Academy Award-winning lyricist Alan Bergman is guest of Bethel’s Byrd’s Books on December 1

On Wednesday, December 1st, 7:00pm to 8:00pm, Academy Award-winning lyricist, Alan Bergman, a contributor to the Great American Songbook for more than five decades, will join Bethel’s Byrd’s Books, now the home of the prestigious online series, Write America, for another special evening of conversation.

He will be joined by Roger Rosenblatt, the author behind Write America, which is presented over the Crowdcast channel. The bookstore’s owner, Alice Hutchinson, who hosts the program, says, “As Byrd’s Books nears its 10th anniversary, Write America is a our effort to address, in readings and conversation, how books and art might bridge the deep divisions in our nation. Though we’ve focused on book authors, the words emerging from film and music are very much an important complement to the discussion.” 

To reserve a spot for this free special episode of Write America, go to https://bit.ly/3Dec9ss

It is difficult to separate the career of Mr. Bergman from that of his wife Marilyn, his partner in their lyric and songwriting team. During their distinguished career, their songs have been nominated for sixteen Academy Awards, for which they have won three: “The Windmills of Your Mind” in 1968, “The Way We Were” in 1973, and the score for Yentl  in 1984.”Windmills” and “The Way We We’re” also earned Golden Globe Awards, and “The Way We Were” earned two Grammys.

They were the first songwriters to be nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Song out of the five nominated songs, 1983 brought them nominations for “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” from Best Friends, “It Might Be You” from Tootsie, and “If We Were in Love”  from Yes, Giorgio. In 1984, they again received three nominations. In 1995, they wrote the Golden Globe, Academy Award and Grammy nominated song, “Moonlight,”  performed by Sting in the Sydney Pollack film, Sabrina.  Among their principal collaborators are Michel Legrand, Marvin Hamlisch, Cy Coleman, Henry Mancini, And Quincy Jones. For an extended bio, visit alanandmarilynbergman.com 

In early 2021, Roger Rosenblatt created Write America, a weekly national reading series now calling Bethel’s Byrd’s Books its home, to foster the healing of political and racial divisions in the country.  Born in 1940, Roger Rosenblatt is an American memoirist, essayist, and novelist. He is the author of five New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and three NY Times bestsellers. He has written seven off-Broadway plays and his essays for TIME magazine and the PBS Newshour have won two George Polk Awards, the Peabody, and the Emmy, among others. In 2015, he won the Kenyon Review Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement.

He held the Briggs-Copeland appointment in the teaching of writing at Harvard. A resident of Quoque, Long Island, he is currently Distinguished Professor of English and Writing at SUNY Stony Brook/Southampton. In October 2020, Roger joined Byrd’s Books for an author’s talk on his book Cold Moon, which in part led to Write America choosing Byrd’s Books as its new home. Recently, he was honored by the Fulbright Association on its 75th anniversary.

Byrd’s Books is located at 178 Greenwood Avenue, Bethel, CT, across from the Bethel Public Library. Author discussions and Book Group gatherings are regularly added to Byrd’s Books’ calendar of events at Byrd’s Books.HOLIDAY HOURS beginning Thanksgiving: Mon. To Sat., 10:00am to 6:00pm; Thurs., 10:00am to 8:00pm; Sun., 12 noon to 4:00pm. 

Byrd’s Books requires masks and provides a hand sanitizer for everyone’s safety. For directions to the store or more information, call Byrd’s Books at 203-730-2973.  To review the shop’s expanded catalog of new titles, go to ByrdsBooks.com