Authors! Authors! sets fall lineup

8/10/2012
BY TAHREE LANE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
John Grogan is the author of the popular memoir 'Marley & Me.'
John Grogan is the author of the popular memoir 'Marley & Me.'

The 19th season of the popular Authors! Authors! series will bring to town Stan Lee of Marvel Comics, actor/writer Hill Harper, and John Grogan, author of the beloved Marley & Me.

Tickets for Lee, appearing Sept. 27, are selling quickly and advance purchase is recommended. Lee, 89, helped create Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and the Incredible Hulk in the early 1960s, giving his superheroes flaws such as anger problems and alcoholism. He's a comic-book writer and editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former head of Marvel Comics.

Speaking Oct. 17 is Hill Harper, best known for his CSI: NY portrayal of Dr. Sheldon Hawkes, a coroner-turned-crime scene investigator. Among his books are Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny; Letters to a Young Sister: DeFINE Your Destiny; How Men and Women Can Build Loving, Trusting Relationships, and The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in Its Place.

John Grogan will speak Nov. 15. A former newspaper writer and columnist, his debut best-seller showed how a neurotic dog could become an extraordinary presence to a family. It was made into a movie starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. His second book, The Longest Trip Home, is a humorous memoir of growing up in a devoutly Catholic Michigan family in the 1960s.

Authors! Authors! is cosponsored by the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library and The Blade.

Talks will be at 7 p.m. at the Stranahan Theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd. Tickets for Stan Lee are available for purchase at all library branches. Tickets for Hill Harper and John Grogan will be available as of Aug. 24 at library branches and at the door. They are $10, $8 for students, and $27 for the three-speaker fall series. Information: 419-259-5266.