Long Island Bookstore to Host Reading of 'October Mourning: A Song for Matthew'

Cynthia Marie Tuesday, September 18, 2012

In life there are those events that stir people to their core and inspires them to create wonderful works of art. It doesn't matter if it is a sculpture, a painting, a song, or a poem. They are all results of an event that moves them to do so. This is the reason we have the book called, 'October Mourning: A Song for Matthew' by author Leslea Newman. The book is a novel in verse. This means that  October Mourning offers readers a masterful, poetic exploration of the impact of the October 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming.

On October 15th, at the Bluestockings bookstore in NYC, Ms. Newman will be on hand for a special reading of her book. Following this, there will be another reading on October 17th in Long Island at the Long Island GLBT Community Center. This night falls in along with the month long  US Holocaust Museum’s traveling exhibit, “Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945,” from October 15-November 15 which the Center is also hosting.

The reading of October Mourning is to be a part of the overall exhibit and to bring a contemporary view of the historical look at bias, sorrow, loss and legacy. Lesléa Newman is one of the GLBT Jewish Heroes being recognized by the Center in the month of October, during its spotlight series. The Series is designed to raise the visibility of the contributions of GLBT people to the community.

Leslea is a native of Long Island and grew up in Jericho. She went on to graduate from Jericho High School in 1973, and in 1999, she was inducted into the Jericho High School Hall of Fame. She wrote her book about the murder of Matthew Shepard partly as a promise to the people of Wyoming, but also because it stirred her emotions and her soul. Newman has said:

“That night in Laramie, I promised the people attending my lecture that  I would do my best to make sure Matthew Shepard was not forgotten. Though I never met him, he became part of the fabric of my life; the poems that make up this book poured out of me as if they had been cooped up for years. My hope is that those who read October Mourning will be inspired to honor Matthew Shepard’s legacy.”

 

The event will be at the GLBT Community Center on October 17th at 7PM. For information contact the center.

cynthiam@longislandyellowpages.com

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