SPEAKER: DIANE KIESEL | ENTERTAINER: MELODIE WOLFORD

Must RSVP by the Friday before

$55 admission includes a three-course lunch payable at the door by cash or check only

A legal contributor to CNN, MSNBC and other media outlets, Diane Kiesel is a retired judge of the New York Supreme Court who spent nearly 25 years presiding over criminal cases.  She is also a former journalist.  Her reporting has earned the prestigious Worth Bingham Prize for distinguished investigative reporting.  Her first biography, She Can Bring Us Home: Dr. Dorothy Boulding Ferebee, Civil Rights Pioneer, earned the 2015 Richard Slatten Award for Excellence in Virginia Biography and the 2016 Colonial Dames of America Book Award.  She is also the author of several editions of a textbook, Domestic Violence: Law, Policy and Practice, used in law school classrooms around the country.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Charlie Chaplin, the silent screen's "Little Tramp," was beloved by millions of movie fans until he starred  in a series of salacious, real-life federal courtroom dramas.  The 1944 trial -- in which he was accused of taking a woman across state lines for immoral purposes in violation of the Mann Act, was described by ace New York Daily News reporter Florabel Muir as "the best show in town." The leading lady was Joan Barry, the red-haired ingenue he'd placed under contract to his studio who quickly became his mistress.  When Charlie Met Joan: The Tragedy of the Chaplin Trials and the Failings of American Law is a deep dive into the trials that contributed to his being barred from the United States for 20 years and led to Barry's commitment to a mental hospital.

MELODIE WOLFORD is an Actress, Singer, Dancer who has toured with 42nd STREET and LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. Off Broadway she has been seen playing Mrs. Winemiller in SUMMER AND SMOKE,  M'Lynn in STEEL MAGNOLIAS, the Soap Star in MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL and Hortense in THE BAKER'S WIFE. Many TV credits including FBI MOST WANTED, LAW AND ORDER and BILLIONS. On November 18th - Melodie will be performing her one woman show, WAITING IN THE WINGS,  at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.