The Oneida Community Mansion House hosts Donna Woolfolk Cross, author of Pope Joan, on Sat., March 6 at 7 p.m., during a free public event to kick off The Big Read in the greater Oneida area.
 The Big Read is presented through a partnership of the Oneida Community Mansion House and the Oneida Public and Sherrill-Kenwood Free libraries to celebrate The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder.
Oneida and Sherrill represent one of 268 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture, from September 2009-June 2010. To date, the NEA has funded more than 800 Big Read programs in the nation’s towns and cities.
The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.
Cross will kick off The Big Read by sharing the research, writing and themes of her popular novel.  During this inspiring presentation on the power of reading and writing to enlighten, enrich, and change our lives, Cross will also discuss the influence of Thornton Wilder on her own writing.  Attendees will be the first to see the two-minute trailer of the movie version of Pope Joan that was released overseas last year.  The author’s talk will be followed by a reception when she will sign copies of Pope Joan, on sale that evening from the Colgate University Bookstore.
Donna Woolfolk Cross graduated cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969 with a B.A. in English.  She moved to London, England, after graduation, and worked as an editorial assistant for a small publishing house on Fleet Street, W.H. Allen and Company.  Upon her return to the United States, Cross worked at Young and Rubicam, a Madison Avenue advertising firm, before going on to graduate school at UCLA where she earned a master's degree in Literature and Writing in 1972.
In 1973, Cross moved with her husband to upstate New York where she began teaching writing in a college English Department.  Now writing is her fulltime career.
She is the author of two books on language, Word Abuse: How the Words We Use Use Us and Mediaspeak: How Television Makes Up Your Mind. She is the coauthor of Speaking of Words and Daddy's Little Girl.  The product of seven years of research and writing, Pope Joan is her first novel.  She is now at work on a new novel set in 17th century France.
The Oneida Community Mansion House was the home of the 19th century utopian Oneida Community (1848-1880).  Today, the 93,000 square foot building houses a living museum with permanent and changing exhibitions, residential apartments, overnight lodging, Zabroso Restaurant, and banquet and meeting space.  Guided tours are available Wed. through Sat., 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sun. at 2 p.m. for a nominal fee.  The Oneida Community Mansion House is located at 170 Kenwood Ave., Oneida, NY.  For information call 315-363-0745 or visit www.oneidacommunity.org.
 


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