Kennedy Novel to Become an Opera

"William Kennedy finds it fitting that his novel Roscoe, a fictional reconstitution of Albany's legendary Democratic political machine, is going to be turned into an opera by local composer Evan Mack."

"'I think Roscoe would approve because he led a grand, operatic life,' Kennedy said of the title character, Roscoe Conway, the machine's fixer and bagman who wants to quit politics after 26 years of carrying out its chicanery."

"The novel is set in Albany on V-J Day, 1945. The New Yorker praised it for being 'thick with crime, passion and backroom banter.'  The novel was published in 2002 and reached the New York Times bestseller list."

Read Paul Grondahl's article in th Times Union:  http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Kennedy-novel-to-become-an-opera-4580309.php#ixzz2VSxVbCpw

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Jorgen Randers Last Night

Influential futurist Jorgen Randers, author of 2052: A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years (2012), spoke last night to a packed Lecture Center audience of approximately 400.

Audience members remarked on the sharp contrast between Randers' sunny disposition and the terrifying implications of his data.

For more on Randers, go to http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/randers_jorgen13.html.

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