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April 2023 Bar luncheon

When

04/12/2023    
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm

Bookings

Bookings closed

Where

Asheville Social Hall
81 Broadway Street, Asheville, NC, 28801

Event Type

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How does a busy attorney find the time to write a book, get it published, and promote it? Join us for our April Bar Luncheon to hear three of our members discuss the joys and challenges of living in both the legal and the literary world.  At the luncheon, Attorney Frank Goldsmith will moderate a discussion with Heather Newton, author of “The Puppeteer’s Daughters,” and Bill Auman, author of “If Trees Could Testify…” and Jorge Redmon, author of “Black Boy, Black Boy.”

All Buncombe Bar members are welcome to attend, and order a free boxed lunch from us, bring your lunch, or simply join us to hear the program and enjoy a complementary soft drink. We will serve sandwiches, soup or salad from Roman’s Deli, and we will have plenty of drink options. Lunch is free for the first 50 members who sign up! See below to order. We meet at the Asheville Social Hall, 81 Broadway Street, from 12:30-1:30pm.

Heather Newton’s novel “The Puppeteer’s Daughters” (Turner Publishing 2022) has been optioned for television by Sony Pictures Television. Her short story collection “McMullen Circle” (Regal House 2022), was a finalist for both the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award and the W.S. Porter Prize. Her novel “Under The Mercy Trees” (HarperCollins 2011) won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, was chosen by the Women’s National Book Association as a Great Group Reads Selection and named an “Okra Pick” by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. She teaches creative writing for UNC-Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program and Charlotte Lit, and is co-founder and Program Manager for the Flatiron Writers Room writers’ center in Asheville. She is a 1989 honors graduate of the University of North Carolina School of law, where she was an Articles Editor for The North Carolina Law Review. She is a past chair of the NC Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Law Section. Her solo practice in Asheville focuses on ERISA disability benefits and employment law.

William (Bill) Auman’s recent novel, “If Trees Could Testify…”, was named the recipient of a Gold Book Award from Literary Titan In December of 2022.  It is based on the true story of a cold-case double homicide wherein Bill was lead counsel back in 2001.  Bill likes to say that he is a product of 3 “courts”, having served as both a basketball coach and tennis teaching professional before migrating into the criminal court system.  He was an honor graduate of N.C. State in 1983 and Campbell Law School in 1986, where he was a member of the law review and president of the civil rights council.  He was a national board member of the Amnesty International Legal Network for several years and a public defender in Asheville from 1986-99 before entering private practice.  During his career he has represented over 70 murder defendants and tried 10 capital cases.  Bill also holds a masters degree from Western Carolina University and has taught as an adjunct professor at UNC-Asheville and Mars Hill University for a combined 25 years.  He is an avid kayaker and his first novel, “Pioneer Paddling Colonial Carolina,” was published in 2010.
Jorge Redmond is a Senior Attorney for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s office, and Black Boy Black Boy is his first book. It was written with his long-time friend Ali Biko Sulaiman Kamanda, and illustrated by Ken Daley, an award-winning artist/illustrator from Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

“The canon of books celebrating and empowering boys of color continues to grow as this book shines brightly, inspiring them to greatness by introducing the main character and readers to others who have positively impacted and changed the world. Kamanda drafts a friendly letter that begins, “Dear boy,” and takes him on a journey down a vivid road, encouraging him to shine like his elders. Every page is devoted to information on men like Colin Kaepernick, Emory Malick, and Barack Obama, and their contributions to America, while simultaneously reassuring the boy that he can dream big and work hard to gain whatever it is he envisions. The body of this story is full of excellent content illustrated in vibrant hues; the superimposed images of the classic and contemporary leaders strengthen the story. As the letter closes, the sunset glows in the background, illuminating the future path of the young male as the author’s final words breathe life into this Black boy’s journey-a journey he is sure to succeed in if he can harness the power he already has and celebrate the potential within himself. A book that educates, empowers, and enlightens-this book belongs in every library.”  From Library Journals LLC, by Tanya Haynesα(c) Copyright 2011.

Bookings

Registrations are closed for this event.