LOWER MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. — Three nationally acclaimed authors gathered at Lehigh Country Club on Tuesday to connect with readers and help keep the arts alive in the Lehigh Valley.
The 10th annual Luncheon with the Authors, a fund-raiser of Society of the Arts (SOTA), the nonprofit organization supporting Allentown Art Museum, assembled Fiona Davis, Stacy Willingham and Liz Scheier to share remarks about their works, participate in a panel discussion and sign books for attendees, which totaled more than 150 guests.
- Luncheon with the Authors is a fundraiser of Society of the Arts, the nonprofit organization supporting the Allentown Art Museum, ad was held at Lehigh Country Club on Oct. 6
- The event assembled Fiona Davis, Stacy Willingham and Liz Scheier to share remarks about their works, participate in a panel discussion and sign books for attendees
- SOTA's Books Committee chooses its authors based on the authors’ storytelling and audience engagement abilities
“This event actually sold out in about four days, which is incredible,” said Diane MacConnell, co-chair of Luncheon with the Authors. “I hope that we get new people who want to come to Luncheon with the Authors, who want to join SOTA, who want to come to the museum.”
The luncheon, SOTA’s second-biggest fund-raiser following its biennial Show House, brings authors of national and international stature to the Lehigh Valley, with past years’ honored guests including prominent writers such as Chris Pavone, Hala Alyan, Karen Katchur and Therese Anne Fowler.
Authors are chosen by SOTA’s Books Committee, which spends several months reading more than three dozen books before deciding on the trio of authors that will speak at the event.
The committee bases its choices on the authors’ storytelling and audience engagement abilities, all in the pursuit of providing a lively discussion for attendees.
Davis, a New York Times bestselling author of six historical fiction novels set in iconic New York buildings, was honored by the invite to discuss her most recent work, “The Magnolia Place.”
The novel, published in January, takes place at The Frick Collection art museum in Manhattan and is a dual-timeline novel with an element of mystery, Davis said.
“When I saw the list of authors who’ve been here in the past, I thought, ‘Oh boy, this is going to be splendid,’” said Davis, a resident of New York City. “And it really is. It’s just such a warm group of people. And the other authors who are here today are lovely as well. So it’s a great way for us to bond as authors, but also meet all these new readers.”
Scheier, a former Penguin Random House editor who worked in publishing and content development for many years, was on hand to chat about her first book, “Never Simple: A Memoir.”
Published in March, the autobiographical account “shakes hard truths out of the family tree,” according to a New York Times review.
“The memoir starts on one day when I was 18, when my mother came into the room to tell me two things: number one, that she’d been married most of my life to a man I never heard of, and number two, that my dead father who had died during her pregnancy with me was entirely fictional,” Scheier said.
“She had made up the name, she had made up the story, everything. And so, the memoir is about me figuring out both who he had been and who she was to have made up these stories.”
“[Scheier] was able to write it with a lot of wit and some humor,” MacConnell said. “It’s just interesting always to hear how somebody can have an upbringing like that and come out of it to be a very successful, high-functioning, happy person.”
MacConnell and her co-chair, Maryann Dattilio, led organization efforts for the event, which featured master of ceremonies Brittany Sweeney, LehighValleyNews.com’s health and wellness reporter.
Guests at the Lower Macungie Township club bought raffle tickets for prizes and enjoyed meals that included an autumn salad and sauteed chicken with butternut squash before the authors made remarks.
“People come here because of the authors that are represented,” SOTA President Priti Merchant said. “And this year, Fiona Davis, Stacy Willingham and Liz Scheier are very well-known authors.”
“It’s always such an honor to be invited to things like this, especially an event that’s so well put together,” added Willingham, who discussed her debut novel, “A Flicker in the Dark,” a psychological thriller about the daughter of a serial killer.
Society of the Arts was founded in 1964 with a mission to support the Allentown Art Museum. SOTA members help to make visitors’ experiences meaningful by giving docent tours of exhibitions, caring for the collections and introducing families to creative concepts through hands-on activities, among other duties.
Museum admission became free in late August following an endowment gift from the Century Fund, a private foundation based in Allentown that recently closed and distributed its remaining assets.
“I think that is just fantastic,” MacConnell said in regard to the change. “It’s so wonderful to be able to offer that to the community. Anybody can come! Anybody can come to the museum now. Cost is not a factor.”