Événement

Speaker Series: Marie Benedict

Thurs. Jan 24 | 4:00PM
Speaker Series: Marie Benedict
$5 members, $10 guests
Bestselling author Marie Benedict will enthrall guests with discussion her new historical fiction, The Only Woman in the Room. The novel shares the story of Hedy Lamarr, a glamourous Oscar-nominated 1940s film star, who was also an avid inventor and the figure behind advances in communication technologies that led to Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth.

Set in 1930s Austria before the start of WWII, THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM
introduces us to young Jewish Hedy Kiesler who marries the countrys richest man, Fritz Mandl,
a munitions manufacturer often referred to as the Merchant of Death. Fritz is responsible for
supplying weaponry to Mussolini and Hitler in deals struck over the couples dinner table where
Hedy was often the only woman in the room. Always the active listener, soon after she learns of
the Third Reichs military strategy and the horrific plans for the Jewish people, she escapes to
London and then to Hollywood. When she begins to suffer from survivors guilt as the military
plans she had previously overheard begin to manifest, Hedy decides she must take action and
help in some way. With the assistance of co-inventor George Anthiel, she utilizes the secret
military information learned at her ex-husbands side to develop an incredibly effective frequency
hopping weaponry system that could have ended the war sooner but ultimately ends up rejected
by the Navy.

Once a New York City lawyer, MARIE BENEDICT had long
dreamed about a fantastical job unraveling the larger mysteries of the
past as an archaeologist or historian -- before she tried her hand at
writing. While drafting her first book, she realized that she could
excavate the possible truths lurking in history through fiction, and has
done so in The Other Einstein, the story of Mileva Maric, Albert
Einstein's first wife and a physicist herself, and Carnegies Maid, the
story of a brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie
toward philanthropy. She is a graduate of Boston College and the
Boston University School of Law, and lives in Pittsburgh with her
family.