The Shaker Schools Foundation was pleased to co-present Shaker Library's Meet the Author program with Celeste Ng on Monday, November 6, at Shaker Middle School. Ms. Ng, a 1998 graduate, is the author of Little Fires Everywhere , which is set in Shaker Heights and explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, the pull of motherhood, and the danger of believing that following rules can avert disaster.

Ms. Ng explained why she set her novel in Shaker Heights, read a passage from the book, and answered a number of questions with insight and humor. She values the academic and social education she received in Shaker, and especially

the encouragement she received as a writer.

Celeste Ng graduated from Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she received the Hopwood Award. Her first novel, Everything I Never Told You, was published in 2014 and garnered many awards. Her fiction and essays also have appeared in publications including the New York Times, One Story, The Guardian, and TriQuarterly. Ms. Ng has received the Pushcart Prize, Massachusetts Book Award, American Library Association's Alex Award, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son.

Thanks to the generosity of the City of Shaker Heights, the Shaker Schools Foundation has received hundreds of  street signs as part of a  sign replacement project. The Foundation will be offering them for sale, with all proceeds benefiting the  Shaker Schools.  You can acquire a little bit of Shaker Heights - perhaps the  street  where you grew up, the  street  where you live, the  street  of your favorite school, or all three!  The  Foundation  will host a two-week online auction to sell the signs.

The Early Years at Shaker

The eldest of five children, David moved to Shaker when he was seven years old and started the second grade at Onaway Elementary School. David's parents, now deceased, were both civically engaged. His father, Walter C. Kelley, Jr., was Mayor of Shaker Heights from 1973-84. His mother, Patricia Kelley, was active with the League of Women Voters, Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, Visiting Nurse Association of Cleveland, and the Women's Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, among other organizations.

Living near the high school, David fondly remembers playing by the creek and wooded area near the Administration Building and Woodbury, where he rode his bicycle and quickly made friends.

David excelled in math, and especially loved studying themes in literature about human nature, love, and ethics. In high school, he continued to enjoy the philosophical ideas in his English classes and mathematical logic. He loved to ask why - all the time! It was no surprise that he decided to study philosophy. As a high school student he read the writings of Ayn Rand, including The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. He spent his free time reading as much as he could about ethics and politics.

David fondly recalls English teachers Margaret Olds and John Vargas, math teacher Fred Holzhauser, Jr., and government teacher Jerry Graham, all of whom encouraged him to think and even disagree with others, and to maintain his active mind.

After Shaker

After graduating Shaker, David studied philosophy at  Brown University, graduating in four years with both bachelor's and master's degrees. He received his PhD in philosophy in 1975 from Princeton. He accepted his first academic position at Vassar College, where he worked until 1984. He then pursued freelance writing and wrote the book, The Art of Reasoning, an introductory college textbook in logic, now in its fourth edition.

During the late 1980s, David became more active in the Objectivist movement which was developed by Ayn Rand in the mid 1960s. Objectivism is the philosophy of rational individualism and espouses achieving happiness as an essential and important goal. David was a regular speaker at the Ayn Rand Institute conferences and in 1990 created his own organization, known as The Atlas Society. In 2005, the organization moved to Washington D.C., where it remains today. The goal of The Atlas Society is to introduce and promote the tenets of Objectivism: the philosophy of reason, achievement, individualism, and freedom.

Advice to Current Shaker Students

After recently attending his 50th reunion, David encourages current Shaker students to value the excellent education that is available to them as it was to him. "Make the most of your time at Shaker because the more you learn now, the better you will do later," he says. "It really does matter."