FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2025
Media Contact: Gina Hyams, PR Consultant 713-930-7554 ginahyams@gmail.com
Spencertown Academy Conversations with Neighbors Presents Children’s Book Author/Illustrator Emily Arnold McCully and Playwright Elizabeth Diggs Free Event on November 2
Spencertown, New York–Spencertown Academy Arts Center Conversations with Neighbors presents “From Mirette to Einstein: a Conversation with Children’s Book Author/Illustrator Emily Arnold McCully and Playwright Elizabeth Diggs” on Sunday, November 2 at 2:00pm. The duo, who have lived and worked in Spencertown for more than 40 years, will discuss McCully’s 60-year career, her Caldecott Medal for “Mirette on the High Wire,” mission to tell stories with wit and flair about brave girls and extraordinary but overlooked women in science, the arts, politics and sports, and more. While admission is free, advance reservations are requested via www.spencertownacademy.org.
“We are excited to welcome these two talented members of our community to the stage,” says Spencertown Academy Administrator Eve Zatt. “We know that this conversation will be an interesting look into their expertise in the literary world and beyond.”
McCully’s new picture book, “The Eclipse of 1919: How Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity Changed Our World,” is the suspenseful story of the most momentous scientific experiment ever conducted. The book will be available for purchase and signing at the Academy. After college at Brown University, McCully earned a Master’s degree at Columbia University in art history. She worked as a freelance illustrator for magazines, advertisements, and book publishers until a radio station commissioned a series of posters showing children playing. The first appeared in subway cars, where it was seen by a children’s book editor. It launched a long career, first as an illustrator, then as author/illustrator of picture books.
McCully’s childhood informs all of her books—from early readers starring enterprising animals, to Young Adult biographies that humanize their subjects and illuminate their historical moments, to two adult novels and an O’Henry Collection short story. She is working on a family memoir. She says she is especially proud to have performed in three Off-Broadway productions of Diggs plays and a reading of “Grant and Twain” at Spencertown Academy.Elizabeth
Diggs is a playwright whose plays include “Close Ties,” “Goodbye Freddy,” “American Beef,” “Dumping Ground,” “How to Plant a Rose,” and “Grant and Twain,” produced at theatres nationwide and in England and Europe. In New York, her plays have been produced at the Vineyard and Ensemble Studio Theatre, where she has developed her work for her entire career. She is a graduate of Brown (B.A.) and Columbia (M.A. Ph.D.) and was a professor in the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. In musical theatre, she collaborated with Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt on “Mirette,” based on Emily Arnold McCully’s book. The creative team was invited twice to develop the work at the Sundance Playwrights Lab, and it was then produced in the Sundance theatre. It premiered at Goodspeed, and recently reopened the theatre season after the pandemic at Music Theater Wichita.
The Conversations with Neighbors Committee is co-chaired by Lisa Bouchard Hoe and Cindy Atkins. It is an occasional series designed to spark neighbor-to-neighbor conversations and celebrate the richness and diversity of the Columbia County community. This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Founded in 1972, Spencertown Academy Arts Center is a cultural center and community resource serving Columbia County, the Berkshires, and the Capital region. Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York. For more information, please contact info@spencertownacademy.org.