As summer comes to a close, we head straight into fall and the annual Hale Award Ceremony! For those of you unfamiliar with this award, it is an honor bestowed upon an accomplished author who has ties to New England. It was first awarded to the poet, Robert Frost, in 1956. Previous recipients include well-known authors such as May Sarton, David McCullough, Arthur Miller, Anita Shreve, Tomie dePaola, Jodi Picoult, and Chris Bohjalian.
This year’s recipient of the Sarah Josepha Hale Award is the bestselling author, Peter Heller! Peter has written 4 non-fiction books relating his outdoor adventures and 8 fiction thrillers! His latest novel, Burn, set in Maine, tells the story of two men who emerge from a week-long hunting trip in the Allagash, to discover that Maine has seceded from the nation.
The 2025 Hale Award Ceremony will take place on Saturday, October 4th, at 7:00 p.m. at the Newport Opera House. Peter will be awarded the Sarah Josepha Hale Medal, will speak to the attending audience for approximately 45 minutes, and will then be available to sign his books. Morgan Hill Books will have a representative on site to sell copies of Peter’s works before and after the event. As usual, this fabulous Hale Award Ceremony is free and open to the public! Also on Saturday, October 4th, prior to the ceremony itself, there will be a ticketed dinner at the Old Courthouse Restaurant at 5:00 p.m. Tickets for the dinner will be available for purchase at the Richards Free Library circulation desk, beginning Monday, September 15th.
The Sarah Josepha Hale Award Judges, Richards Free Library Board of Trustees, and Richards Free Library Staff look forward to hosting Peter Heller, and his wife Kim, at the Sarah Josepha Hale Award Dinner and Ceremony on Saturday, October 4th!
We hope to see you there!
Sally Bernier,
Library Director
