Author Spotlight Lunch Pail Series

Fall 2025 Lineup Now Available!

Select Fridays | at 12 Noon | Online via Zoom

Current OLLI at Sierra College Membership is Required to Participate

Become a Member / Renew OLLI Membership: Click Here!

Our Fall 2025 lineup of Author Spotlight Lunch Pail Series is now available on our registration website Home page > under OLLI Extras > Author Spotlight Lunch Pail Series or CLICK HERE!

*Note: Current OLLI Membership is required. Register for each Author Spotlight Lunch Pail Series separately to receive the Zoom links to your email!

Series Description — Our region is home to a variety of terrific authors who write a wide assortment of books. This monthly series of interviews will introduce us to some of these interesting, local writers and their books. 

An Added Benefit — Your class fee is a donation to the Sierra College Food Pantry. One hundred percent of the registration proceeds made from the Author Spotlight Lunch Pail Series will be donated to the Sierra College Food Pantry. Thank you for joining our cause to help end student food insecurity on our campuses and in our community. 

Thank you, OLLI members, for your support of this crucial resource for our Sierra College student body!

August 22 – Meade Fischer – Summer Vacation – With the Sea Beside Me

September 19 – Ann Van Hine – Pieces Falling – A 9/11 Survivor Memoir

October 3 – Kelly Lardner – Family History Month – Rose Beads

Bio: Kelly Lardner, under the pen name Ké Ridolfi, writes historical fiction. She is a longtime member of Auburn's Gold Country Writers and has published two novels. She is currently trying her hand at writing a cozy mystery series.

Book: Rose Beads is an epic saga of three generations of strong women and of the power of their love. In small town Lavender, Oklahoma, eleven-year-old Eva loses her mother and her home to flames. Her widowed father forsakes the hard toil of farming, leaving Eva in the care of her aunt, to seek opportunity in the city. The hardships Eva and her family encounter are typical of life in the early Twentieth Century. As a young woman, Eva’s life choices take her beyond the bounds of small-town America, where the restrictive social rules imposed on women collide with her determination to find love and achieve a better life. One loss after another knock her down, but each time she rises to pursue her personal journey, to unite her family, and to find happiness.

SKU: FalALIT181

Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Sessions: 1

Fee: $5.00 (SC Food Pantry Donation)

Location: Online via Zoom 

Recording: *This class is being recorded. *Recordings expire after 30 days.

*Class Dates: 10/3 (only). 

November 7 – Patricia Puentes – International Showbiz Mysteries – Cluelessly Unscripted

Bio: Patricia Puentes is a Barcelona native, expat, and recovering entertainment journalist who has been calling California home for almost 20 years. She can tell many funny (or just plain surreal) stories about the frequent times she has interviewed celebrities, but she mostly gets wowed by writers—and doggies. She writes open-door romance mysteries with a Hollywood setting and where the leads have non-stop banter. Patricia lives in Oakland, California, with her romantic partner and their rambunctious Border Collie, Boira (aka Peluchín diabólico).

Book: Cluelessly Unscripted is a delightful rom-com with a dash of mystery, perfect for readers who love:

    • Swoon-worthy detectives ​​​​​​​

    • Sizzling age-gap romance (she's older) ​​​​​​​

    • International travel ​​​​​​​

    • Heartfelt second chances ​​​​​​​

    • Feel-good stories with some steam

Warning: May cause giggling, swooning, and an urge to book a flight to Barcelona!

SKU: FalALIT191

Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Sessions: 1

Fee: $5.00 (SC Food Pantry Donation)

Location: Online via Zoom 

Recording: *This class is being recorded. *Recordings expire after 30 days.

*Class Dates: 11/7 (only). 

December 5 – Sidney Niemeyer – Atomic Peril: A Nuclear Forensics Thriller

Bio: Sidney Niemeyer has been called a “founding father” of the new field of nuclear forensics. Among his scientific leadership roles at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), he articulated the need for the U.S. to develop a nuclear forensics capability to address the new reality of a post-Cold-War world. Believing global cooperation was essential, he chaired an international conference in 1995 that led to the formation of the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group, which he co-chaired for twelve years. Over the years, he became painfully aware that few people have even heard of the field of nuclear forensics. Drawing upon his love of science and thrillers, he wrote Atomic Peril to show the critical importance of this capability for deterring nuclear terrorism. When he’s not writing, or visiting his children and ten grandchildren, he can often be found on his road bike, navigating the hills surrounding the lab where he once worked.

Book: In this high-octane thriller, a laboratory scientist races to stop terrorists from detonating a nuclear bomb on American soil. Tasked by the FBI to analyze a small amount of highly enriched uranium found on a smuggler in Moldova, nuclear-forensics scientist Steven Carter’s initial results suggest a serious terrorist threat. Unconvinced by his findings, the FBI calls a halt to further investigation. But Carter goes rogue, secretly continuing to analyze the material and discovering compelling evidence that somebody has enough uranium to make a nuclear bomb. With no other recourse, Carter risks his career by taking his evidence to the CIA.

Review: "A terrific nuclear thriller from a founding father of nuclear forensics. Readers who enjoyed Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears will love this book." ~ Rick Acker

SKU: FalALIT201

Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Sessions: 1

Fee: $5.00 (SC Food Pantry Donation)

Location: Online via Zoom 

Recording: *This class is being recorded. *Recordings expire after 30 days.

*Class Dates: 12/5 (only). 

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