We hope you will join us for our first Author Talk of 2025. Local favorite, Valerie Reid, will be here at Graves Library on Saturday, February 1 @ 2:00 pm to read from her memoir, One Stop West of Hinsdale: Love Derailed in a Sixties Suburb. This debut memoir covers the years 1960 to 1974, Valerie’s ages seven through twenty, in her hometown of Clarendon Hills, Illinois, bringing the era and her own family mystery to vibrant life.
Valerie Kuhn Reid arrived in the Kennebunks back in 1976 when—fresh from the University of Minnesota—she came looking for a teaching job and a home by the sea. She began her teaching career as the librarian at Park Street School, then taught second grade at Consolidated, and when her own three children reached school age, she returned to teaching, this time at Kennebunk High School, where she spent twenty years as the KHS Theater teacher and play director with 41 productions to her credit. Writing has been Valerie’s lifelong passion, and at the age of 63 she earned a master’s in Writing and the Teaching of Writing through UMaine, Orono and the Maine Writing Project. While her short story “Moving On” appeared in Woman’s World Magazine, and two others received honorable mentions in Writer’s Digest Annual Competitions, One Stop West of Hinsdale is Valerie’s first published book.
Light refreshments will be provided by the Graves Library Snack Team. Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing.
The Graves Library is located at 18 Maine Street, Kennebunkport. Parking is available on Maine Street, Consolidated School (Route 9) and the Village Fire Station (North Street) Doors open at 1:30 pm.
For more information, visit the Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library website.
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