David Browne is a senior writer at Rolling Stone, where he has written cover stories on Bob Dylan, Robin Williams and many more. He is the author of eight books, including his latest, Talkin’ Greenwich Village: The Heady Rise and Slow Fall of America’s Bohemian Music Capital, and biographies of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Grateful Dead and Sonic Youth. Prior to Rolling Stone, Browne was the music critic at Entertainment Weekly and a reporter at the New York Daily News. He was awarded a National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award by the LA Press Club for his reporting in Rolling Stone on the 2023 attack at Israel’s Nova Music Festival. 

Dinner Hosts:

SOUTH FLORIDA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Hosted by JACQUELINE LORBER and SEBRINA ALFONSO

with LENORE NOLAN RYAN 

Dinner Location:

Lenore Nolan Ryan Cooking School & Catering

3311 North Ocean Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale

Author Website:

Jeffery Deaver, called “the master of ticking-bomb suspense” by People magazine, has released his latest thriller, Fatal Intrusion, which launches a new series with co-writer Isabella Maldonado. The Real Book Spy says, “The meeting of two literary giants is exciting, and anyone who’s read Deaver’s or Maldonado’s work knows this is a sure bet to thrill...” Deaver, a former journalist, folk singer and attorney, is the award-winning bestselling author of the Lincoln Rhyme, Colter Shaw and Kathryn Dance series. He was recently named a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, an honor shared with Agatha Christie and Elmore Leonard. His books are sold in 150 countries and have been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

Dinner Host:

ANN BURRIS

Dinner Location:

The Burris Home

Author Website:

Debut author Charles B. Fancher is a writer, editor and former senior corporate communications executive for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The most recent turn in his wide-ranging career that includes journalism, public relations, and academia has been the publication of his historical novel Red Clay, a multigenerational family saga that spans the final months of the Civil War, the Reconstruction era, and the early years of the Jim Crow period in the American South. Red Clay was inspired by anecdotes from the author’s family, particularly those involving his maternal great-grandfather, an enslaved youth on a southern Alabama plantation

Dinner Hosts:

MERRIE MEYERS with MARI ADAM

Dinner Location:

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

2525 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale

Author Website:

Adam Higginbotham is a British-American writer whose second book, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, delivers a definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger space shuttle disaster based on new archival research and in-depth reporting. A New York Times bestseller, the book was also awarded the 2024 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, and was named a finalist for both the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and the 2025 National Book Critics’ Circle Award for Nonfiction. Higginbotham’s first book, Midnight in Chernobyl, was the winner of the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. 

Dinner Hosts:

BAHIA MAR FORT LAUDERDALE BEACH

Hosted by SANDY and KENNY TATE

Harbor Lights Room, Bahia Mar Fort Lauderdale Beach

Dinner Location:

Harbor Lights Room, Bahia Mar Fort Lauderdale Beach

801 Seabreeze Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale

Author Website:

Elinor Lipman, an author of sixteen books of fiction and nonfiction, delivers all of the charm, humor, and social satire that she has become known for in her latest romantic comedy Every Tom, Dick & Harry. Booklist praised the novel, saying, “In the delightfully reassuring rom-com tradition of Nora Ephron, the perennially mood-lifting Lipman is equally revered for her lovable characters, spitfire wit, and happily-ever-after romantic escapades.” Lipman’s other books include The Inn at Lake Devine, Isabel’s Bed, and Ms. Demeanor, a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Her first novel, Then She Found Me, was adapted into a film starring Helen Hunt, Bette Midler and Matthew Broderick.

Dinner Hosts:

SUZANNE and ALLAN MIGDALL

with CAROL and STEVEN KALAGHER

and STEVE GOLD, Gold Wealth Management/UBS

Dinner Location:

Lauderdale Yacht Club

1725 Southeast Twelfth Street, Fort Lauderdale

Author Website:

Madeline Martin is an author of historical fiction and historical romance with books that have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. Her latest novel, The Booklover’s Library, is a heartwarming tale about a mother and daughter in wartime England and the power of the books that bring them together. Library Journal describes it as “a hopeful, compelling and well-written read about the redemptive power of books, libraries, friendship and love.” Several of her prior novels – The Last Bookshop in London, The Librarian Spies and The Keeper of Hidden Books – are also set during World War II in locales ranging from London, Lisbon, occupied France and Warsaw. 

Dinner Host:

THE WESTIN FORT LAUDERDALE BEACH RESORT

Hosted by MICHAEL BERRY

Dinner Location:

Lona, The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort

321 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale

Author Website:

Corey Mead’s recent work of nonfiction, The Hidden History of the White House: Power Struggles, Scandals and Defining Moments, shares untold stories of some of the most climactic moments in American history in the rooms where they transpired. Mead’s other nonfiction books include The Lost Pilots: The Spectacular Rise and Scandalous Fall of Aviation’s Golden Couple; Angelic Music: The Curious Story of Benjamin Franklin’s Favorite Invention; and War Play: Video Games and the Future of Armed Conflict. His fifth book, The Pursued, will be released in December 2025. Several of his recent articles are also in development for film and television. Mead is an Associate Professor of Writing at the City University of New York.

Dinner Hosts:

NORTHERN TRUST

Hosted by ERIC VAINDER,

SENIOR MARKET EXECUTIVE BROWARD COUNTY

with DENISE and DOUGLAS REYNOLDS

and HEATHER and HENNY SHOMAR

Dinner Location:

Northern Trust

1100 East Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale

Author Website:

Wanda M. Morris’ latest novel, What You Leave Behind, is an edge-of-your-seat thriller. The main character is seeking a fresh start in life, but finds herself caught up in a nightmarish scheme that threatens her community and her family. The novel has received stellar reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly, and was named “Top 100 Best Books of 2024” by Amazon editors. It has been featured in People magazine, The Washington Post, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel, among others. Morris is also the acclaimed author of All Her Little Secrets, which has been optioned for a limited television series, starring and executive produced by three-time Emmy winner Uzo Aduba.

Dinner Hosts:

SAMUEL F. MORRISON

with JAMES HUTCHENS

Dinner Location:

African American Research Library and Cultural Center

2650 Sistrunk Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale

Author Website:

Julia Phillips’ novel Bear is a richly imagined story about the bonds of sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among us – and within us. Shelf Awareness says, “Bear is the kind of story that keeps readers up late into the night, gulping down the last pages with urgency… a fast-moving river – smooth on the surface but churning underneath.” Phillips is also the author of Disappearing Earth, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and one of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year. A 2024 Guggenheim fellow, Phillips has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Paris Review, and teaches at the Randolph College MFA program.

Dinner Hosts:

ELIZABETH and JONATHAN MALKIN

with DENIA and DAVID PERLOFF

and KATHLEEN and TODD KAZDAN

Dinner Location:

Spud’s Coffee

3301 Northeast Thirty Second Street, Fort Lauderdale

Author Website:

Shannon Reed takes readers on a lighthearted deep dive into the joys of reading in her best-selling book, Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out. She celebrates the books we love and the readers who love them. Her nonfiction book was a WGN Radio Best Book of 2024 and a Good Housekeeping book club pick. Reed, a teaching professor in creative writing at the University of Pittsburgh, is also the author of Why Did I Get a B? And Other Mysteries We’re Discussing in the Faculty Lounge, which was a Thurber Prize in American Humor semi-finalist in 2021. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Real Simple, The Paris Review, Slate and The Washington Post.

Dinner Host:

KIMPTON SHOREBREAK FORT LAUDERDALE BEACH RESORT 

Hosted by ALIN BODEA

Dinner Location:

La Fuga, Kimpton Shorebreak Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort

2900 Riomar Street, Fort Lauderdale

Author Website:

Anthony Award-winner Alex Segura, best-selling author of Secret Identity, delivers another page-turner with its sequel, Alter Ego. A thriller set in the modern-day comic world, the follow-up novel is a one-of-a-kind reading experience. Segura, a Miami native, is also the author of the Pete Fernandez series, as well as the Star Wars novel, Poe Dameron: Free Fall, and the YA Spider-Verse adventure, Araña/Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow. In addition to his prose writing, he has written a number of comics for Marvel and DC, including Star Wars: Battle of Jakku, Spider-Society, and The Question: All Along the Watchtower. With Michael Moreci, he is the writer behind the noir re-launch of Dick Tracy.

Dinner Hosts:

DIANA VERITY with JOEY CRAWFORD

Dinner Location:

Lobster Bar Sea Grille

450 East Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale

Author Website:

Lauren Willig, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, delivers a riveting tale in her latest novel, The Girl from Greenwich Street. Set in the tumultuous days of the early 19th century in Manhattan, the story features legendary figures Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in an eye-opening blend of historical fiction and mystery based on America’s first murder trial. Willig is also the author of Two Wars and a Wedding, The Summer Country and Band of Sisters as well as the RITA Award-winning Pink Carnation series. She has co-written three popular historical novels with Beatriz Williams and Karen White, including the recently published mystery The Author’s Guide to Murder.

Dinner Hosts:

GALLERIA MALL

Hosted by MELISSA MILROY with MARK TROUBA

Dinner Location:

The Capital Grille

Galleria Mall, 2430 East Sunrise Boulevard,

Fort Lauderdale

Author Website: