Religious historian to discuss 'Da Vinci Code'

Religious historian to discuss 'Da Vinci Code'
POLAND -- Joseph Kelly, religious historian and chair of John Carroll University's religious studies department, will discuss Dan Brown's best-selling mystery novel "The Da Vinci Code" at 7 p.m. Monday at the Poland branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.
Kelly's lecture will address what makes the novel so intriguing, what the Holy Grail actually was, books that were candidates for the Bible but did not get in, and why Mary Magdalene is so important today and whether she appears in Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper."
Kelly's insights into some of the historical questions raised by the book have even gained the attention of its author Dan Brown, who wrote Kelly in 2004 to thank him for his presentations.
Since completing his doctorate, Kelly has written 10 books and 50 scholarly articles. His most recent book, "The Origins of Christmas," was published in 2004, and his new book, "An Introduction to the New Testament for Catholics," will be published in May of this year.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.
Literacy fair plannedat Barnes and Noble
BOARDMAN -- The Mahoning Valley Chapter of the International Reading Association will hold a Community Literacy Fair from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes and Noble in the Shops at Boardman Park.
The program will feature writer and illustrator John Ferguson, author of "A Thing a String Can Be" and "Something Shiny, Something Round," who will read his literature, lead activities and sign books.
Hands-on artifacts and activities sponsored by the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, including Suitcases about Pioneer Life, Native Americans, A Journey to Ohio and Warm as Wool, will also be featured.
Area teachers, members of the reading association and pre-service teachers from Youngstown State University will be reading literature that focuses on the pioneer time period and guiding activities to highlight learning.
Sue Ann Taylor, Newspapers in Education coordinator for The Vindicator, will be making suitcases with pupils, decorating them with places they can go by reading the newspaper.
Pupils from all area schools and pre-schools, their families and friends, are invited to participate.
Program to examinelives of industrialists
NILES -- Dr. Les Standiford will discuss the lives Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick -- two industrial giants of the Gilded Age and the subjects of his latest book, "Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Bitter Partnership That Transformed America (Crown)," during a 7 p.m. program May 8 at McKinley Memorial Auditorium, 40 N. Main St.
Standiford is director of the creative writing program at Florida International University in Miami and the author of t12 novels and works of nonfiction, including "Last Train to Paradise" and "Havana Run." During the presentation, he will show slides and provide details about the formation of the fabled Carnegie-Frick business partnership and its subsequent dissolution, a fracture he contends was set in motion by events surrounding the Homestead Steel Strike of 1892.
The program is free to the public; children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Reservations are not required. For more information, call (330) 652-1704 ext. 202.
Combined dispatches