Friends of the Marlborough Public Library to Host Author Talk

From the Friends of the Marlborough Public Library: The Friends of the Marlborough Public Library announce an evening with Pagan Kennedy, author of 'Inventology: How We Dream Up Things That Change The World' on Wednesday, May 17 at 7 PM. The event will be hosted by Hank Phillippi Ryan, on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV Channel 7 and award winning mystery author. This is the fourth and final program in the 2016-2017 Season of the McConnell Author/Celebrity Series, the 34th year of presenting these great opportunities to meet famous authors and celebrities.

Find out where great ideas come from: a father cleans up after his toddler and imagines a cup that won't spill; an engineer watches people using walkie-talkies and has an idea; a doctor figures out how to deliver patients to the operating room before they die; another doctor realizes that an innocent-looking tube is killing his patients.

Why did these people hit on solutions that everyone else missed? Pagan and Hank will take us through the methods that visionaries use to imagine new technologies and solve “impossible” problems. Based on interviews with inventors, economists and psychologists – as well as evidence from studies– the book reveals the steps that produce discoveries.

Pagan Kennedy reports on how enduring methods of invention can be adapted to the twenty-first century, as millions of us deploy tools like crowdfunding, big data, and 3-D printing to find hidden opportunities. 'Inventology: How We Dream Up Things That Change The World' is a must-read for anyone who is curious about creativity and imaginative leaps.

Pagan is a contributing writer for the New York Times Opinion section and author of eleven books. Pagan’s awards include an MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship, a Smithsonian fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.

"This book offers a new perspective into the process of invention that will inform and illuminate." Agent: David McCormick, McCormick Literary.

Hank Phillippi Ryan is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV. She's won 33 EMMYs, 14 Murrows, and dozens more honors for her ground-breaking journalism. The bestselling author of nine mysteries, Ryan's also an award-winner in her second profession—with five Agathas, two Anthonys, two Macavitys, the Daphne, and for The Other Woman, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. Critics call her "a superb and gifted storyteller" and "a master of suspense." She is the only author to have won the Agatha in four different categories: Best First, Best Novel, Best Short Story and Best Non-Fiction. Her novels have been named Library Journal's Best of 2014 and 2015—and Ryan's newest novel, SAY NO MORE, is a Library Journal Best of 2016. It is now also honored as a Mary Higgins Clark and Agatha Award nominee. Hank is a founder of MWA University and 2013 president of National Sisters in Crime. Visit Hank online at HankPhillippiRyan.com, on Twitter @HankPRyan and Facebook at HankPhillippiRyanAuthor.

This is Hank’s third year as Host of The Friends McConnell Author/Celebrity Series after having appeared at two previous Friends Author/Celebrity Series as Guest Author. The Friends are indeed honored to have Hank appear as Host and would like to express our distinct gratitude and thanks to her.

The Author Series programs are funded and sponsored in part by grants from the Ezra Cutting Trust-- Bank of American Trustee; the Marlborough Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; The Friends Memorial Fund and a Gift from the Cumming’s Properties in Honor of Ginger Ryan. Major Media Sponsor once again will be the MetroWest Daily News and the Marlborough Enterprise courtesy of Gate House Media New England. Thanks to Richard Lodge, Editor-in-Chief of the MetroWest Daily News and Marlborough Enterprise and Kristen Surman of Gate House Media New England for their assistance in making the Series possible. Thanks to Dan Guindon, General Manager, and Mike Lawton of WMCT-TV Channel 8-Marlborough for the taping of the Series and airing the programs on Channel 8.

All the programs are presented in the Marlborough Public Library’s Bigelow Auditorium, 35 West Main St., Marlborough. The programs are open to the public and admission is free. The auditorium is fully handicapped accessible. For further information on the Author Series, please call 617-893-8472/413-648-9663 or email: alisongrice48@gmail.com or rajohnson736@gmail.com or go on-line here or on Facebook: Friends of Marlborough Public Library. The Friends is a non-profit organization and their tax deductible FID# is 23-7323238.

Images via the Friends of Marlborough Public Library