Books digest

STATE

Party will introduce ‘Immigrant, Inc.’

CLEVELAND — “Immigrant, Inc.” will be the subject of a book launch party from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 7 at Speakeasy, 1948 W. 25th St. (below the Bier Market).

Authors Richard Herman, an immigrant attorney, and Robert Smith, a journalist, are each married to immigrants.

Their book of inspiring stories explores the immigrant culture of entrepreneurship, education, family and thrift. The writers call upon America to embrace these job-creators and to “think like an immigrant.”

Speakeasy is a prohibition-themed lounge featuring classic cocktails. The party will feature appetizers and a cash bar.

For more information, call (216) 696-6170. For more information on the book, visit www.ImmigrantInc.com.

Ex-Ohioan’s book shows WWII in personal light

“A Story of One: Walking the Path of a World War II Airman,” a new book by former Ohioan Christopher LaHurd, recreates the experiences of his grandfather.

Based on personal correspondence and extensive interviews with the 483rd Bombardment Group, the book gives the true account of a single individual and the war’s impact on him and those around him.

LaHurd was born in Tallmadge and is a graduate of the University of Akron. He resides in Chicago.

Published by Merriam Press, the book will be available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and many other bookstores in January.

For more information, visit www.chrislahurd.com on the Web.

HONORs

Whiting Writers Awards

NEW YORK — Ten emerging writers, their home countries ranging from Vietnam to the United States, each have received a $50,000 Whiting Writers’ Awards, given annually for “exceptional talent and promise in early career.”

The recipients included fiction writer Vu Tran, born in Vietnam and now living in Las Vegas, and poet Jay Hopler, a native of Puerto Rico who lives in Tampa, Fla.

The other winners were poets Jericho Brown and Joan Kane, playwright Rajiv Joseph, nonfiction authors Michael Meyer and Hugh Raffles, and fiction writers Adam Johnson, Nami Mun and Salvatore Scibona, whose novel “The End” was a National Book Award finalist in 2008.

The awards, presented by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation, were founded in 1985.

Giller Prize awarded

TORONTO — Linden MacIntyre, an investigative journalist who wrote “The Bishop’s Man,” novel about sexual abuse by Catholic priests, has won the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

The $47,000 prize, one of Canada’s most prestigious literary awards, was created in 1994 to honor Canadian fiction.

“The Bishop’s Man” tells the story of a Roman Catholic priest tasked with stamping out sex abuse scandals before they go public. It is set in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, which MacIntyre calls one of Canada’s most religious communities.

The book is especially timely, coming out shortly before Canada was rocked by a high-profile scandal that saw a bishop, charged with overseeing settlements to sex abuse victims, arrested for possessing child pornography.

Publishing industry

‘Brokeback’ author donates papers to library

NEW YORK —E. Annie Proulx, whose works include the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Shipping News” and the short story “Brokeback Mountain” that was the basis for the film starring Heath Ledger, has donated her papers to the New York Public Library.

Proulx donated tens of thousands of pages, including diaries, journals, manuscripts and notebooks. The collection includes early versions of “Brokeback Mountain,” with such working titles as “Bulldust Mountain” and “Swill-Swallow Mountain,” and drafts of the film’s screenplay written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana.

The library also officially welcomed a local favorite, “Eloise” co-creator Hilary Knight, whose illustrations of the Plaza Hotel’s famous resident have been donated, along with posters, calendars and private correspondence. The collection features a 1952 sketch of a young girl that pre-dates the “Eloise” series by three years and continues with other early drawings and research and publicity materials. Knight, 83, worked on the “Eloise” books with author Kay Thompson, who died in 1998.

Vindicator staff/wire reports