Arlene Alda Featured at Next Writers Speak

[caption id="attachment_45555" align="alignleft" width="217"] Arlene Alda. Alan Alda photo.[/caption]

Critically acclaimed author and photographer Arlene Alda will be the featured guest in the next Writers Speak Wednesdays event, a free author talk and reading open to the public at Stony Brook Southampton. Ms. Alda will speak on Wednesday, November 18, at 7 p.m. in the Radio Lounge on the second floor of Chancellors Hall.

Ms. Alda most recently published “Just Kids From the Bronx” (Holt, 2015), a memoir of oral history in a place from which many celebrated cultural figures emerged. Drawing on six decades of living in the Bronx, Ms. Alda offers a textured portrait of her neighborhood from the early 20th century until today. Former President Bill Clinton called the book, “A down-to-earth, inspiring book about the American promise fulfilled.”

Ms. Alda is the author of 19 books, including “The Last Days of MASH,” and “On Set—A Personal Story in Pictures and Words.” She has also published many books for children, including “Except the Color Grey,” “Lulu’s Piano Lesson,” “Hello, Good-bye,” and more.

In addition to her writing career, Ms. Alda works as a freelance photographer and has had several one-person shows. Her photos have appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Vogue, People Magazine, Life Magazine, and Today’s Health Magazine. Before her career as a writer and photographer, Ms. Alda received a Fulbright Scholarship to study clarinet in Germany. She went on to play clarinet for the Houston Symphony under the baton of Leopold Stokowski. The mother of three daughters and a grandmother of eight, Ms. Alda lives with her husband, actor Alan Alda, in New York and on Long Island.

Writers Speak Wednesdays programs are free and open to the public. The evenings begin with a brief reception at 6:30 p.m.; readings begin at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A and book signing. All programs are held in the Radio Lounge on the second floor of Chancellors Hall at Stony Brook Southampton, 239 Montauk Highway in Southampton. For more information, call (631) 632-5030 or visit www.stonybrook.edu/mfa.