Schwartz Live @ Alverno Presents

It's never easy saying goodbye to a friend, particularly when that friend is Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops. A true community partner that has always understood real collaboration means working from the beginning, bringing partners to the table for the first meeting, and together, building something everyone can be proud of at the end of the day. Schwartz Live @ Alverno Presents was created several years ago in answer to a real problem in the world of author events. Quite simply, how do you get people like Barbara Walters, Alan Alda, Lemony Snicket, Chris Matthews, Jodi Picoult, then Illinois Senator Barack Obama to visit Milwaukee and make it a viable event for the audience, the bookseller, the publisher, the venue and the author? The answer became the Schwartz Live @ Alverno Presents series. Our inaugural event took place with very little planning time, on a December day with temperatures in single digits, featuring author Al Franken. It was standing room only. We knew we had created something wonderful.

So, we say goodbye to our friends. We'll miss them, the community will miss them, but together we created something more powerful than anything else – experiences and memories. And, for that, we'll always be thankful.

PS – We started with a sold out Al Franken reading. We ended with a sold out Jodi Picoult reading. Not bad.

Past Shows This Season

Contact Schwartz Bookshops for book availability.


Alan Alda • Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself

Garrison Keillor • Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon

Amy Grant • Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far

Nick Hornby • Slam

Chris Matthews • Life’s a Campaign

Alice Sebold • The Almost Moon

Paul Krugman • The Conscience of a Liberal

Jonathan Kozol • Letters to a Young Teacher

Rafe Esquith • Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire

Michael Pollan • In Defense of Food

Jodi Picoult • Change of Heart

Barbara Walters • Audition: A Memoir

Jodi Picoult • Handle With Care