CrossTalk Welcomes New Yorker Writer Tad Friend and Playwright Craig Lucas 11/18

Tad Friend and Craig Lucas will take the stage at Scripts and Scribes, the final CrossTalk of the 2010 season on Thursday, November 18 at the Katonah Village Library. As a staff writer for the New Yorker, Tad Friend has profiled, among others, Phyllis Diller, Steve Carrell and John Lurie. His 2009 best-selling book Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor is a candid account of his attempt to move from the entitled world of WASPy privilege into a more emotionally integrated connection with those around him.

With an armload of awards and nominations as proof, Craig Lucas's plays have a visceral effect on audiences. Lucas was one of the first playwrights to tackle the AIDS epidemic, and his works reveal the complexities of love, loss and hope with an ear so keen you could swear he'd been reading your diary. CrossTalk is curated and sponsored by the Katonah Museum of Art (www.katonahmuseum.org) in partnership with the Katonah Village Library.

The evening begins with a wine reception at 6:30pm followed by the one-hour program, which begins at 7:00pm. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Reservations are required. Proceeds from CrossTalk support children's programming at the Katonah Museum of Art and the Katonah Village Library. Information and tickets are available at the Museum. Call (914) 232-9555, ext. 0 or email info@katonahmusuem.org. The Katonah Village Library is located at 26 Bedford Road in Katonah, NY.

Now celebrating a wildly successful second season and named "Best Lecture Series" by Westchester Magazine, CrossTalk features two experts talking on unrelated topics, with the collision of disparate subjects leading to unexpected insights and connections during the audience question-and-answer period that follows.

More About the Speakers

Tad Friend has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1998. He writes about the entertainment industry as well as the magazine's "Letter from California". His book, Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor was chosen as one of the best books of 2009 by the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and Chicago Tribune.

Craig Lucas is the award-winning playwright of Prelude to a Kiss, The Light in the Piazza, Reckless, and Prayer for My Enemy. He won the LA Drama Critics Award for Blue Window, Obie Awards for Prelude to a Kiss and Small Tragedy and was nominated for a Tony Award for Prelude to a Kiss and The Light in the Piazza. His screenplays include Longtime Companion, The Dying Gaul, The Secret Lives of Dentists and Prelude to a Kiss which starred Meg Ryan and Alex Baldwin. He is currently Associate Artistic Director at Intiman Theatre in Seattle.