Preregistration appreciated.
Refreshments will be served!
Masks are encouraged especially if you are immunocompromised or not vaccinated.
In 2004, seventeen-year-old Alexis Portillo embarks on a harrowing journey from Honduras to Baltimore in the hopes of starting a better life. Over a decade later, Alex recounts his story to author and activist, Jana Laiz in this bilingual retelling. Thirty-Five Days To Baltimore will give readers insight into the incredible power the American dream holds for those suffering the hopelessness and violence of extreme poverty. This is a modern-day odyssey of what one immigrant faces as he makes the treacherous journey out of unfathomable living conditions.
Portillo and Laiz will read from their book followed by a discussion which will be led by Matt Tannenbaum, longtime proprietor of The Bookstore in Lenox.
About Alexis Portillo
Alexis Portillo is a Honduran immigrant with a story to tell. Coming from a hopeless and impoverished situation in Honduras, Alex relates to Jana Laiz the story of his harrowing journey through the desert to find his way to Baltimore and a better life for himself and his family. Alex is married with three children and spent many years living and working in the Berkshires. He now resides in Texas where he is pursuing higher education. This is his first book.
About Jana Laiz
Jana Laiz is a writer and educator living in the Berkshires. She is the author of the award-winning novels Weeping Under This Same Moon (in development for film), The Twelfth Stone, Billy Budd in the Breadbox, and The Story of Herman Melville & Eleanor. She is the co-author of A Free Woman On God’s Earth: The Story of Elizabeth Mumbet Freeman (in development for film), Blanket of Stars, and Simon Says. Laiz is a writer with a purpose, believing that honoring diversity and teaching stewardship for the planet can change the world. She is Writer-In-Residence Emeritus at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead home.
About Matt Tannenbaum, moderator
Matt Tannenbaum is long time proprietor of The Bookstore in Lenox. One of the secrets of his success is that he still loves reading books as well as selling them. As someone who has had the good fortune to have surrounded himself with good books all his life, he feels obligated to do the same for anybody who walks into his store.He shudders to think who or what he might have become if not a bookman.