KINGSTON – Local author Marianne Leone will discuss her 2010 memoir about her son, “Jesse: A Mothers Story,” on Wednesday, August 2 at 6 p.m. at the Adams Center.
Jesse was an honor roll student, who loved to windsurf and write poetry. He also had severe cerebral palsy, was a quadriplegic, unable to speak, and wracked by seizures. He died suddenly at the age of 17 in 2005. In her memoir, Leone chronicles her transformation by the remarkable life and untimely death of her child.
During her discussion, Leone will also highlight how she and others communicated with her son, and how he communicated back through an adapted computer as a non-verbal individual. Leone’s author talk is part of this year’s Massachusetts Summer Reading theme, “Find your Voice,” with a number of programs at the Kingston Public Library to help individuals find their voice through writing, music, speechwriting or other means.
Leone is an actress, screenwriter, and essayist. Her other memoir, “Ma Speaks Up,” was published by Beacon Press in 2017. She had a recurring role on HBO’s, “The Sopranos,” and has appeared in films by David O. Russell, Larry David, John Sayles, and Martin Scorsese. Her essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, WBUR, and other publications.
This program is part of the 2023 Adult Summer Reading Program. Attendees will be given a raffle ticket to be used towards a prize. This year’s prizes have been generously provided by the Kingston Public Library Foundation
To register for this event, please visit – https://kingstonpubliclibrary.org. For more information, you can contact Steven Miller, Reference Librarian at (781) 585-0517 x6272 or at smiller@kingstonma.gov.