An extraordinary evening in honor of Jeanne M. Leiby (1966-2011)

Paris Press is still floating from the SISTERS Celebration in honor of The Southern Review editor and fiction writer Jeanne M. Leiby (1966-2011), at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts. It was truly a night to remember.

Novelist Hallie Ephron, Boston Globe columnist Joan Wickersham, writer and Grub Street program manager Sonya Larson, Anne Leiby, and director Jan Freeman offered extraordinary readings from Sisters: An Anthology.

The evening began with Anne, Jeannie's sister, who welcomed the packed house, filled with people from all over the Boston area, as well as family and friends. Anne spoke about her younger sister and about the anthology, then read a beautiful poem titled "Thank You," which she had sent to Jeanne last April for National Poetry Month.

Hallie was next, and talked about the relationship between her three sisters. She read a very funny excerpt from Delia Ephron's Hanging Up, featured in the anthology. Sonya—whose life and work was influenced by Jeanne's influence and editorial support—remembered the effect Jeanne had on her as a fiction writer. She read Audre Lorde's "Family Resemblance," "Sweet Dreams" by Joyce Armor, and an excerpt from Joan Baez's Daybreak about Baez's sister, Mimi Farina.

Jan read excerpts from Jeanne's heartbreaking short story, "Docks," which was published in its entirety in Sisters. And Joan closed the evening with readings of poems by Marie-Luise Kaschnitz ("Sister—Sister"), Martha Rhodes ("Without Gloves"), and Grace Paley ("I Needed to Talk to my Sister"). And Anne hosted a beautiful dessert reception in the museum's lobby for everyone following the program.

Sunday, October 15, was a truly wonderful evening, filled with stories, memories, new friends, and sisters. Rita Chin, a member of Paris Press's Advisory Board; Emily Wojcik, co-editor of Sisters; Margery Adams, Board Member for the Press; and volunteers from BookEnds helped the evening flow smoothly. The program was filmed, and we will post it soon. Thank you to everyone who was present. It was a night we will cherish.