A Word to the Wise . . .

Two years ago, Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt spoke at the 8th annual Evening of Words & Music, and he packed the house, raising several thousand dollars for the D.M. Hunt LIbrary. Laura Munson, who cares deeply about the library (following in the footsteps of her benevolent parents) vowed that she would find the next celebrity to read at the annual September event. It's taken her two years to find one with a free Saturday night in September. Enthusiastic and indefatigable, Laura has been writing letters and making phone calls to well-known actors and actresses who live in the northwest corner, and this summer she was able to get a firm commitment from Edward Herrmann, who lives in Salisbury. Mr. Herrmann, as she always calls him, is an actor with a conscience and he will be reading selections from the the Nobel Prize winning playwright and polemicist George Bernard Shaw. Laura is thrilled that Mr. Herrmann (who will be appearing in the hit TV show "Gray's Anatomy" this fall) will be bringing a serious literary presence to the evening. She is also jazzed by two musicians who will be making their Words & Music debuts: June-Elizabeth May Conti, a 12-year-old violin prodigy from Sharon, who is a champion fiddler and has already performed at Carnegie Hall. and singer Antwan Johnson of Falls Village, who won last year's Northwest Idol Competition at the Warner Theater in Torrington with his rendition of the Temptations' "My Girl." Of course, the Joint Chiefs will perform, too. The folk and bluegrass trio are loyal supporters of the library and have played at Words & Music for ten years in a row. Tickets ($18) are available at the Hunt Library, Mountainside Cafe, Town Hall and Toymakers Cafe.