The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and A Cappella Books Present Denise Kiernan in conversation with Kate Andersen Brower - We Gather Together Virtual Event
From the New York Times bestselling author of “The Last Castle” and “The Girls of Atomic City” comes a new way to look at American history through the story of giving thanks.
The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and A Cappella Books welcome an author, journalist and producer Denise Kiernan for a virtual discussion of her new book, “We Gather Together: A Nation Divided, a President in Turmoil, and a Historic Campaign to Embrace Gratitude and Grace” on Monday, November 8, 2021, at 7 PM (EST). Kiernan will appear in conversation with bestselling author and journalist Kate Andersen Brower.
This event is free and open to the public. Join the event via the Zoom link below.
A Cappella Books will have copies of “We Gather Together" available after the event. Pre-order via the link below.
About the Book
From Ancient Rome through 21st-century America, bestselling author Denise Kiernan brings us a biography of an idea: gratitude, as a compelling human instinct and a global concept, more than just a mere holiday. Spanning centuries, “We Gather Together” is anchored amid the strife of the Civil War, and driven by the fascinating story of Sarah Josepha Hale, a widowed mother with no formal schooling who became one of the 19th century’s most influential tastemakers and who campaigned for decades to make real an annual day of thanks.
Populated by an enthralling supporting cast of characters including Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, Walt Whitman, Norman Rockwell, and others, “We Gather Together” is ultimately a story of tenacity and dedication, an inspiring tale of how imperfect people in challenging times can create powerful legacies.
Working at the helm of one of the most widely read magazines in the nation, Hale published Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others, while introducing American readers to such newfangled concepts as “domestic science,” white wedding gowns, and the Christmas tree. A prolific writer, Hale penned novels, recipe books, essays and more, including the ubiquitous children’s poem, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” And Hale herself never stopped pushing the leaders of her time, in pursuit of her goal.
The man who finally granted her wish about a national “thanksgiving” was Lincoln, the president of the war-torn nation in which Hale would never have the right to vote.
Illuminating, wildly discussable, part myth-busting, part call to action, “We Gather Together” is full of unexpected delights and uneasy truths. The stories of indigenous peoples, immigrant communities, women’s rights activists, abolitionists, and more, will inspire readers to rethink and reclaim what it means to give thanks in this day and age. The book’s message of gratitude—especially when embraced during the hardest of times—makes it one to read and share, over and over, at any time of year.
About the Author
Denise Kiernan is an author, journalist and producer who has worked as a writer for more than 20 years. Her last two books—"The Last Castle” and “The Girls of Atomic City”—were both instant New York Times bestsellers in both hardcover and paperback. “The Last Castle” was a Wall Street Journal bestseller, a finalist for the 2018 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. “The Girls of Atomic City” was a Los Angeles Times and NPR bestseller, named one of Amazon’s “Top 100 Best Books of 2013,” and has been published in multiple languages. Kiernan has been a featured guest on many radio and television shows, including NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” “PBS NewsHour,” MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
