Roger Friedman, Ph.D, hosted a book launch event in Takoma. Photo by Heidi Lewis.
Guest post by Heidi Lewis
Busboys and Poets@Takoma wears many hats—restaurant/café/bar/event space/bookstore/spoken word/performance venue.
Sunday evening, it donned its bookstore hat when longtime Capitol View Park resident Roger Friedman, Ph.D, hosted the Maryland book launch event for “Tower Sniper: The Terror of America’s First Active Shooter on Campus,” drawing a crowd of about 50 in the cafe’s private event space, which is named in honor of Nicolás Guillén, a Cuban poet, activist, and writer.
The book, co-written by Friedman with Monte Akers and Nathan Akers, is a well-researched and thorough examination of the Texas Tower Shooting on the University of Texas campus in 1966. Friedman, a psychologist and social worker in clinical practice for 35 years in the D.C. area, lost two good friends that day. The book explores the traumatic fifty-year legacy that lingers over Austin, the University community, and victim’s families, friends, first responders and witnesses who were on campus that day.
Friedman’s event opened a dialogue about the public disaster of our national response to gun violence, and drew impassioned comments from the crowd on the need for individual and communal healing for those impacted by trauma.
In partnership with independent bookseller Politics&Prose, who also sells a diverse collection of books within the cafe, Busboys and Poets@Takoma hosts regular book signings, author talks, children’s programming, and other events, and has since its February 2015 opening.
Upcoming book events at Busboys and Poets@Takoma include:
Wed. Oct 26 @ 6:30 p.m.: “National Park Roads: A Legacy in the American Landscape,” a conversation with author Tim Davis on the history of park roads to explore the conception of our national parks.
Mon. Nov. 7 @ 6:30 p.m.: “Same Family, Different Colors: Confronting Colorism in America’s Diverse Families,” a conversation with author Lori Tharps, an associate professor of journalism at Temple University, on the complexities of today’s color politics in the United States.