Temple Shalom Speaker series to feature author Joan Leegant, author of the novel Wherever You Go, published in July 2010, and a collection of stories called An Hour in Paradise. This collection won the Penn/New England Book Award, the Wallant Award for Jewish Fiction, and was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.

Formerly an attorney, Ms. Leegant taught writing at Harvard University for eight years. Since 2007 she has lived half the year in Tel Aviv, where she is the visiting writer at Bar-Ilan University and lectures for the U.S. State Department. She has an undergraduate degree from Harvard, a law degree from Boston University, and an MFA from Vermont College. When not in Israel she lives in Newton, Mass.

Ms. Leegant will be speaking at the next Temple Shalom of  Milton Monthly Breakfast Lecture on Sunday, December 12, 2010, at 9:30 AM.

The public is invited to the breakfast, which begins at 9:30 AM, with the speaker starting at approximately 10:15 AM. A $5 donation for the breakfast is requested to defray costs, and a call to the temple office would help in planning. Temple Shalom is located at 180 Blue Hill Avenue (Rte. 138) in Milton, about four miles north of Rte. 93/128, is handicapped-accessible, and has ample parking. For more information, please call 617-698-3394 or email: office@TempleShalomOnline.org.