The Next Town Meeting on Books will be October 30, 2025.
Please make luncheon reservations by October 23.
The link to make online reservations will be available in the summer.
In October, 1948, with the cooperation of Greensboro College, the Historical Book Club presented a Town Meeting on Books, the first of its kind, so far as research had disclosed. It was an experiment, but one so successful that the Town Meeting on Books became a permanent part of the Historical Book Club’s program.
The 2025 Town Meeting on Books will feature
Kate Quinn
Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with “The Alice Network”, “The Huntress,” “The Rose Code,” “The Diamond Eye,” and “The Briar Club.” She is also a co-author in several collaborative novels including “The Phoenix Crown” with Janie Chang and “Ribbons of Scarlet” with Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Eliza Knight, Sophie Perinot, and Heather Webb. All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in Maryland with three rescue dogs.
Meeting Information
Thursday, October 30, 2025 – 11:30 am
Greensboro Country Club
Reservations
Information coming Summer 2025
Historical Book Club Members $45
General Public $55
An online service charge is included in the ticket price below. If you prefer to make a reservation with a check instead of online, please email [email protected] for details.
Reservations for Tables of 8-10 are only available if payment covering the cost of the entire table and the list of the names for people seated at the table is submitted with the reservation.
2024 Town Meeting on Books Featured Marie Benedict
Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years’ experience as a litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms. She found her calling unearthing the hidden historical stories of women. Her mission is to excavate from the past the most important, complex and fascinating women of history and bring them into the light of present-day where we can finally perceive the breadth of their contributions as well as the insights they bring to modern day issues.
She is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Mitford Affair, Her Hidden Genius, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, The Only Woman in the Room, Lady Clementine, Carnegie’s Maid, The Other Einstein, and the novella, Agent 355. With Victoria Christopher Murray, she co-wrote the Good Morning America Book Club pick The Personal Librarian and the Target Book of the Year The First Ladies.
Her books have been translated into thirty languages, and selected for the Barnes & Noble Book Club, Target Book Club, Costco Book Club, Indie Next List, and LibraryReads List.
Past Town Meeting on Books Participants
1948 James Street, Chapel Hill, NC
…………….James Saxon Childers. Chapel Hill, NC
…………….William T. Polk, Greensboro, NC
1949 Paul Green, Chapel Hill, NC
…………….Betty Smith, Chapel Hill, NC
…………….Sam Ragan, Raleigh, NC
1950 Margaret L. Coit, West Newberry, MA
…………….Virginia Kirkus, New York, NY
…………….Jonathan Daniels, Raleigh, NC
1951 Virginia Kirkus, New York, NY
…………….Burke Davis, Greensboro, NC
…………….Frances Gray Patton, Durham, NC
1952 Frank Borden Hanes, Winston-Salem, NC
…………….Elizabeth Boatwright Coker, Hartsville, SC
…………….Kermit Hunter, Chapel Hill, NC
1953 Archibald Rutledge, McClellansville, SC
…………….Richard Walser, Raleigh, NC
…………….Marion Sims, Charlotte, NC
1954 Bruce Catton, New York, NY
…………….Fred Ross, Badin, NC
…………….Judge Susie Sharp, Reidsville, NC
1955 Clifford Dowdey, Richmond, VA
…………….Ovid Williams Pierce, Dallas, TX
…………….Dr. Richard Bardolph, Greensboro, NC
1956 V. C. Jones, Washington, DC
…………….Sylvia Stallings, Arlington, VA
…………….Dr. Richard Bardolph, Greensboro, NC
1957 Dr. Frank G. Slaughter, Jacksonville, FL
…………….David Stick, Kill Devil Hills, NC
…………….Rose Howell Holder, Baltimore, MD
1958 Governor Luther H. Hodges, Raleigh, NC
…………….Betty Smith, Chapel Hill, NC
…………….Tom Wicker, Winston-Salem, NC
1959 Arthur Larsen, Durham, NC
…………….Helga Sandberg, Falls Church, VA
1960 Virginia Peterson, New York, NY
…………….John Ehle, Chapel Hill, NC
…………….Edwin Gill, Raleigh, NC
1961 Henriette Simpson Arnow, Ann Arbor, Ml
Dr. John A. Redhead, Jr., Greensboro, NC
…………….Thad Stem, Jr., Oxford, NC
1962 Virgilia Peterson, New York, NY
…………….Judge L. Richardson Preyer, Greensboro, NC
…………….Agnew Hunter Bahnson, Jr., Winston-Salem, NC
1963 Willie Snow Ethridge, Prospect, KY
…………….Voit Gilmore, Washington, DC
…………….Russell Brantley, Winston-Salem, NC
1964 Virgilia Peterson, New York, NY
…………… Richard McKenna, Chapel Hill, NC
…………… Judge Allen H. Gwyn, Reidsville, NC
1965 James Reston, Washington, DC
…………….Margaret Cousins, New York, NY
1966 Harry Reasoner, Washington, DC
…………….Shelly Mydans, Larchmont, NY
1967 Eugene Exman, Barnstable, MA
…………….Elizabeth Janeway, New York, NY
1968 Harrison Salisbury, New York, NY
…………….Marya Mannes, New York, NY
1969 Letitia Baldridge, New York, NY
…………….Robert Cromie, Chicago, IL
1970 William J. Lederer, Peacham, VT
…………….Joanna Barnes, New York, NY
1971 Joan Bennett, New York, NY
…………….George Garrett, Columbia, SC
1972 Ross Terrell, Cambridge, MA
…………….Harriet Van Horn, New York, NY
1973 Wilma Dykeman, Newport, TN
…………….Parke Rouse, Williamsburg, VA
1974 Peter Taylor, Charlottesville, VA
…………….Jeff Fields, Jacksonville, FL
1975 Doris Betts, Chapel Hill, NC
…………….David Halberstam, New York, NY
1976 Susan Mary Alsop, Washington, DC
…………….Joe Callaway, New York, NY
1977 Shirley Ann Grau, New Orleans, LA
…………….Reynolds Price, Durham, NC
1978 Doris Kearns Goodwin, Concord, MA
…………….Tom Wicker, New York, NY
1979 Frances Fitzgerald, Boston, MA
1980 Cleveland Amory, New York, NY
……………Germaine Bree, Winston-Salem, NC
1981 Sandor Vanocur, Washington, DC
……………Eugene H. Bohi, High Point, NC
1982 Sydney Harris, Chicago, IL
……………Jessica Mitford, Oakland, CA
1983 Vermont Royster, Chapel Hill, NC
……………Edwin M. Yoder, Washington, DC
1984 Vincent Bugliosi, Los Angeles, CA
……………Robert Lenzner, New York, NY
1985 William Novak, Boston, MA
……………John Loftus, Boston, MA
1986 Tom Wolfe, New York, NY
1987 Lynn Caine, New York, NY
……………Gloria Norris, New York, NY
1988 David Eisenhower, Berwyn, PA
……………Eli Evans, Durham, NC
1989 Jerry Bledsoe, Greensboro, NC
……………Gerald Posner, New York, NY
1990 Allan Gurganus, New York, NY
1991 Justin Kaplan, New York, NY
1992 Tony Hillerman, Albuquerque, NM
1993 Robert James Waller, Cedar Falls, IA
1994 Anne Rivers Siddons, Atlanta, GA
1995 Terry Kay, Atlanta, GA
1996 Doris Betts, Chapel Hill, NC
1997 John Berendt, New York, NY
1998 Pat Conroy, San Francisco, CA
1999 Jan Karon, Blowing Rock, NC
2000 Gail Godwin, Woodstock, NY
2001 Joyce Carol Oates (weather cancellation)
2002 James Brady, Rye, NY
2003 Michael Malone, Hillsborough, NC
2004 Daniel Wallace, Chapel Hill, NC
2005 Sharon McCrumb, Roanoke, VA
2006 John Hart, Greensboro, NC
2007 Roy Blount, Jr., Mill River, MA
2008 Howard Covington and Jim Schlosser, Greensboro, NC
2009 Nicholas Sparks, New Bern, NC
2010 Jennifer Weiner, Los Angeles, CA
2011 Jennet Conant, New York, NY
2012 Robert K. Massie, Irvington, NY
2013 Amor Towles, New York, NY
2014 Nancy Horan, Puget Sound, WA
2015 Lisa See, Los Angeles, CA
2016 Wiley Cash, Asheville, NC
2017 Helen Simonson, Brooklyn, NY
2018 Jamie Ford, Great Falls, MT
2019 Paula McLain, Cleveland, OH
2020 Brian Lampkin, Greensboro, NC (via Zoom*)
2021 John Burham Schwartz, New York, NY (via Zoom*)
2022 Lisa Wingate, North TX and Central CO
2023 Kristin Harmel, Orlando, FL
2024 Marie Benedict, Pittsburgh, PA