The pleasure of your company ...

Oct. 18, 2002 12 AM PT

DISCOVER YOU PUBLIC LIBRARY

No, siree, it’s not going to be your dreaded rubber chicken

affair, after which one could easily nod off during the after-dinner

talk.

Don’t even entertain such an idea when this year’s Friends of the

Library annual dinner is cooked up by the Laguna Hotel’s Claes

Restaurant and the evening’s speaker is the always-captivating,

best-selling mystery author T. Jefferson Parker.

In the past, invitations to the Friends annual dinner were sent to

members only, but this year it’s a y’all come soiree. Thursday, Oct.

24 marks the festive evening, starting at 6:30 p.m. with a social

hour of scintillating conversation followed by a

sure-to-be-delectable dinner at 7:30 p.m.

It will be a pleasure to welcome Parker as our guest speaker.

Mystery readers warmed to him after his first novel, “Laguna Heat”

(1985), but none so enthusiastically and appreciatively as his

hometown fans. Parker has gone on to write nearly a dozen popular

whodunits set in Orange County, most recently “Black Water” featuring

heroine Det. Merci Rayborn.

It’s going to be a grand party, so please join us for the fun. The

cost is $35 for Friends members and $45 for non-members. Kindly mail

your check to: The Friends of the Laguna Beach Library, P.O. Box 36,

Laguna Beach 92652. For more information, call Martha Lydick at

The Friends of the Library works to improve the library through

the money its bookshop raises. In the past year, the Friends have

earned about $25,000. This money has bought $20,000 in library

materials and funded the branch’s community-wide annual Poetry

Contest and the children’s Summer Reading Program.

In this time of financial uncertainty, the dedication and

enthusiasm of our Friends is even more important and appreciated. So,

who are these special people? Attend their annual dinner and meet

this awesome group!

Friends of the Library Bookshop hours

11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday

and

11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday