Upcoming Falmouth Reads Together Events

The Finest Hours Author Talk with Casey Sherman
Tuesday, May 14th
6:30pm-8pm
Hermann Meeting Room
……. Register Here

Join us for an author talk with Casey Sherman as he discusses our Falmouth Reads 2024 book pick The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman.

“A breathtaking story . . . defies the imagination.” – The Cape Cod Chronicle

“A blockbuster account of tragedy at sea.” – The Providence Journal

“Captures the wit, grit, and sacrifice of Coasties and their boats.” – Minneapolis Star Tribune

Casey Sherman is an acclaimed journalist and author of ten books, including 12: The Inside Story of Tom Brady’s Fight for Redemption, a New York Times bestseller and CBS Films’s Patriots Day. A graduate of Boston University, he is also a contributing writer for Esquire, Time, The Washington Post, and Boston Magazine.

Friday Films – The Finest Hours
Friday, May 31st 3pm-5pm
Hermann Meeting Room ……. Register Here

“In February of 1952, one of the worst storms to ever hit the East Coast struck New England, damaging an oil tanker off the coast of Cape Cod and literally ripping it in half. On a small lifeboat faced with frigid temperatures and 70-foot high waves, four members of the Coast Guard set out to rescue the more than 30 stranded sailors trapped aboard the rapidly-sinking vessel.”
Rated: PG-13; Running Time: 1hr 57mins

Historic Storms of Cape Cod with Don Wilding
Saturday, June 1st 3pm-4pm
Hermann Meeting Room ……. Register Here

Join us for an author talk with Don Wilding who will be discussing his latest book, Historic Storms of Cape Cod.

“Cape Cod has always been in the path of deadly hurricanes and ferocious storms. Unwelcome summer visitors include the “Long Island Express” Hurricane of 1938, the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944, the twin Hurricanes Carol and Edna in 1954, and Hurricane Bob in 1991. These storms destroyed countless homes and left several coastal communities under several feet of water. Surging tides carried away houses with residents inside who didn’t survive. Fall and winter brought the infamous “Portland Gale,” the benchmark “Blizzard of 1978,” the nor’easter of January 1987, and the infamous “Perfect Storm” of October 1991 which delivered some of the highest tides ever seen on the Outer Cape. Join local author and Harwich Conservation Trust walk leader Don Wilding as he revisits the Cape’s most severe weather events and their devastating impact.”

Don Wilding is the author of five books on Cape Cod history, a Cape tour guide and a regular speaker on Cape Cod lore in Massachusetts and across New England. He was an award-winning newspaper editor, writer, and designer in Massachusetts for 36 years, including a recent stint as a contributing history columnist and photographer for Cape newspapers.

Solar Eclipse Viewing Party

Posted on by Clint Johnson

On Monday, April 8th bring a chair or blanket and join us on the library lawn from 2pm-4:30pm for games, music and solar eclipse viewing!

In Falmouth, the solar eclipse starts around 2:16pm with a 89.3% max coverage around 3:30pm and ends around 4:39pm. A free pair of solar eclipse glasses (provided by Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries) will be available to attendees while supplies last.

This event is weather permitting.

Solar Eclipse Viewing Party Flyer

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to us at (508) 457-2555 x7 or by email at info@falmouthpubliclibrary.org

Postcards from Falmouth: Falmouth Center

Posted on by Library User

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to weather the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944, the late Donald Fish has a story for you. A student of Falmouth history, he recounts boyhood adventures alongside older stories of Falmouth’s modernization and development. He vividly recalls the chaos of the storms of 1938 and 1944: “As it got darker the wind picked up severely […] The water’s coming up, set yachts are foundering along the shore, raising hell.”

His four-part video series also touches on less-explored topics from our postcard collection: the Parthenon power plant, development along Shore Street, ice skating on Shiverick’s Pond, and even the long-gone era of the stagecoach. Follow along with his walk down memory lane, then check out the supplementary materials we’ve collected to complement the videos.

Explore Falmouth with Donald Fish here.

Explore the postcard collection online here.

Postcards from Falmouth is a local history project of Falmouth Public Library, funded by a LSTA grant and administered by the MBLC.

Mighty Storms of New England

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Virtual Author Talk With Eric Fisher

Check out the video below of Eric Fisher’s author talk from Wednesday, February 2nd, where he discussed his new book Mighty Storms of New England: The Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Blizzards and Floods That Shaped the Region and answered audience questions!

“The New England landscape has long been battered by some of the most intense weather in US history. Discover the legendary storms that have devastated New England, including: the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 that killed 564 people; the Worcester Tornado of 1953; the Snow Hurricane of 1804 that demolished orchards and killed dozens of sailors off the coast; and the Blizzard of 1978 that brought Boston to a standstill for weeks.”

Eric Fisher is Chief Meteorologist for CBS Boston’s WBZ-TV News and anchors weather segments weeknights at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m., as well as WBZ-TV News at 10 p.m. on TV38 (WSBK-TV). He is also a contributor for CBS News, often found reporting on breaking severe weather across the country. Born and raised in New England, Eric says there are few places on earth that produce weather like this little corner of the U.S. It offers the challenges of blockbuster snowstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, frigid cold snaps and dramatic seasonal shifts. Eric vividly remembers Memorial Day of 1995 as a day that helped solidify his path as a meteorologist, when an infamous tornado ripped through Great Barrington in the Berkshires. Glued to the red warnings crawling across the screen and watching the radar, his career in weather was born. Eric joined WBZ-TV News from The Weather Channel in Atlanta where he spent three years as a Meteorologist. He produced and delivered national forecasts and contributed to numerous live reports on extreme weather for The Weather Channel, NBC Nightly News, TODAY and MSNBC. Previously he worked as the morning meteorologist at WGGB-TV in Springfield, Massachusetts.