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26 April 2025 | BeaufortLifestyle.comFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Maura Connelly / 843-379-7025maura@patconroyliterarycenter.orgThe Conroy Center and the Anchorage 1770 Inn to Hosta Southern Living Inspired Event: Cook the BookWith James Beard Award-winning Chef and Cookbook Author Cynthia GraubartBEAUFORT, SC - Southern Living, the Pat Conroy Literary Center, and the Anchorage 1770Inn are excited to announce the first Cook The Book: Sharing Recipes, Wine & Words, aspecial event to be held Saturday, May 19, from 4:00%u20139:00 p.m. at the Anchorage 1770(1103 Bay St., Beaufort, SC). The inaugural Cook the Book will be presented by renownedsouthern chef Cynthia Graubart, and will focus on recipes from her recent cookbook SundaySuppers (2017). The event has three components: Cynthia will give a cooking demonstrationof three recipes from Sunday Suppers assisted by Anchorage chef Byron Landis, followed bya book and apron signing with wine and appetizers on the veranda, and culminating with afour-course dinner complete with hand-selected wine pairings in the dining room.This new venture was inspired by Pat Conroy%u2019s passion for cooking and his perennial searchfor a new recipe. Pat opens his 2004 cookbook with the words, %u201cThe subject of food isnearly a sacred one to me.%u201d His lifelong passion for cooking was first ignited in 1969 andonly became more intense as he grew older. Many of his readers are familiar with anotherquote from his cookbook, %u201ca recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.%u201dCynthia Graubart is an ideal chef to launch the new Cook the Book series, which celebratesfoodways, writing, and fellowship. When Pat first began cooking in earnest, he turned toCynthia%u2019s husband Cliff for guidance. It was 1969 and Pat%u2019s first wife had appointed himfamily chef. He ventured to the Old New York Bookshop in Atlanta, asking for Graubart%u2019shelp. According to Pat%u2019s recollections, Cliff, fearing the Conroy clan demise by starvation,handed Pat an edition of Auguste Escoffier%u2019s cookbook. And so Pat%u2019s culinary adventuresbegan, and he became the epicurean %u2018magician%u2019, the soup %u2018sorcerer%u2019, turning %u201cthe art ofstealing recipes into both a hobby and an art.%u201dCynthia%u2019s newest cookbook, Sunday Suppers extols the virtues of the Sunday supper. Shesays the Sunday %u2018supper%u2019 was different than the Sunday %u2018dinner%u2019, a little less formal, butalways just as comforting because it%u2019s always about family time spent at the dining table. Inher preface, Cynthia explains succinctly and lovingly, %u201cFamily mealtime is heralded byCheck Out the Fifth Edition of the Beaufort Human Library, April 6%u201c W here oral history meets speed dating.%u201d The Beaufort Human Library project promotes empathy and understanding across communities by offering the public opportunities to %u201ccheck out%u201d more than a dozen volunteer Human Books who will be sharing their personal stories of facing challenges and striving for acceptance. These engaging conversations will cover topics including education, military service, healthcare, gender, race, addiction, abuse, and advocacy, among others. The dialogues focus on building bridges of understanding, person to person, through storytelling. The Beaufort Human Library will be held on opening day of National Library Week: Sunday, April 6, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. in MacLean Hall, building 12 of the Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL), at 104 Reynolds Street in Beaufort. Free and open to the public, the event is hosted by TCL; the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center; DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization; and volunteer community organizers. The afternoon begins at 1:00-1:45 p.m. with this year%u2019s featured Human Books: sisters Lynn Bryant, a retired educator, and Victoria Smalls, a cultural preservationist. Following that featured conversation, all the volunteer Human Books will be available throughout MacLean Hall to be checked out for 30-minute small group conversations from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Attendees (the %u201cReaders%u201d) may choose to participate in a new conversation every half-hour throughout the afternoon. Advance registration is not required, nor are attendees required to stay for the whole afternoon. Check out just one Human Book, or four, or any number in between. Volunteer Librarians and student Bookmarks from DAYLO will be on hand to help guests navigate their Beaufort Human Library experience and answer questions. In addition to Lynn Bryant and Victoria Smalls, this year%u2019s Human Books include community members Paulette Edwards, Ashley Gardner, Karen Gareis, Col. Richard Geier (U.S.A. ret.), Marie Gibbs, Connie Hipp, Gwenn McClune, Brea Parker, Gene Rugala, Sissy the Entertainer, and Beth Young. To learn more about the Beaufort Human Library, please visit www.facebook.com/beauforthumanlibrary.Brea ParkerVictoria SmallsGene Rugala Karen Gareisstory and photos courtesy of PAT CONROY LITERARY CENTER