Tuesday, April 30, 2013
'The End of Your Life Book Club' author Will Schwalbe will be on hand during the 2013 book festival this October.
Okay procrastinators, you've got five months. Organizers of the Collingswood Book Festival have chosen The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe as this year's townwide read. It's a real-life conversation between a terminally ill mother and her son, both bibliophiles, that centers on their reconnection as her disease advances. From the publisher: This is the inspiring true story of a son and his mother, who start a “book club” that brings them together as her life comes to a close... Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other—and rediscover their lives—through their favorite books. When they read, they aren’t a sick person and a well person, but a mother and a son taking a journey together. The result is a …
Saturday, January 19, 2013
A pair of memoirs from two Cup-winning Flyers alums describe how life after the greatest game in North America isn't laid out in a straight line.
When Bernie Parent came to the Collingswood Book Festival last year to promote his new biography, Unmasked, a host of Flyers supporters huddled under a tent for a Q&A with the beloved goaltender. The first question he fielded was about the injustices of the NHL lockout. The final one was served up for him to bash enigmatic goalie Ilya Bryzgalov—and the silver-haired Hall-of-Famer navigated both with characteristic ease. You could say he's grown accustomed to having the goodwill of an entire city in his back pocket for the past 40 years, but Unmasked tells the story of just how much Parent's carefree attitude was tested along the way. 'You have to become a chameleon' From the age of 17, when he left his family home in Montreal with a …
Sunday, October 7, 2012
It was a day of characters both literary and local. Take a look at our pictures and upload your own.
Collingswood is the kind of town that shifts gears well. "No, I didn't even know this was happening," a pedestrian mumbled into his cell phone around 10 a.m. on Haddon Avenue. The man didn't seem in a rush to leave, however. And if he had been, the sweetly spun, instrumental rendition of "She's Leaving Home" by Dave Kelly would have at least slowed him down. Maybe the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society selling off boxes of old paperback novels would have given him pause. Or the nostalgic sight of the Scholastic Bookmobile, the gypsy caravan of the elementary school experience. Maybe he was just headed to the Farmers Market to do some shopping. If that stranger ended up at the Book Festival, however, there certainly was a lot to see. Have…
Friday, October 5, 2012
Your interactive schedule of events for Saturday's festivities, all in one place.
Alison Formento - These Bees Count; This Tree Counts! Carole Robinson - On the Way to Cape May Tell a Story with Collingswood Patch All day - Loompaland Alley (Irvin Ave.) Booth 302 Collingswood Patch is your online space for news, information, pictures, stories, and events that are happening in town. Come visit with us to learn how to use the site for everything you want to do in the town that's where you want to be. Come add your reports from the day to our community story, and then see the finished product up on the website! Overdrive Digital Bookmobile All day This 74-foot, 18-wheel tractor-trailer is a community outreach vehicle promoting free downloadable eBooks, audiobooks, and videos available through public libraries. Test-drive …
Monday, October 1, 2012
It's an active week in the borough with the kick-off of the First Thursday Jazz series, after-school programs for nature explorers, and of course, the Book Festival
1. Collingswood Borough Commissioners Monthly Meeting Monday, Oct. 1; 7 p.m. at Collingswood Community Center The big item on the docket Monday evening will likely be the outcome of the declaratory judgment in the LumberYard petitioners case, which is expected at the Camden County Courthouse on Monday afternoon. 2. Sages of Ages Wednesday, Oct. 3; 1 to 4 p.m. at the Collingswood Community Center Dedicated to readers 50 and older, 'Sages of Ages' is an interactive event that will provide readers "a unique and different way" to get in the Book Festival spirit. Speakers include Book Festival founder Jean Brennan, who will provide an overview of the event on its 10th anniversary, and Sandra White-Grear and Bill Brahms, who will discuss their …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The pop-up gallery showcases illustrations, artist-made books, and art made from books that will appear at the Oct. 6 Collingswood Book Festival.
As Collingswood prepares for its 10th Book Festival next weekend, planning committee member Pat Chamberlain is trying to help raise awareness of the event and showcase some of its premier guests. “Two years ago I did this across the street and it was very well received,” Chamberlain said. “This year we negotiated this location and did a lot of work to get it in shape. Throughout the month of September, the exhibition has shown and sold signed and unsigned books and original works of art from festival attendees. A portion of the proceeds from works sold “go[es] to paying the rent foremost and then to the book festival for the planning of future festivals,” Chamberlain said. “We have on average about 15 people through [the exhibit] a day, …
Monday, September 3, 2012
Holiday or not, there's a Commissioners meeting this week. Plus: Second Saturday, a comedy benefit, and events to kick off the upcoming Book Festival.
Tue., 9/4/12 at 7 p.m. - Collingswood Community Center Wed., 9/5/12 at 7 p.m. - Collingswood Borough Hall A pair of Collingswood local government bodies will host their monthly meetings this week. Ordinances that could be on the table at the Tuesday night Commissioners meeting include: Working copies of each ordinance are available in Collingswood Borough Hall. Fri., 9/7/12 at 8 p.m. - Collingswood Community Center Collingswood comedian Carolyn Busa will emcee this two-hour comedy show to benefit the (Patch-co-sponsored) Before the Bridge Music Festival. $20 gets you in the door, and includes beer, wine, and snacks. Performers include Mike Smith and Ron Kelly of the Collingswood Community Theatre join Leslie Woodward, Pat Barker, and …
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Get a head start on the town-wide read in advance of the fall Book Festival.
The following press release appears unedited, courtesy of the organizers of the Collingswood Book Festival. Time to get a start on your summer reading! What a better way to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Collingswood Book Festival than with a book so riveting you can’t put it down! This year the Collingswood must-read novel is The Submission by Amy Waldman. The Submission is the bold story of a post-9/11 town trying to come to grips with grief, art, politics and prejudice after a Muslim architect wins a blind contest to design a Ground Zero memorial. Named a New York Times Notable Book and Entertainment Weekly’s #1 Novel of the Year, The Submission promises to be a compelling page-turner. In fact, it’s expected to create so much …
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The ninth annual Collingswood Book Festival brings out lovers of the printed word.
Haddon Avenue clogged with authors, readers and even literary characters during the ninth annual Collingswood Book Festival.
They came to escape in a world of fantasy, to picture running with abandon with the Tarahumara Indians, to get lost in New Jersey’s history and even to go collect specimens for an alien zoo. No matter why book lovers converged on the Collingswood Book Festival Saturday, they found a genre that suited their literary preferences. In a nine-year and counting tradition, Haddon Avenue turned into a mixture of outdoor library, bookstore and festival grounds as thousands milled around absorbing the wonder of the written word. “Just unbelievable,” attendee Carol Sickler said as she looked around. As a borough employee, “I know how much work goes into this day, and to see it all come together, and see people have a great time, is just wonderful.” …
Lauren Burgoon
2:31 pm on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
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