Lanterman book club invites author Naomi Hirahara
Members of a book club associated with Lanterman House museum were so inspired by the works of award-winning author Naomi Hirahara that they arranged a special book talk with the author that will be held Jan. 30 at La Cañada Flintridge Library.
The free event takes place at 2 p.m. in the library, 4545 Oakwood Ave. and will center on Hirahara’s first novel, “Summer of the Big Bachi,” according to Melissa Patton, the museum’s executive director. The main character in the 2004 book, Mas Arai, a Japanese-American gardener living in Altadena, was inspired by the author’s father. Hirahara continued the Mas Arai mysteries to acclaim. Her latest, “Sayonara Slam,” due out this May, will focus on the Japan-Korea World Baseball Classic game held at Dodger Stadium.
A past president of the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America, Hirahara resides in the area.
“In our book club we read titles that help us to interpret local, California history,” Patton said. “Naomi’s books speak very much to the Asian immigrant experience in the San Gabriel Valley, and we hope her appearance will draw an audience interested in learning more about those rich experiences.”
For more information about the event, visit lantermanfoundation.org.
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Carol Cormaci, carol.cormaci@latimes.com
Twitter: @CarolCormaci
