Calling all genealogists! Come to a workshop on June 5 from 11-12:30 in the Library Technology Center. John O’Donnell, Danbury Library’s local history and genealogy expert, will be talking about the Ancestry database, how to create a research log, and the Genealogical Proof Standard. Register for this workshop online at danburylibrary.org, click on “Events” or call (203) 797-4527.

As part of the celebration of the sesquicentennial celebration of the Civil War there is an ongoing effort to reconstruct the Lincoln Funeral Train from 1865 and have it ready to retrace the original route of the train in 2015 to commemorate this special anniversary. The original train carried the body of Lincoln as well as that of his son Willie from Washington, D.C. to his hometown of Springfield, Illinois.

Graham Green was one of the foremost novelists of the 20th Century. He was also an astute film critic. In addition to these talents he was also a collector of rare books. He was quoted as saying that if he had not been a writer, he would like to owned and run a secondhand bookshop. At the time of his death his collection numbered 3,000 volumes with as many as 500 editions signed or inscribed by the greats of modern literature.

It is with great sadness that we note the passing of one of the most controversial figures in American literature. Gore Vidal passed away on July 31, 2012. Gore Vidal was a many of prodigious talents: novelist, politician, screen writer and student of American history. His output was staggering but it was overshadowed by his altercations with the likes of Norman Mailer and William F. Buckley. Both literature and politics are lessened by his loss.

There is an exhibition at The Stamford Museum & Nature Center (until October 30) entitled Last Frontiers: Anthony Fiala and the Race to the North Pole. Anthony Fiala was a man of many talents: soldier, photographer, artist and explorer. The most famous expedition he was part of was Theodore Roosevelt’s expedition to the River of Doubt which was a tributary of the Amazon River. The trip was an arduous one which broke Roosevelt’s health and brought him to the brink of suicide.