Speaking Engagements

David Laskin lectures and keynotes nationally at genealogical societies, Jewish book fairs, libraries, historical societies, synagogues and book stores. To book an event with David, please contact David or  Julia Rickard.
 

Sunday, September 11, 2022

Award-winning author David Laskin to discuss his books at Port Washington’s Dolphin Bookshop

David Laskin, a bestselling author based in Seattle, will be in Port Washington, New York, at 2 PM on Sunday, September 11, for a special event hosted by the Dolphin Bookshop. Born and raised in Great Neck, Laskin will talk about the “story behind the story” of his two most recent books – The Family (Penguin, 2013), a memoir, and his novel What Sammy Knew (Penguin, 2022), a coming-of-age story set on Long Island.

Hailed by the Star Tribune as “a hugely accomplished first novel about growing up fast amid personal strife and public upheaval,” What Sammy Knew tells the gripping story of a high school senior named Sammy Stein who runs away from his Long Island home and gets in way over his head in the tumult of the drug-soaked East Village in 1970. “Almost memoirlike in its portrait of its specific time and place,” wrote the Seattle Times.

Laskin’s The Family, winner of the Washington State Book Award in nonfiction, follows the divergent journeys taken by the three branches of his mother’s family in the early 20th century: one branch immigrated from Eastern Europe to New York and founded the Maidenform Bra Company; the second branch participated in the birth of Israel as Zionist pioneers; the family members who remained behind in Belarus and Lithuania perished in the Holocaust. “At once anguishing and inspiring,” the Wall Street Journal concluded in a rave review.

Laskin, traveling to the East Coast to attend the 50th reunion of his class at the John L. Miller North Senior High School, will discuss how he evoked a bygone era in New York City and the suburbs. Copies of The Family and What Sammy Knew will be available for purchase.

The event is free and open to the public. The Dolphin Bookshop (TheDolphinBookshop.com; 516-767-2650) is located at 299 Main Street in Port Washington, NY.
 

Past Highlights

Washington DC
Italian Embassy
Lecture & Signing

Dallas, TX
The Tycher Library
Lecture & Signing

Fort Lauderdale, FL
David Posnack Jewish Community Center
Lecture and Signing

New York, NY
Jewish Genealogical Society of NY
Lecture and Signing

Washington, DC
Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Washington
Lecture and Signing

Chicago, IL
Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning
Lecture and Signing

Baltimore, MD
Baltimore Hadassah Annual Meeting
Lecture and Signing

Salt Lake City
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies
Keynote Address

Atlanta, GA
Atlanta History Center
Lecture and Signing

St. Louis, MO
St. Louis JCC
Book Fair