parini, among others.
