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Health & Fitness

Author John Searles coming to Oak Park on Friday, Oct. 25

Friends of the Oak Park Public Library host the 2013 Barbara Ballinger Lecture with critically acclaimed New York Times best-selling author John Searles at 7:30 pm, Friday, Oct. 25. This special after-hours event at the Main Library, 834 Lake Street, is followed by an author reception, refreshments and book signing. Seating is limited; reserve your space now.

The author of best-selling novels Boy Still Missing and Strange but True, Searles has appeared regularly as a book critic on NBC’s Today Show and CBS' The Early Show. Also the Editor-at-Large of Cosmopolitan, Searles' essays have been published in The New York Times, Washington Post and other national publications.

Searles is currently on the road with his new novel, Help for the Haunted, which "captures the vivid eeriness of Stephen King's works and the quirky tenderness of John Irving's novels." Help is told in the captivating voice of a young heroine determined to discover the truth about her parents' murder. Praised by Gone Girl's Gillian Flynn who calls it "frightening and beautiful" and Jodi Picoult who was "completely consumed" while reading it, Help is a chilling read for Halloween time, and Searles is sure to present a spooky lecture you won't want to miss.

The Barbara Ballinger Lecture, an annual fall event hosted by the Friends of the Oak Park Public Library, honors longtime leader Barbara Ballinger and her 32 years of service to the Oak Park community.Read more at oppl.org/ballinger

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