Terrence McNally Kicks Off 'Fridays at Five' at Hampton Library

The Hampton Library’s “Fridays at Five,” beginning July 5 at 5 p.m., will feature Terrence McNally, the four-time Tony award winning playwright of The Full Monty, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime.

The “Fridays at Five” author series, which has been run by the Friends of the Hamptons Library in Bridgehampton for almost 30 years, runs for eight weeks between July and August each summer, and brings in the local big names to speak about their life and work and to field audience questions. In past years, speakers have included Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Caro and E.L. Doctorow. Each year, the money raised through admissions goes right back into funding the library’s programming.

The library’s director, Kelly Harris, called “Fridays at Five,” “A nice way to start out your Friday night before heading to you dinner reservation.” On average, the events don’t last very long — authors speak from the library’s backyard deck, discuss their most recent book, sign books and answers questions, wrapping up before 7 p.m. The process of finding speakers is long and arduous — the Author Committee of the Friends of the Hampton Library starts looking for the new line up for next year immediately after Labor Day.

According to Harris, “The authors tend to be very relaxed while they are here.”

The line up for the rest of the summer includes: Lily Koppel — author of The Astronaut Wives Club — on July 12; Chris Knopf — author of Dead Anyway, Short Squeeze and the Sam Acquillo mystery series — on July 19; Peter Wolf — author of My New Orleans, Gone Away — on July 26; Eric Fischl on Aug. 2; Morton and Joan Hamburg on Aug. 9; James Salter — author of The Hunters and All That Is — on Aug. 16; and Maryann Calendrille and Kathryn Szoka — owners of Canio’s Bookstore in Sag Harbor — on Aug. 23.

There are two options for buying tickets. Audience members can buy a one-time ticket for $15 or a package of five for $60.