Books Inc. Castro Presents Cynthia O'Neal June 2, 2010

Please join us:

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 7:30PM
Books Inc.
2275 Market St. @ Noe
San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 864 – 6777

Come meet Cynthia O’Neal as she reads from her book, Talk Softly, A Memoir.
"Talk Softly is a beautifully written memoir of a 'noisy life,' intricately structured, heartbreaking as well as joyous, and tense as a thriller. With its wide cast of characters—from cultural icons to the even more wondrous portraits of Archie and Brazilian John and Pamela and many others (people seldom, if ever, written about)—it is a deeply moving portrait of our time. I keep thinking that this is what civilization means."
—Michael Ondaatje
About the Author:

Cynthia O’Neal moved from Hollywood to New York with her new husband, the actor Patrick O’Neal in the 1950s. They owned the famous Ginger Man restaurant and hosted icons of the arts such as Norman Mailer, Leonard Bernstein, Rudolf Nureyev. John Lennon lived upstairs. Cy had always been drawn to the spiritual leaders of the world—having had the pleasure of personal audiences with Ram Dass, the Dalai Lama, and others. So, when the AIDS epidemic hit the arts community hard, she changed course suddenly and completely, but not surprisingly she was eager to offer her help. With Mike Nichols she founded the organization Friends In Deed to support, free of charge, anyone suffering or otherwise coping with a life-threatening illness. This woman with no professional degree, but an enormous amount of compassion, now spent her days in hospital rooms, cramped and dirty apartments, anywhere a patient needed a hug or their hand held or their confidence boosted. And when Patrick became ill and then died, O’Neal had to work through her own grief instead of someone else’s, and found her life transformed again. O’Neal’s heart is evident everywhere in Talk Softly—not only in her remembrances of her childhood, her friends, her husband, and those she has met through Friends In Deed, but in the weekly group meetings she still runs at FID. This inspiring memoir describes life well-lived—in fullness but not in excess—and with the ability to surprise oneself.

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Books Inc. is a locally owned and operated independent bookstore with 10 locations in California. Books Inc.’s origins date back to the Gold Rush days of 1851, when Anton Roman struck it rich in Shasta City, California and set himself up in business selling books. That small bookstore was moved, bought, sold, burned, rebuilt and renamed, and became Books Inc. as we know it today in 1946.

Today, with 10 stores and 200 employees, Books Inc. serves as a shining example that independent bookselling can survive and prosper, even if we must dance among the elephants.

This event is FREE at Books Inc. 2275 Market St., San Francisco 94114
For Questions: Amadeus Martin, Event Coordinator—415.864.6777
[email protected] ; on the web at www.booksinc.net and www.myspace.com/booksinccastro
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