Meet the Author: Steven G. Jackson

Wednesday April 20th 7:00 p.m.


The Friends of Crowell Public Library’s Meet the Authors series continues with Steven G. Jackson and his debut novel, a gritty thriller entitled The Zeus Payload. Young tech genius Nick King is approached by CIA agents to create a cyber weapon that can infiltrate any computer system without being detected. He quickly learns that his creation, which he names the Zeus Payload, is being actively sought by undesirable groups that want to use the program to destroy the United States: rogue CIA agents, neo-Nazis, Al Qaeda, and Mexican drug lords. The chase is on. The Zeus Payload is the first of a trilogy, so stay tuned for more thrills by this author.

Steven Jackson spent his first career as an engineering and technology director in the defense business at Hughes Aircraft Company and Raytheon. The Zeus Payload, blends both sides of Jackson’s brain, leveraging a broad understanding of software, engineering, national defense, and the intelligence services, presenting a geo-political story of covert operations and conspiracies. Jackson’s book provides just enough technology to be accurate and feasible without overpowering good storytelling. Currently at work on several thrillers, he also writes comedy in shorter formats and had his stage play, "Fade to Crazy," performed in 2015. He holds a Master of Professional Writing degree from the University of Southern California, and lives in Southern California. He currently serves as Vice President of the Southern California Writers Association.

Come to Crowell Library and learn more about this versatile author on Wednesday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the Library’s Barth Community. Thanks to the Friends of the Library, the authors keep coming to Crowell Public Library!

LA Opera Talk: La Boheme

SUNDAY, April 17th 2:00 p.m.
La Boheme: the heartbreaking story of opera's most famous young lovers

It's Christmas in Paris as the quintessential bohemian love story comes to life: a candle flickers out on Christmas Eve, tentative hands meet in the dark, and a rapturous duet soars under the moonlight… this is Puccini’s La Boheme. The opera is a collection of vignettes portraying six young bohemians living in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the 1840s.
Inspired by Henri Murger's novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème, La Boheme inspired the award-winning Broadway musical Rent.

Guided by an L.A. Opera Community Educator, at Crowell Library you will follow this heartbreaking story of a poet who discovers true love with a beautiful, fragile seamstress, and a painter and vivacious cabaret singer who rediscover their on-again, off-again passion. Surrounded by the evocative rooftops, cafés and garrets of Paris, these lively bohemians and their companions experience exhilarating joy and irretrievable loss.
Opera is not just magnificent music, dance and theater with astounding sets on a beautiful stage. An opera can sweep you away to foreign lands, take you back in time, dazzle you with pageantry and bring history to life. It is literature, social studies, cultural diversity, multiple languages and most of all, it is exciting! Opera has something for everyone.

This introduction to opera at Crowell Public Library is free. After hearing excerpts from this production, you’ll undoubtedly be inspired to make a trip to the Los Angeles Music Center for a real opera experience. Come explore the world of opera through LA Opera’s education programs.