Library Gala To Honor Best Selling Author, Caldwell Resident Dorothea Franks

The Mayors Legacy For Literacy benefit will honor a local best-selling author and Caldwell Public Library benefactors this week. 

The event will also honor Caldwell resident Dorothea Benton Franks, will be honored for her dedication to literacy and library benefactors Grace and Pat Collura on Thursday from 6-10 p.m. at The Green Brook Country Club in North Caldwell.

Tickets are $90, and included a cocktail hour with a delicious array of passed appetizers, a scrumptious buffet dinner, dessert, beer, wine, soda and valet parking. 

Proceeds will benefit the Caldwell Public Library Foundation.  

To purchase tickets to the Legacy for Literacy, contact Mayor Dassing at 973-403-4636 or send an email to anndassing@gmail.com.

Mayor-emeritus Susan Gartland, a former Caldwell Public Library Board member and current president of the Caldwell Library Foundation, is working with Caldwell  Mayor Ann Dassing to make the event a success.  

“Over a century ago, philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, donated $10,000 to build a library, and in 1907, the Caldwell Public Library opened its doors," said Dassing. 

"In support of Andrew Carnegie’s vision to do real and permanent good in this world, I am thrilled to announce the second Mayor's Legacy for Literacy Gala, honoring such a prestigious author, for the benefit of our Library!  

"This promises to be a memorable evening for our community and we hope that many residents will want to attend in support of Dorothea Frank’s dedication to literacy and the wonderful work of the Collura’s."

Additional Library Foundation Board members, as well as the Board of The Caldwell Public Library, and local residents, have also pledged their support.

About Dorothea Bento Frank

Frank and her four siblings, Lynn Benton Bagnal, William Oliver Benton (deceased), Theodore Anthony Benton and Michael Kent Benton were born and reared on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina.  

She is the daughter of William Oliver Benton Jr. (1914 -1955) and Dorothea Blanchard (1914 – 1992).

Frank attended Bishop England High School in Charleston and graduated from General William Moultrie High School in 1969.  Her interest in retail apparel took her to Atlanta GA where she graduated from The Fashion Institute of America in 1972.  

For a short period she lived in Atlanta and was employed in the Atlanta Apparel Mart by College Town Sportswear.  She returned to Charleston, SC in 1973 and became a buyer for Kerrison’s Department Store. In 1974 she was hired by Byer California and moved to San Francisco, CA.  

A year later she moved to New York City and went to work on Seventh Avenue for Fire Islander Sportswear, Heralcorp Industries and Michael Lerner.  She retired from the apparel industry in 1985.

 In 1983 she married Peter Richard Frank (b.1947) and moved to Montclair, NJ shortly after the birth of their first child, Victoria Hanna Frank (b.1985).  In 1988 their son, William Richard Frank was born.

While her children were young Ms. Frank became a volunteer fundraiser, organizing events for various non-profit organizations around the Metropolitan New York area.  

Past board service includes The Montclair Art Museum, Whole Theater Company, The Drumthwacket Foundation, The NJ State Council on the Arts and The NJ Cultural Trust.  She has also served on the Board of Trustees of the SC Coastal Conservation League and the Parent’s Council of the College of Charleston. 

At the present time she is a trustee of Bloomfield College (Bloomfield NJ), The Montclair Film Festival and The SC Historical Society.

 Her first novel, "Sullivan's Island" debuted on the New York Times list at No. 9 and went back to press over 25 times, has well over one million copies in print and can be found in ten foreign languages.  

Her subsequent novels "Plantation," "Isle of Palms," "Shem Creek," "Pawleys Island," "Full of Grace and more were all New York Times bestsellers and may also be found in various foreign languages.

 She is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from The College of Charleston and a Doctorate of Fine Arts from Bloomfield College. 

 Frank is an avid cook, enjoys fly fishing, reading and travel and is a frequent speaker on the creative process for students of all ages. She divides her time between the Lowcountry of South Carolina and New Jersey.  

You can visit her web site at www.dotfrank.com.