~Mason Cooley

* 6:30 – 7:30 PM tonight (Friday, September 19th), Steven Roby will be at Seattle Central Library to lecture about the life and music of Jimi Hendrix. Roby is the author of Black Gold: The Lost Archives Of Jimi Hendrix. The presentation includes photos, audio, and video, and will be followed by a question and answer period. Level 1 / Microsoft Auditorium.

* Before the drunken debauchery of Oktoberfest, why not balance your karma? At 7:30 tonight, Somaly Mam will be at Elliott Bay Books to discuss her book and her life. Mam is the author of The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine, her horrific account of childhood sexual slavery in Southeast Asia. She’s also president and cofounder of Cambodia’s AFESIP (Acting for Women in Distressing Circumstances) and of the Somaly Mam Foundation in the U.S.

* On Saturday, September 20th at 2:00 PM, Elliott Bay Books hosts local author Harry Rutstein. Rutstein is the executive director of Marco Polo Foundation, Inc. and has released two books: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo: A Twentieth-Century Odyssey (with Joanne Kroll) and The Marco Polo Odyssey: In the Footsteps of a Merchant Who Changed the World.

* I have no idea what a “religious legal thriller” (Publishers Weekly) might be, but apparently Larry Beinhart has written one. He’ll read and sign Salvation Boulevard twice on Saturday, September 20th: Noon at Seattle Mystery Bookshop and 7:30 PM at Elliott Bay Books.

* Fans of dance will be excited by the chance to meet Twyla Tharp on Sunday, September 21st at 2:00 PM. The famed choreographer will be at Elliott Bay Books as part of a Pacific Northwest Ballet special event: PNW Ballet Educational Programs manager Doug Fullington, artist Charlie Neshbyba-Hodges, ballet master Paul Gibson, soloist Chalnessa Eames, and Tharp will discuss art, dance, or whatever else strikes their fancy. Tharp will also be available to sign her book The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life.

* Poetry in the Park returns to Victor Steinbrueck Park on Sunday, 4:00 – 6:00 PM. Susan Lane, Mercedes Lawry, Nancy Pagh, Anne Pitkin, and Joannie Stangeland will read.