Literary Voices welcomes best-selling author Lisa Scottoline as guest speaker

For book lovers, a trip to the library can be thrilling; for many, it is necessary. The 15th annual Literary Voices dinner event aims to secure Library Endowment Trust funding for capital improvements and sustain program offerings.

“It’s a beloved tradition,” said Karen Delaney, who chairs 2017 Literary Voices events with Gail Huneryager.

Delaney, a Library Endowment trustee, has worked on the event since 2003.

Although the library receives taxpayer support, Delaney said, program needs often lag in funding.

Literary Voices is 7 p.m. Tuesday at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, 7000 NW Grand Blvd., in Nichols Hills. The event includes a dinner and features author Lisa Scottoline.

Literary Voices organizers seek out diverse fiction and nonfiction authors when they select each event’s featured speaker.

Past speakers have included David McCullough, Ann Patchett, Sebastian Junger and former First Lady Laura Bush.

Scottoline, an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author, has written over 28 novels.

She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and pursued a legal career as a litigator. She started writing after leaving her legal practice in 1986 to raise her daughter.

When she resumed legal work, she continued to write.

Her 1994 debut novel, Everywhere That Mary Went, featured characters from the fictional Rosato & Associates firm. Since then, Scottoline has written 10 more Rosato & Associates novels and four Rosato & DiNunzio novels.

A recent book, Damaged, features a dyslexic youth at the mercy of the child welfare system and the subsequent legal ramifications.

“She not only writes really fast-paced thrillers with intricate plots, but you learn something every single time,” Delaney said.

Her newest book, One Perfect Lie, will be released Tuesday by St. Martin’s Press.

This year, Literary Voices also honors Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby with the Lee B. Brawner Lifetime Achievement award.

Delaney said that the Chickasaw Nation has stood by the library system in a climate that is difficult for nonprofits.

Delaney said Lee B. Brawner award recipients must demonstrate an awareness of the library’s role in community education, support library literacy initiatives for all ages and be a true champion of libraries.

“He’s a pillar of the community,” Delaney said. “We know of Gov. Bill Anoatubby’s dedication and belief in the library as a system of delivery of literacy.”

Delaney said her experiences as a trustee have shown her the necessity of library branches.

“It’s very obvious to me how the library helps people in the community that would have no other link to computer literacy, to literacy classes, to homework help,” Delaney said.

Delaney credited after-school homework programs and reading with dog initiatives as successful components of library systems.

“If they weren’t there, I know a lot of people in the community that use the library would be lost,” Delaney said.

Literary Voices tickets are $175. Patron tickets are $400 and include an opportunity to meet Scottoline at 6 p.m.

Visit metrolibrary.org.

Print headline: Vocal vitality, For its 15th year of fundraising, Literary Voices welcomes best-selling legal thriller author Lisa Scottoline.

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