A Tribute to Mary Tumilty

by Toni Buckner, Director of Library Services, Sierra Madre Public Library

Mary Tumilty, former City Librarian for the Sierra Madre Public Library, passed away on Wednesday July 28, 2010, two months before her 96th birthday. Mary was my predecessor at the Sierra Madre Public Library and served as library director from 1975 through 1984. She was a formidable and irrepressible woman who made many positive changes as President of the Friends of the Sierra Madre Library and later as City Librarian. Under her leadership, the Friends established their three successful, and ongoing, fundraising events—the Art Fair, the Wine Tasting and the Used Book Sale. Mary was an accomplished networker, fundraiser, trendsetter and manager. She used these talents during and after her time as City Librarian to improve the Sierra Madre Public Library with three significant projects - the Jameson Sierra Madre Room which now houses the Sierra Madre Historical Archives (1982), the Dickenson Walkway (1983) and the Walt Wesley Computer Literacy Center (1986). She was honored as Citizen of the Year in 1982, chaired the Library's Centennial in 1987 and appointed Friends of the Library Board Member Emeritus. The Mary Tumilty Endowment Fund, established by the Friends when she retired, has grown to more than $70,000 because of the many donations made in her honor.

Mary's commitment to the City of Sierra Madre, and her love of the Library in particular, has literally influenced thousands of lives. If Facebook had been in vogue in her day, her list of friends would have been impressive. With her passing, the citizens of Sierra Madre have lost not only a dedicated supporter but also a great friend.

Events...News...and More

Author Dianne Dixon to Speak at the Library, 9-13-10
Author Pens Sierra Madre Mystery

On Monday, September 13, at 7:00 p.m. at the Sierra Madre Public Library, author Dianne Dixon will discuss and sign her new novel, "The Language of Secrets," a psychological mystery that centers around the occupants of a fictional house on Lima Street in Sierra Madre. Justin Fisher returns to California to make peace with his estranged family and troubled past, only to discover his own tombstone alongside the graves of his parents, and siblings who contend that he died when he was four years old. Who is he, then, and how can he discover the truth when his family won't acknowledge that he even exists?

Best-selling mystery author Sue Grafton praised the novel as "a psychological mystery with emotional underpinnings that will have you puzzled and intrigued, right up to the moment Dixon's sleight of hand is revealed."

Ms. Dixon is an award-winning writer who has won the Humanitas Prize for Excellence in Screenwriting and has been twice nominated for an Emmy. She has written for both American and European TV, producing both family programming and prime time drama to glowing reviews. For five years, she co-hosted "Peter & Dianne," a top-rated, drive-time talk show on KABC Radio. She is currently a Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Pitzer College in Claremont, and lives with her husband in Pasadena.

Copies for signing will be on sale at the presentation, and may also be purchased in advance from Sierra Madre Books and Vromans.

The Sierra Madre Public Library is located at 440 West Sierra Madre Boulevard in Sierra Madre. For more information on this, or other Library services and events, please call (626) 355-7186, or visit our website at www.sierramadre.lib.ca.us. This program is free and open to the public. Click here for the event flyer.

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