Author Elinor Lipman will be doing a reading from her latest novel, The Family Man, a “humorous and heartfelt social satire,” at Queen Anne Books at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 8. Here’s how QA Books describes the read:

A hysterical phone call from Henry Archer’s ex-wife and a familiar face in a photograph upend his well-ordered life and bring him back into contact with the child he adored, a short-term stepdaughter from a misbegotten marriage long ago. Henry is a lawyer, an old-fashioned man, gay, successful, lonely. Thalia is now twenty-nine, an actress-hopeful, estranged from her newly widowed eccentric mother—Denise, Henry’s ex. Hoping it will lead to better things for her career, Thalia agrees to pose as the girlfriend of a horror-movie luminary who is down on his romantic luck. When Thalia and her complicated social life move into the basement of Henry’s Upper West Side townhouse, she finds a champion in her long-lost father, and he finds new life—and maybe even new love—in the commotion.

There will time for a reading, discussion, signing, and or course, a few snacks. Read up on Elinor’s other books here.

L.A. singer-songwriter Greg Laswell is going to be performing live at Easy Street Records at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 8. Here’s what Easy Street has to say:

With bright, orchestral melodies, melancholy and soul-searching lyrics, he’s won legions of fans and has become a favorite of film and television music supervisors.

Greg will be playing songs off of his brand new album Take a Bow. Check it out here.

(As always, thanks to Easy Street Records for the picture!)

Over the last year FOLKpark has been awarded two city grants, held a number of community meetings and park clean-ups, and helped develop a conceptual plan for the redevelopment of Lower Kinnear Park. Now the organization is preparing to take the next steps: raising the funds necessary to actually instigate the enhancement plan.

This Thursday, May 6 at 7 p.m. FOLKpark invites community members to participate in an informal meeting and help brainstorm fundraising and event ideas for the next phase of the park’s redevelopment. The meeting will be held at the Ten Mercer restaurant, located at, you guessed it, 10 Mercer St. in Lower Queen Anne, and will last approximately one hour.

“Now that the enhancement plans to Lower Kinnear Park have been finalized, our fund raising efforts will now move into full swing. Your help is now truly needed!” said FOLKpark Volunteer Coordinator Phil Prahst.

Phil asks that anyone planning to attend please RSVP by either emailing him at philprahst@gmail.com, or joining the event on Facebook.

Ballard may have Scandinavian pride in troves, but here in Queen Anne we have the Swedish Women’s Chorus! The Chorus, a staple of Swedish heritage in Seattle since 1951, is having its annual spring concert and auction this Friday, April 30 at the Swedish Cultural Center, located at 1920 Dexter Ave N–just in time to kick off Sweden Week at the Seattle Center (May 2 to 9).

Doors open at 6 p.m. and the concert will begin at 7 p.m. Drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and gift baskets (part of the silent auction) will be available for purchase. All proceeds will be benefit the Chorus.

Anyone interested in joining the Chorus is welcome to drop in on one of the group’s weekly meetings, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. every Tuesday from September through May.

No Swedish nor an audition is necessary to join, just a love for singing with a bunch of great ladies!  For more information, please contact Judy Womack Judy317317@msn.com or 206-937-3285.

(Thanks to Annika Dragovich for the photo!)

This Saturday, April 24, is the annual Comcast Cares Day at McClure Middle School. Volunteers from Comcast, City Year, McClure staff, students and parents, and community members will work together to transform McClure and the Queen Anne Community Center through a day of service.

From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. volunteers will be working on landscaping projects, fixing up individual and community rooms, assembling shelving units and benches, and painting murals.

Community members interested in volunteering a few hours of time are encouraged to show up and lend a hand. For more information, download the event flier (.pdf), or contact City Year Corps Member Trisha Yalong at (206) 766-0056 or tyalong10@cityyear.org.

Vermont-based author Howard Frank Mosher will be at Queen Anne Books at 3 p.m. this Sunday, April 11 to talk about his latest novel Walking to Gatlinburg. Mosher, who has written ten novels and a travel memoir, will be presenting an informative slide show called “Transforming History into Fiction: the Story of a Born Liar.”

Where do the boundaries lie between history and fiction?  How far can a novelist go in appropriating and “transforming” history into fiction?  Using his personal slides, and stories from his travels to the old Erie Canal, Pennsylvanian Amish country, the battlefield at Gettysburg, historical sectors of Richmond, and the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains, Mosher will discuss his use of historical events and characters in his just-released Civil War novel, Walking to Gatlinburg.  As part of his research for the novel, Mosher read more than 100 Civil War histories and novels – his favorites are Cold Mountain and The Killer Angels – and retraced the entire trek of the novel’s hero, Morgan Kinneson, from northern Vermont to the Smokies.

For more information, check out the Queen Anne Books website (where they’ve also reviewed Mosher’s latest book).

From 7 to 9 p.m. tonight, Thursday, April 8, FOLKpark will hold its third and final community meeting to present the final concept design for the redevelopment of Lower Kinnear Park. The concept design was created by HBB Landscape Architecture based on community input from the first two meetings.

To get an idea of what the final design entails before the meeting, take a look at the enhancement plan (.pdf). As always, the community meeting is open to the public and will be held at Bayview Manor, located at 11 W. Aloha St.

After this weekend’s fatal car accident, the Youth & Families Initiative caucus that was scheduled for this evening has been postponed. Mayor Mike McGinn’s office confirms that the town hall will not be held tonight. A new date has not been determined.

During Mayor Mike McGinn’s inaugural address, he announced the formation of the Youth & Families Initiative. Next Monday, the Mayor will join El Centro de la Raza Executive Director Estela Ortega to talk about the initiative. The Mayor hopes these community town hall meetings will help shape his agenda on issues affecting youth and families from a child’s birth to their successful career track.

The community caucus will be held Monday, April 5th from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Ballard High School Library (1418 NW 65th St.) Here is an informational video about the Youth & Families Initiative.

FOLKpark will be hosting an Upper Kinnear Park Clean-up from 9 a.m. to noon tomorrow, Saturday, March 20.

Volunteers interested in helping with some planting west of the comfort station should meet at 9 a.m. in the gravel area. Parks and Recreation will be supplying plants and tools. Everyone is welcome.

This event is being organized by the Church of Scientology Environmental Task Force. For more information contact Dave at davidscattergood@gmail.com.