Join Etruscan Press, Lit Youngstown, The Youngstown Press Club and The Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County for the Spring 2027 Community Read of American Mother by Colum McCann and Diane Foley. 

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The Community Read is a community-wide invitation to read, share and foster important conversation. In addition to a community-wide discussion of the book in January 2027, a suite of free programing of related themes will run through Spring 2027. These events include panel discussions on journalism in dangerous places, World Press Day, a live readers theater performance of excerpts from the book and more.  ​​​​​​

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Diane Foley is the mother of Jim, a freelance journalist captured and beheaded by ISIS in 2014, an image which became one of the most iconic of the 21st century.​ Join us in reading and discussing her heart-rending memior of a mother who, in the course of confronting her son’s killer, gets to the elemental heart of violence and forgiveness.

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Thanks to a generous donation from Etruscan Press, beginning November 1, 2026,  500 copies of this heartbreaking and uplifting memoir will be free for pickup at local, independent book stores.

Check back soon for a list of participating locations. 

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To read more about the book, internationally acclaimed author Colum McCann, and Etruscan Press now in its 25th year, please click here.​​

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All Community Read events are free and open to the public.

Walk-ins are welcome but RSVPs are encouraged. For a full schedule of events, presenter bios, and registration, please click the link below.