Boston Public Library And American Ancestors To Host Author Larry Tye

On Thursday, July 23, at 6:00 p.m., the Boston Public Library (BPL), in collaboration with American Ancestors | NEHGS, will present a virtual conversation between best-selling New York Times author and former Boston Globe reporter Larry Tye, and BPL President David Leonard.

The two will discuss Tye's new biography, DEMAGOGUE: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy. Joining the discussion will also be Margaret Talcott, Director of Signature and Literary Events at American Ancestors.

Presented in partnership with American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) through the WGBH Forum Network, this free, virtual program is part of the American Inspiration author series of NEHGS and The Arc of History: Contested Perspectives series of BPL.

From 1950 to 1954, Senator McCarthy destroyed many careers and even entire lives, whipping the nation into a frenzy of paranoia. Based on the first-ever review of his personal and professional papers, medical and military records, and recently unsealed transcripts of his closed-door congressional hearings, DEMAGOGUE reveals a man whose chaotic, meteoric rise is a lesson for us all. Tye and Leonard Will consider this lesson as well as how McCarthy's ascent reflected America's long-standing love affair with bullies.

The author will also focus on family histories: the story of MCarthy's immediate and ancestral kin; how his assaults affected not just his direct targets but their descendants; and how the families of his pals, enablers, and benefactors see the McCarthy legacy.

LARRY TYE is the best-selling author of Bobby Kennedy and Satchel, as well as Superman, The Father of Spin, Home Lands, and Rising from the Rails, and co-author, with Kitty Dukakis, of Shock. Previously an award-winning reporter and national writer at the Boston Globe and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, he now runs the Boston-based Health Coverage Fellowship.

More information and registration for this free event may be found at:
https://wgbh.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WB7q6ssQSDOUZHDsrwnH_w.