Published Books
Upcoming Events
An Inheritance of Grief: Memory, Serendipity, and the Legacy of Two Battlefield Deaths
Historian Bethany Groff Dorau and writer Jessica Rotundi, both from West Newbury, MA, share the experience of deep engagement in a mysterious battlefield death that haunted and fractured families for generations. For Dorau, author of “A Newburyport Marine”, a chance encounter led to the discovery of intimate letters, personal diaries, photographs and military records, held by people across the world who had not forgotten Eben Bradbury, a young Marine killed in the bloody battle of Belleau Wood in 1918. For Rotundi, a boxes of letters, declassified CIA reports, and newspaper clippings discovered after her mother’s death led her deep into the mystery surrounding the death of her uncle Jack during the CIA-led “Secret War” in Laos in 1972. Join these two for a lively chat about memory, mystery, and how these deaths changed everything for those left behind.
For more info and to register: Newburyport Literary Festival
Presenters: Jessica Rotondi, Bethany Dorau
A Glimpse of 18th-Century Newbury Court Cases
Location: Plum Island Taxpayers Association (P.I.T.A.), 8 Plum Island Blvd, Newbury MA 01951
Special guest speaker Bethany Groff Dorau offers us a glimpse of 17th-century Newbury court cases. Hear the voices of the first settlers of Newbury and the surrounding towns as they give testimony in cases that scandalized their neighbors. Learn how these records offer a glimpse into the intimate lives of America’s early European settlers.