RAICHELL KALLERY (second from left), senior vice president and senior retail banking officer at The Savings Bank, presents a generous check to members of the Sweetser Lecture Series Advisory Committee to sponsor the 2016 Spring Sweetser Lecture Series. From left to right are Sara Murphy, Kallery, Faith Hodgkins and Diane Lind. The Series will start on Tuesday, March 29, 2016, with Anthony Amore (author, art heist authority and head of security at the Gardner Museum since 2005); continue with author and historian Kate Clifford Larson (”Rosemary, The Hidden Kennedy Daughter”) on Tuesday, April 12; and end with author and documentary producer Rick Beyer (”The Ghost Army of World War II”) on Tuesday, May 3.
Published in the December 3, 2015 edition.
WAKEFIELD – The Sweetser Lecture Series Advisory Committee has announced its 2016 lineup of speakers.
Leading off the series on Tuesday, March 29 will be Anthony Amore, head of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum whose latest book, “The Art of the Con,” chronicles the history of art fraud.
“The Art of the Con” tells the stories of some of history’s most notorious yet untold cons. They involve stolen art hidden for decades; elaborate ruses that involve the Nazis and allegedly plundered art; the theft of a conceptual prototype from a well-known artist by his assistant to be used later to create copies; the use of online and television auction sites to scam buyers out of millions, and other confidence scams incredible not only for their boldness but more so because they actually worked.
Amore will also talk about the notorious 1990 heist from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer and others. It stands as the biggest art heist in history.
The second speaker in the series will be Kate Clifford Larson on Tuesday, April 12. Larson is the author of three critically acclaimed biographies: “Rosemary, The Hidden Kennedy Daughter” (2015); “Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero” (2003); and “The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln” (2008). She has been a consultant and interpretive specialist for numerous museum and public history initiatives focusing on the lives and contributions of women in the making of our national identity.
Dr. Larson holds two degrees from Simmons College, an MBA from Northeastern University and a Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire. She lives in Winchester.
The final speaker of the 2016 Sweetser Lecture Series will be Rick Beyer on Tuesday, May 12.
Beyer is a best-selling author, an award winning documentary producer and a long-time history enthusiast. With a take on history that is both humorous and illuminating, he has appeared on CBS News, MSNBC, CNN, The Discovery Channel, NPR and Fox News.
Beyer’s most recent documentary film, The
Ghost
Army premiered nationally on PBS in 2013. It has been honored with a CINE Golden Eagle and audience awards at several film festivals. TV
Guide called it “entrancing,” while the LA
Times referred to it as “fascinating, detailed, and oddly delightful.” He has also produced films for The History Channel, National
Geographic, the Smithsonian Institution, Historic Mount Vernon and others. His documentary credits include Expedition
Apocalypse, The
Wright
Challenge, Secrets
of
Jamestown, The
Patent
Files and Timelab
2000, an acclaimed collection of 200 history minutes hosted by Sam Waterston.
His most recent book is “The Greatest Music Stories Never Told: 100 tales from music history to astonish, bewilder and stupefy.” It is the fifth volume of his popular “Greatest Stories” history series. Previous titles include “The Greatest Stories Never Told,” “The Greatest War Stories Never Told,” “The Greatest Presidential Stories Never Told” and “The Greatest Science Stories Never Told.” The Chicago
Tribune described the first book as “an old fashioned sweetshop full of tasty morsels,” and the Army
Times said of the second book: “Just when you thought you knew everything about everything, along comes Rick Beyer to prove you wrong.”
A seasoned speaker who has engaged numerous audiences, Beyer’s presentations are spiked with humor, creative visuals and quirky props. They have proven popular at conferences, corporations, universities, libraries and other venues. Recent venues include the Music Teachers National Association and St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
A graduate of Dartmouth College, Beyer currently lives in Lexington. He can occasionally be found in colonial attire giving tours of historic Buckman Tavern on Lexington Common.
Tickets for all of the the lectures are now available at Smith Drug Store at 390 Main St. All lectures take place at The Savings Bank Theater in Wakefield Memorial High School at 7:30 p.m.
