Doug Oster to discuss “Steel City Garden”

Start planning this fall for a garden filled Pittsburgh’s favorite colors with Doug Oster’s newest book “The Steel City Garden: Creating a one of a kind garden in black and gold” to be released this month. Oster will visit the library for a Book Launch Premiere Event on Saturday, November 16 at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the book and answer your gardening questions. Copies of “The Steel City Garden” will be available for purchase and signing.

Register online to attend this program, visit the circulation desk, or call 724.941.9430.

Doug Oster is an Emmy Award Winning producer, television host and writer. He is also the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Backyard Gardener and co-host/producer of The Organic Gardeners radio show every Sunday morning on KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh. Oster recently received the Gold Award for Best Broadcast Media Talent at the 65th Annual GWA Symposium. The award is the highest honor a garden writer can receive from the national Garden Writers Association. He also won the Silver Award for Best Television Talent.

Library celebrates National Author Day with 3 Local Writers

The Peters Township Public Library will celebrate National Author’s Day with a special program featuring three local authors who will share insights about their craft.

On Saturday, November 2 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. at “Reading, Writing, and the Creative Process,” the library will welcome authors Patricia Easton, Stephanie Keyes and Jeanne Marie Laskas to participate in an informal panel discussion. They will share how reading influences their writing, and what rituals, superstitions, settings, and habits shape their creative process. They will reveal who and what inspired them to write and, in turn, hope audience members will explain how a story changes a reader and how a reader can change a story.

Register to attend online or call 724.941.9430. A book signing will follow the program. Light refreshments will be served

Patricia Harrison Easton is the author of seven books, five of them for young people. Her latest book Davey's Blue-Eyed Frog won the Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award. Stephanie Keyes is the author of the young adult fantasy series, The Star Child, which currently includes The Star Child, The Fallen Stars and After Faerie. Jeanne Marie Laskas is the author of six books, including her latest, Hidden America as well as the award-winning trilogy of memoirs: Fifty Acres and a Poodle, The Exact Same Moon, and Growing Girls. She is also the voice behind Reader’s Digest’s “Ask Laskas,” where she dispenses wisdom with zero authority but plenty of common sense.

National Author’s Day, marked on November 1st each year, was recognized by the Department of Commerce in 1949 in resolution that states “By celebrating an Authors’ Day as a nation, we would not only show patriotism, loyalty, and appreciation of the men and women who have made American literature possible, but would also encourage and inspire others to give of themselves in making a better America.”

CHINA AS NUMBER ONE? SCARCITY AND CHINA'S ASCENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY

The Peters Township Public Library in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will present China as Number One? Scarcity and China's Ascent in the 21st Century on Thursday, October 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the library. Featured speakers for the presentation will be William Adams, Senior International Economist for the PNC Financial Services Group, and Damien Ma, a Fellow at The Paulson Institute. Register to attend this free program by emailing programs@ptlibrary.org or call 724.941.9430.

Many experts believe that within the decade, China will have the world’s largest economy— a position the U.S. has held for over a century. As these two superpowers jockey for geopolitical position and influence, what does this trajectory mean for the rest of the world? There is much room for speculation and conjecture, leading at least two veteran China-watchers to say, “So what?” Join the co-authors of In Line Behind A Billion People: How Scarcity Will Define China’s Ascent in the Next Decade to discuss the ramifications of a growing Chinese economy and uncover the fact and fiction behind one of the most intensely-discussed issues facing the international community.

William Adams is Assistant Vice President and Senior International Economist for the PNC Financial Services Group. His responsibilities include forecasting economic conditions and exchange rates, covering emerging Asia, the European Union, Canada and Latin America. Mr. Adams serves as the principal spokesperson on global economic issues for PNC, and frequently presents to PNC clients on the international economic outlook. He joined PNC in July 2011 after serving as resident economist for The Conference Board China Center from 2009 to 2011. Mr. Adams lived in China for five of the past ten years and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. He holds a master degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and is a graduate of Harvard College.

Damien Ma is a Fellow at The Paulson Institute, focused on investment and policy programs and the Institute's research and think tank activities. Previously, he was a Lead China Analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk research and advisory firm. He specialized in analyzing the intersection between Chinese policies and markets, with a particular focus on energy and commodities, industrial policy, U.S.-China trade, and social and internet policies. Mr. Ma writes regularly for the Atlantic Monthly online and publishes widely, including in Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, and Foreign Policy, as well as appearing in a range of broadcast media, such as the Charlie Rose Show, Bloomberg, and the PBS NewsHour. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

McMurray Veterans of Foreign Wars POST 764 generously provides support for the International Program Series hosted by Peters Township Public Library in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh.