Award-winning author Irene M. Drago and award-winning writer and editor Bob Keyes will discuss the histories, romances, and legends that inspired their latest books, “Lavinia Wren and the Sailmakers” and “The Isolation Artist — Scandal, Deception, and the Last Days of Robert Indiana,” at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24, at Mockingbird Bookshop in Bath. Following their conversation, Drago and Keyes will take questions from the audience and sign copies of their books, which will be for sale. Light refreshments will be available.
Bob Keyes Submitted photo
Irene Drago Submitted photo
Drago is the author of three historical novels published by Maine Authors Publishing in Thomaston. In 2017, she received a Spirit of Bath Award for her blog “Bath Time” and in 2018 she won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for her debut novel, “Daughters of Long Reach.” Keyes is the editorial director at Colby College. From June 2002 to December 2021, he was an arts writer and editor for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the Rabkin Prize for Visual Arts Journalism.
Drago’s “Lavinia Wren and the Sailmakers” is an uncommon love story woven into the fabric of Maine’s maritime history. Lavinia reflects the resolute heart of a seafaring family. Orphaned by the Civil War, Vinnie finds a home in Thomaston, Maine, and grows up with a view of the Georges River, bustling shipyards, and the forbidding wall of a prison. In 1865, on the verge of turning thirteen, she meets the son of a shipbuilder, two young sailors, and the raven-haired daughter of a ship carver. For the next sixty years, their lives remain entwined through joy and sorrow. Together these sailmakers pull the thread of love, not war, through history, replenishing our souls.
Keyes’ “The Isolation Artist,” published by Godine in Boston, is the true story of reclusive, millionaire artist Robert Indiana: his final days, the aftermath, the deceptive world that surrounded him, and the inner workings of art as very big business. When Robert Indiana, the artist who refused to copyright his iconic LOVE sculpture in 1965, died at his crumbling home, Star of Hope, on Vinalhaven Island in 2018, he left an estate worth millions of dollars. He also left dark rumors, scandal, and quickly mounting lawsuits.
Lavinia Wren and Robert Indiana may seem like an odd pairing, but the art of Drago and Keyes — the art of storytelling — will connect them.
The Mockingbird Bookshop is located at 74 Front St., Bath. For more information, call 207-389-4084.
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