CRAIG BORZO

Wednesday, May 22nd

12:00 pm at the University Club

When most people hear "cable car" they think "San Francisco." Yet for almost one-quarter of a century Chicago boasted the largest cable car system the world has ever seen, transporting more than one billion riders. This gigantic public work filled residents with pride - and filled robber barons' pockets with money. It also sparked a cable car building boom that spread to twenty-six other U.S. cities. But after twenty-five years, the boom went bust, and Chicago abandoned its cable car system. Today, the fascinating story of the rise and fall of Chicago's cable cars is all but forgotten. Having already written the history of the "L," Greg Borzo introduces his new book Chicago Cable Cars and guides readers through a stretch of Chicago's transit history that most people never knew existed - even though they have been walking past, riding over and even dining in remnants of it for years.

To make reservations for the luncheon, please call: 847.446.8880.

DALE KUSHNER

Wednesday, May 22nd

7:00 pm at The Book Stall

LESLIE ZEMECKIS

Thursday, May 23rd

6:00 pm at The Standard Club - Cocktail Reception

Burlesque was one of America's most popular forms of live entertainment in the first half of the 20th century. Gaudy, bawdy and spectacular, the shows entertained thousands of paying customers every night of the week. And yet the legacy of burlesque is often vilified and misunderstood, left out of the history books.

By telling the intimate and surprising stories from its golden age through the women (and men) who lived it, Behind the Burly Q reveals the true story of burlesque, even as it experiences a new renaissance. Lovingly interviewed by burlesque enthusiast Leslie Zemeckis who produced the hit documentary of the same name, are former musicians, strippers, novelty acts, club owners, authors and historians - assembled here for the first time ever to tell you just what really happened in a burlesque show. From Jack Ruby and Robert Kennedy to Abbott and Costello--burlesque touched every corner of American life. The sexy shows often poked fun at the upper classes, at sex, and at what people were willing to do in the pursuit of sex. Sadly, many of the performers have since passed away, making this their last, and often only interview. Behind the Burly Q is the definitive history of burlesque during its heyday and an invaluable oral history of an American art form. Funny, shocking, unbelievable, and heartbreaking, their stories will touch your hearts. We invite you to peek behind the curtain at the burly show.

To make reservations for the reception, please call: 847.446.8880.

MIRIAM KARMEL

Thursday, May 23rd

6:30 pm at The Book Stall

Being Esther intimately explores the interior consciousness of an elderly Jewish woman who lives as much in the past as in the present. Not prone to self-pity, Esther is at moments lucid and then suddenly lost in a world which has disappeared along with many who had inhabited it.

Born to parents who fled the shtetl, Esther Lusting has led a seemingly conventional life - marriage, two children, a life in suburban Chicago. Now, at the age of eighty-five, her husband is deceased, her children have families of their own and most of her friends are gone. Even in this diminished condition, life has its moments of richness, as well as its memorable characters. But above all there are the memories. Of better days with Marty, her husband. Of unrealized obsessions with other men.

As she moves back and forth through time, Esther attempts to come to terms with the meaning of her outwardly modest life. As a young woman, she wondered about the world beyond the narrow, prescribed world she inhabited. Now, cruelly, she can’t help but wonder if she has done anything for which she will be remembered.

At once sad and amusing, unpretentious yet wonderfully ambitious, Miriam Karmel’s debut novel brings understanding and tremendous empathy to the unforgettable Esther Lustig.

PHIL JACKSON

Friday, May 24th

12:00 pm at The Union League Club

During his storied career as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson won more championships than any coach in the history of professional sports. Even more important, he succeeded in never wavering from coaching his way, from a place of deep values. Jackson was tagged as the “Zen master” half in jest by sportswriters, but the nickname speaks to an important truth: this is a coach who inspired, not goaded; who led by awakening and challenging the better angles of his players’ nature, not their egos, fear, or greed.

This is the story of a preacher’s kid from North Dakota who grew up to be one of the most innovative leaders of our time. In his quest to reinvent himself, Jackson explored everything from humanistic psychology and Native American philosophy to Zen meditation. In the process, he developed a new approach to leadership based on freedom, authenticity, and selfless teamwork that turned the hypercompetitive world of professional sports on its head.

To make reservations for the luncheon, please call: 847.446.8880.

MEMORIAL DAY - STORE IS CLOSED

Monday, May 27th

All Day at The Book Stall

In observance of Memorial Day, we will be closed. Enjoy your day and we will see you on Tuesday, May 28th at 9:30 am.

OLYMPIA SNOWE

Tuesday, May 28th

12:00 pm at The Union League Club

Known for working across party lines in her 18 years in the U.S. Senate, Republican Olympia Snowe, from Maine, felt driven from the legislative body by acrimonious partisanship and declined to run for reelection in 2012. But she hasn't abandoned politics. In this heartfelt call to action, she details the cost to the American public of a Congress so polarized that it passes record low numbers of laws and can't agree on a budget. Snowe offers an insider's view of how Congress came to be so dysfunctional, including a behind-the-scenes look at her role in working with both sides to get President Obama's health-care bill passed. She recounts her personal history of losing both parents when a child, widowhood at 26 that led to taking her husband's state legislative seat, later marriage to John McKernan, who would be elected governor of Maine as she pursued politics into the Senate. Snowe offers a passionate plea to Americans to insist on changes in the Senate, including filibuster reform, biennial budgeting, and a five-day workweek for Congress.

To make reservations for the luncheon, please call: 847.446.8880.

PETER BERGEN

Thursday, May 30th

7:00 pm at Congregation Beth Shalom, 3433 Walters Avenue, Northbrook, IL

An exciting insider account of the vast, secretive effort to track and kill the al-Qaeda leader. Shortly after coming into office, President Obama urged CIA Chief Leon Panetta to redouble the efforts to find Osama bin Laden; the trail had grown cold despite the dozen high-level intelligence officers working on the case for a decade. Only in 2010 did the monitoring of a Kuwaiti courier's cellphone use suggest ties to bin Laden, and they followed his car to the compound in the quiet Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where he actually lived with bin Laden's extended family. A CIA safe house was set up nearby to observe the "pattern of life" details: the wives and children living at the compound and never leaving, the wash hanging on the line, the mysterious "pacer" who walked around the "jail yard" and never left. In fact, bin Laden had lived there for years, increasingly isolated and out of touch with his network and with only the Kuwaiti and his brother as guards and conduits to the outside world. CNN national security analyst, Peter Bergen (The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda, 2011, etc.) ably delineates the U.S. government decision-making process in pursuing the Special Operations infiltration of the compound, despite the lack of certainty that bin Laden was actually there. Officials also had to consider America's delicate relationship with Pakistan. In three weeks of rehearsal, SEAL teams manipulated every eventuality, even the helicopter mishap that actually happened. Bergen also stresses the enormity of the political risks undertaken by Obama and his staff, and he pursues the aftermath in terms of wounded Pakistan-U.S. relations and the spelling of the "twilight" for al-Qaeda. A compelling story, told with authority, of the final takedown of likely the most wanted criminal in history.

This event is free and open to the public.

CALDECOTT ART EXHIBIT with

ERIC ROHMANN and AARON REYNOLDS

Saturday, June 1st

1:30 pm - 3:30 pm at Skokie Public Library

Celebrate the art of children’s picture books with Aaron Reynolds, the author of this year’s Caldecott honor book Creepy Carrots, who at 1:30 pm will talk about how his story went from a creepy idea to a creepy finished book. At 3:30 pm, Eric Rohmann, 2003 Caldecott Medal recipient for My Friend Rabbit, talks about the process of creating art for children’s picture books.

Recommended for ages 5 and up. No registration necessary. For more information: events.skokielibrary.info.

LINCOLN SCHATZ

Wednesday, June 5th

12:00 pm at The Standard Club

In The Network: Portrait Conversations, Portraitist Lincoln Schatz talks about his book which is filled with generative video portraits of 100 entrepreneurs, industrialists, politicians, scientists, scholars, inventors and other influential figures who play pivotal roles shaping the history and daily workings of America.

To make reservations for the luncheon, please call: 847.446.8880.

BULBUL BAHUGUNA

Wednesday, June 5th

6:30 pm at The Book Stall

The Ghosts That Come Between Us is a first-person narrative that follows the life journey of a girl named Nargis. The story starts in the Himalayas in post-independence India, spans through Communist Russia, and ends in a Chicago suburb in the United States. While the book recounts delightful memories of childhood in the sixties and colorful anecdotes of family travels through young urban and feudal rural India, finding love behind the impervious Iron Curtain, and the adventure and challenge of immigrating to the United States, the book in the main is about Nargis's struggle to escape the confusing relationship with her father, Brigadier Yadav, and forgo the special status she thrived and in which she enjoyed growing up. The closure Nargis strives for, she painfully realizes, has to come from within. Nargis's journey combines the daring straightforwardness of innocent childhood with the poetic eloquence of an adult engaged in hazy reflection.

MARVIN KALB

Thursday, June 6th

6:30 pm at The Book Stall

In The Road to War: Presidential Commitments Honored and Betrayed, Marvin Kalb explores the key question of why presidents have justified their war-making powers by citing "commitments" both private and public, made by former presidents that have been proven to be tricky and dangerous and have led our nation on a road to war. Marvin Kalb, a good friend of The Book Stall, is the former chief diplomatic correspondent for CBS and NBC News.