The annual Hemingway Distinguished Lecture is presented each July, honoring the month of Ernest Hemingway’s birth and death. The event celebrates the power of words and the creative spirit in a landscape that Hemingway loved.

This year, The Community Library welcomes HAMPTON SIDES, best-known for his gripping non-fiction adventure stories set in war or depicting epic expeditions of discovery and exploration. He is the author of the bestselling histories Ghost Soldiers, Blood and Thunder, Hellhound On His Trail, In the Kingdom of Ice, and On Desperate Ground, a chronicle of the extraordinary feats of heroism by Marines called on to do the impossible during the greatest battle of the Korean War. His latest history, The Wide Wide Sea, was published in 2024 and was named one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by the New York Times.

The lecture will be presented outdoors on the Library’s Donaldson Robb Family Lawn. Chairs will be set up for this event, so attendees do not need to bring their own. A book signing with Iconoclast Books will follow.

This program will be livestreamed, and the recording will be available for two weeks. Seating is limited, so registration is required to join us in person. Visit www.comlib.org for more information and the link to watch online.

Photo credit: Kitty Leaken