May 9th 2005 two authors:
Luis Carrillo Miranda and Gerald Rosen

Luis Carrillo Miranda was born in a small town in Puerto Rico. After many difficulties growing up, he joined relatives in New York where he worked his way through college. After graduating, he took a bus to California. When he arrived by mistake in San Francisco instead of L.A., he fell in love with the city and remained here, "where most of his lifetime dreams became a reality: a career in Social Work and the publication of his memoir: ' A Child of No Importance-The Life of a Puerto Rican Dreamer.' Luis worked as a school social worker in the S. F. Unified Schools, a family counselor at S.F.City College and as a professor at S.F.State University. He took an early retirement in order to finish writing his memoir, but remains a tireless world-wide traveler with hobbies in sculpture and other arts.
Novelist Gerald Rosen will offer "An Evening of Laughter," reading funny scenes from two of his novels, "Growing Up Bronx" and "The Carmen Miranda Memorial Flagpole." The NY Times called his "Carmen Miranda Memorial Flagpole "-"a terrific book, a book that reveals a remarkably acute understanding of both New York and California, a book that is both hilarious and devastating, an exceptional novel." The NY Times called his "Growing Up Bronx"-"a humorous and touching novel." Before he dropped out and became an anti-war protestor and a novelist in the late 60s, he took a degree in Electrical Engineering, a Wharton MBA, and an MA and PhD in American Literature and History from the University of Pennsylvania

May 23, 2005:
Morris Bassan and Abby Wassermann

Morris Bassan will read from his"Haight Ashbury Sketches." A reviewer wrote: "Despite what later would be called good vibes, Bassan rightly stresses a Dickensian side to the neighborhood." Basssan's other books include one about Nathaniel Hawthorne's son called "Hawthorne's Son", and a collection of essays about Stephen Crane. He has retired from S.F. State, and most recently has been teaching individual-author courses at the Fromm Institute-Bernard Shaw and Eugene O'Neill, plus Emily Dickinson. He also has taught courses there on "Emma Goldman and the Golden Age of American Radicalism," and "British Political Theatre." A novel called "The Governor" about the troubles at SF State in the 1960s-awaits an eager publisher.
Abby Wasserman will read from "Praise, Vilification & Sexual Innuendo, or How to Be a Critic: The Selected Writings of John L. Wasserman." She also will bring original artwork from one of her children's books.
Wasserman is a writer and artist in the San Francisco Bay Area and former editor-in-chief of the Oakland Museum of California's quarterly magazine. Now freelance, she facilitates writing groups, exhibits her art, works on editorial projects and is at work on several books including a novel titled "Cross Country." Her publications include "The Spirit of Oakland," a multicultural history of Oakland; and "Portfolio," essays on 11 Native American artists. She also has completed two illustrated children's books.
Abby Wasserman grew up in the Bay Area loving the arts. In her youth she played the piano, painted, acted, danced and wrote. She attended San Francisco State and New York University, where she studied theater education. In the mid-1980s Abby returned to the Bay Area and wrote art and museum reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle and The Museum of California magazine, published by the Oakland Museum of California. She was offered a job writing and editing at the museum and soon rose to editor-in-chief. She edited the magazine for 14 years.
During those years, Abby produced two books: Praise, Vilification and Sexual Innuendo or, How to Be a Critic: The Selected Writings of John L. Wasserman, 1964-1979, about her late brother, the Chronicle critic and entertainment writer, featuring a narrative about his life and some 90 of his columns; and The Spirit of Oakland, an anthology of Oakland History from multicultural perspectives.
Abby has recently been concentrating her artistic talents on producing collages and symbolic watercolors, and has written and illustrated two children's books, with a third on the way. Since 2003, she has served on the Board of the O'Hanlon Center for the Arts in Mill Valley. She facilitates two writing groups while devoting most of her time to writing and art.