Look Who's Talking: Eve Pell

Eve Pell (above, left), author of We Used to Own the Bronx, was recently interviewed at Boca Grande Talk, the online home of Florida's Gasparilla Gazette. Eve was in town to visit former roommate Alice Gorman (above, right), a Boca Grande resident, and to speak to a sold-out benefit audience at Johann Fust Community Library with "revolutionary tales of her unique life and times." Enjoy the full Q&A here.

We Used to Own the Bronx: Notable Book for 2009

Another day, another book makes another year-end best books list. This time it's Eve Pell's We Used to Own the Bronx. Eve's inside story of privilege, wealth, and the American upper crust made the San Francisco Chronicle's list of notable books for 2009.

Head Butler reviews We Used to Own the Bronx

"Eve Pell makes me want to lace up my running shoes—real and metaphorical—and get going."

That's a snippet from another terrific review of Eve Pell's memoir We Used to Own the Bronx. Read the review over at Head Butler.

And yes, for those who didn't know, after befriending the Black Panthers and making documentary films on the dark side of American politics, Eve also became a world-class runner. This fascinating memoir has a little bit of everything.

Memories of a golden era in the Bronx

We Used to Own the Bronx is still going strong: check out this recent piece by Michael Thomas of New York Social Diary. Turns out Michael escorted author Eve "Topsy" Pell to the Spring Dance at Exeter in 1953! He even says, of Eve, that "No young woman of that time was prettier or brighter or carried off long white gloves with greater aplomb."

Michael goes on to list a few other high society connections between them, and then discusses what makes Eve's memoir such a success, writing "how totally right it gets its subject matter, both as to fact and as to tone." Michael's rave review is also full of great photos from the book, so check it out today!

Listen to Eve Pell on the Leonard Lopate Show

It's Monday, so that must mean we have more exciting news to share about Eve Pell and We Used to Own the Bronx. This Tuesday (May 5) at 12 noon, Eve will be interviewed on the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC, 93.9 FM, New York. Listen live or on catch it later on the station archives.

Eve will also be reading from the book at the Bartow Pell Mansion Museum in the Bronx that same evening. The reading takes place from 6:30–7:30 pm and Eve will be joined by Blake Bell, Pelham Town Historian, who will present background information on the Pelham Bay area and the history of the site. Books will be available for sale after the talk. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and children 12-17, and members get in for free. Registration is required, however, so please call 718.885.1461 or email info@bpmm.org today. Eve has a couple of other readings scheduled for today in Maryland, plus other SUNY and Excelsior authors have events planned for this week as well—visit our events calendar for the full list.

A Bronx Tale

Eve Pell continues to make the rounds in support of We Used to Own the Bronx. This week she was interviewed by Daren Jaime on BronxNet's Open Show. They talked about the book, Eve's life, challenges, and plenty more. Executive Director Ellen Bruzelius of the Bartow Pell Mansion also appeared on the show to talk about the Mansion and it's ongoing activities. There are a couple of other interesting segments from the episode as well, including Marianne Anderson, Administrator of Pelham Bay Park, discussing the borough's history.

Keeping up with our authors

Here's the latest on some SUNY author events taking place around New York later this week...

Eve Pell will be especially busy later this week. On Thursday evening she'll be reading from We Used to Own the Bronx from 5:30–7:00 at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. Then Eve heads down to Sleepy Hollow for a Friday night reading at Kendal on Hudson, from 7:30–9:30. After that she'll jet back up state to Troy's Market Block Books for a Saturday afternoon reading, from 2:00–4:00.

Eve will also be interviewed on Friday morning from 10:00–10:30 on WAMC Northeast Public Radio. You can listen live or at the station archives on their website.

Also on Friday night, Margaret Wooster will be reading from and signing copies of Living Waters, from 7:00–9:00 at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Niagara Falls, New York.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for other upcoming events (and Eve and Margaret both have more on the horizon). For more details (and directions) on these and other events, check out our events calendar. Make it a daily habit; you won't be disappointed.

Interview with Eve Pell

We Used to Own the Bronx was reviewed again, this time on the blog Ghost Word. Author Eve Pell was also interviewed for the piece, and you can read it all here.

Eve will be reading from the book tomorrow, March 11, from 7–9 pm at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA. She'll also be at Books Inc. in San Francisco on Friday, March 20, from 7–9 pm.

Remembering the Revolution

Eve Pell's We Used to Own the Bronx has been reviewed in the Wall Street Journal. Here's an excerpt:

"... a literary treat. ... Pell gives us a kind of cultural anthropology of the closest thing in America to a landed gentry." — Sol Stern

Read the full review here.

"...hopeful journey of rebellion and reconciliation."

Millions of Americans were able to attend college through the efforts of the aristocratic New England Senator Claiborne de Borda Pell. Some of this background and family story are told in our new book, We Used to Own the Bronx, by Eve Pell. As Eve traces her absorbing journey from debutante to working mother, from the upper crust of the East Coast to the radical activists of the West, from a life of wealth and privilege to one of trying to make ends meet, she provides exceptional insight into the complex issues of social class in America.

Praise for the book:

“Eve Pell gives us a fascinating glimpse into a secret world of unfathomable wealth and privilege. Hers is an unexpected and ultimately hopeful journey of rebellion and reconciliation.” — Jane Fonda

“An intriguing look at a world of arcane, white-gloved ritual and great privilege by a writer rebellious enough to leave it behind, wise enough to know that doing so is no quick and simple matter, and aware enough to know that the alternative worlds she discovers have their own moral complexities as well.” — Adam Hochschild

Meet Eve Pell at the following readings:

March 11, 7 pm at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA

March 20, 7 pm at Books Inc. in San Francisco

May 5, Bartow Pell Mansion Museum, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, NY (times TBA)