Martin Bandyke Under Covers: James Harvey

Martin talks to playwright, essayist, and critic James Harvey about his new book Watching Them Be: Star Presence on the Screen from Garbo to Balthazar. With great perception and insight, Harvey explores how charisma is created in the movies, writing about Greta Garbo, Robert De Niro, Charles Laughton, John Wayne and many other stars, concluding with a strikingly moving passage about director Robert Bresson’s masterpiece Au Hasard Balthazar, whose star is a donkey! Hopwood Award winner James Harvey, who graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master’s Degree in English, has written a deeply personal and extraordinarily compelling account of the films that have changed his life and will also change yours. The interview was recorded on September 24, 2014.

Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Bill Morris

Martin talks to Bill Morris about his long-in-the-works new book Motor City Burning.

From the critically acclaimed author of Motor City, Detroit comes alive in a powerful and thrilling novel set amidst the chaos of the race riots and the serenity of Opening Day.

Bill Morris is currently a staff writer with the online literary magazine The Millions, and his writing has appeared in Granta, the New York Times, The Washington Post Magazine, L.A. Weekly, Popular Mechanics and numerous other newspapers and magazines. Bill grew up in Detroit and now lives in New York City.

The interview was recorded on August 13, 2014.

Beyond the Telescope: A Storyteller's Guide to the Night Sky With Star Lore Historian Mary Stewart Adams

Mary Stewart Adams, star lore historian, Fairy Tale Moons creator, and program director for the Headlands International Dark Sky Park (two miles west of Mackinaw City), weaves together contemporary understanding of our celestial environment with the star lore of ages for this engaging journey through the night sky.

Human beings can, on average on clear evenings, see between five and seven thousand objects in the sky. Scientists, using telescopes and satellites, have been able to identify over 900 million. A story is unfolding in this space between the seven thousand objects seen with the naked eye and the 900 million objects identified by scientists -- a story of our understanding of who we are, where we come from, and where this all might be going.

Mary Stewart Adams addresses this subject as a storyteller and sky observer and will discuss the necessity of imagination and inspiration in our developing sense of ourselves in our celestial environment. She will discuss recent discoveries such as the comets Pan-STARRS and ISON; the celestial configuration with Venus as evening star preparing for Winter Solstice; Jupiter's position in our evening skies; the Geminid and Ursid Meteor Showers and much more.

This event is in conjunction with the Fairy Tale Moons exhibit on display at the Downtown Library from December 3 through January 14. For this exhibit, star lore historian Mary Stewart Adams and her sister, artist Patricia DeLisa, researched and explored our best-loved folk and fairy tales in order to reveal, through their art and language, our connection with the stars overhead each month.

Check out some of the books and tales that inspired the artwork of Fairy Tale Moons!

AADL Talks To: Judge Damon Keith

In June, 1972, then-U.S. District Judge Damon J. Keith of Detroit foiled the Nixon Administration's plan to use the Ann Arbor CIA Conspiracy trial as a test case to acquire Supreme Court sanction for domestic surveillance. Keith's ruling - that the Justice Department's wiretapping was in violation of the 4th amendment - led to a unanimous Supreme Court decision making domestic surveillance illegal…during the same week as the Watergate break-in.

Author Blaine L. Pardoe Discusses His New Book - Murder In Battle Creek: The Mysterious Death Of Daisy Zick

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the infamous Daisy Zick murder, which remains one of the most puzzling unsolved murders in Michigan's history. On a bitterly cold morning in January 1963, Daisy Zick was brutally murdered in her Battle Creek home. No fewer than three witnesses caught a glimpse of the killer, yet today, it remains one of Michigan's most sensational unsolved crimes. The act of pure savagery rocked not only the community but also the Kellogg Company, where she worked. Join us as author Blaine Pardoe (recipient of the 2011 State History Award by the Historical Society of Michigan) discusses this shocking crime and his new book "Murder In Battle Creek: The Mysterious Death Of Daisy Zick." This event includes a book signing and books will be for sale.Blaine offers a new opportunity for readers to help solve this baffling case on its bicentennial. Who were the key suspects? What evidence do the police still have on this five-decades-old cold case? Just how close did this murder come to being solved? Is the killer still alive? These questions and more are masterfully brought to the forefront for true crime fans and armchair detectives. Blaine Pardoe is an award-winning author of numerous books in the science fiction, military nonfiction, true crime, paranormal and business management genres. Raised outside Battle Creek, he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Central Michigan University. He has been a featured speaker at the U.S. National Archives, the United States Navy Museum and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. He currently resides in Virginia outside Washington, D.C.

Author Richard Snow Discusses His New Book: I Invented The Modern Age: The Rise Of Henry Ford

Henry Ford was born the year of Gettysburg and died two years after the atomic bombs fell - and in that time become the most famous and richest man in America. Richard Snow, acclaimed popular historian and former editor-in-chief of American Heritage Magazine, will discuss Henry Ford and Snow's just-released (May 14) new book "I Invented The Modern Age: The Rise Of Henry Ford," a meticulous and entertaining account of Ford, the Model-T, and the remaking of American industry in the early 20th century. This special event will also include a book signing and books will be for sale.The car made Ford a national hero-- but that's not the end of the story. Ford was driven by a sense of messianic philanthropy, but once he'd achieved his goal he felt fettered by his very success. In Snow's capable hands, Ford is a tragic figure we watch rise and fall. Filled with scene and incident, character and dialogue, Snow's book presents us with the young, unknown, industrious, and altogether resourceful young man rising in the years when people were vying to build the machine that would define the dawning age in America. In many ways his story is well known, but Snow sheds new light onto this fascinating man by viewing him through his greatest creation-- the Model T.Richard Snow worked at American Heritage magazine for nearly four decades and was its editor-in-chief for seventeen years. The author of several books, Snow has also served as a consultant for historical motion pictures --among them "Glory" --and has written for documentaries, including the Burns brothers' "Civil War," and Ric Burns's award-winning PBS film "Coney Island," whose screenplay he wrote. Most recently, he served as a consultant on Ken Burns' World War II series, "The War."

Women's History Month Event: Michigan History Magazine Editor Patricia Majher Discusses Her New Book "Ladies Of The Lights: Michigan Women In The U.S. Lighthouse Service"

Michigan leads the country in the number of lighthouses, and they're still a central part of the mystique and colorful countryside of the state. What even lighthouse enthusiasts might not know is the rich history of female lighthouse keepers in the area.Join us as Michigan History Magazine Editor Patricia Majher discusses the history of more than 50 of these women who served the Michigan sailing community with dedication and distinction from 1849 to 1954. She will tell the fascinating stories of 10 of these women, who are also featured in her new book "Ladies Of The Lights: Michigan Women In The U.S. Lighthouse Service." A booksigning will follow and books will be on sale at the event.Lighthouse keeping was a rugged life of long hours and hard work punctuated by periods of real peril. Imagine how it felt to be one of the rare women admitted into this profession: challenged to their limits, yet loving every minute of it. Celebrate Women's History Month and learn more about this unique facet of Michigan history.

National Library Week Author Event: Grant Brown Discusses His Michigan Notable Book 'Ninety Years Crossing Lake Michigan: The History Of Ann Arbor Car Ferries'

In 1892, the Ann Arbor Car Ferries shook the transportation world by doing what was then deemed impossible, carrying loaded railroad cars by ship across the 62 miles of open water between Frankfort, Michigan and Kewaunee, Wisconsin. Crossing the lake with loaded freight cars was a treacherous task that presented daily obstacles.