Ten years of love for the library

B.W. COOK

A very real round table marked the 10th anniversary of the Newport

Beach Central Library. It was a true love affair with learning and

reading for some 300 guests, including Newport Beach city officials

and a host of invited and celebrated writers who came to partake in

the gala anniversary event and subsequent week of planned activities,

all in honor of the local library.

The massive undertaking was chaired with tremendous care by

Elizabeth Stahr. The wife of respected Corona del Mar attorney John

Stahr was a leader in the fundraising task a decade ago that helped

make the Central Library a reality. Major support for the anniversary

gala came from one of Newport’s most philanthropic couples, Henry and

Elizabeth Segerstrom of the Balboa Peninsula. More than $70,000 was

raised at the dinner, thanks to underwriting from the Segerstrom

family and other generous local patrons. Elizabeth Stahr, looking

very glamorous in her Nancy Reagan red dinner suit, smiled with

considerable pride, offering: “In Newport Beach, our supporters are

very faithful and love their library.”

Indeed. Distinguished guests attending the event included former

Newport mayor Clarence Turner and his wife Jan, former councilwoman

and library advocate Lucille Kuehn, past Library Foundation president

David Carmichael, former library trustees Karen Evarts and Nancy

Jones and the previous State Secretary of Child Development and

Education Marian Bergeson.

The Newport Beach Marriott Hotel was the setting for Stahrs’

Saturday evening literary soiree on July 15. Cocktails at the

Marriott in advance of the dinner celebration featured 10 authors

available to sign books for sale. The impressive list of literary

guests included Charmaine Craig, John Gobbell, Elizabeth Forsythe

Hailey, Sherwood Kiraly, T. Jefferson Parker, Susan Segal, Mary

Yukari Waters, Andrew Winer, Robin Wulffson and Patt Morrison. Later

in the evening, Morrison, a writer and L.A. Times columnist,

addressed the crowd. Morrison hosts and produces a syndicated book

talk show, called appropriately “The Book Show,” and has won numerous

awards.

Guests dined on filet mignon and shared chocolate cake for dessert

at tables decorated and themed after noted authors and their classic

books. From Twain to Tarkington, Stevenson to Shakespeare, DuMaurier,

Hawthorne, Alcott and Milne were all represented. Many in attendance

ended up reading from books on their tables, entertaining guests in a

very old tradition.

Supporting Elizabeth Stahr was a dedicated committee of locals,

including Carolina Cohen, Linda Elftmann, Nancy Green, Kathy

Hamilton, Tracy Keys, Molly Lynch, Karen Parks, Kate Rader, Joyce

Rosenblum and Mary Westbrook, to name only a few. Also in the crowd

were Library Foundation Chairman Tom Edwards and his wife Lisa, City

Council members Gary Adams and Don Webb and trustees Harry Hamilton,

Theresa Chase, Kathleen Peterson and Bill Williams. Sally Anderson

and Tom Rogers supported the evening, as did Janice and Ted Smith,

Carl and Pat Neisser, Victor and Barbara Klein, Anne and Tom Johnson,

Jeff and Linda Schulein and John and Kim Turner. Master of Ceremonies

Ed Arnold provided the glue to hold the night together. A night to

remember on the Orange Coast benefiting a public treasure -- the

library.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.