The Mount will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its Summer Lecture Series with a weekend of panel discussions

LENOX — “Returning to The Mount is one of the great joys of my life,” ABC news correspondent Kati Marton said in a recent interview with The Eagle. “Each time I feel so energized and inspired as a writer.”

Marton is one of three scholars who have been tapped by The Mount — writer Edith Wharton’s historic home and museum — to kick off the 30th anniversary of its Summer Lecture Series on June 30 and July 1. Following this opening, The Mount has an eight-part lineup of talks by biographers and historians, which runs through July and August.

If You Go30th Anniversary Celebration: Summer Lecture Series

What: Two-day event celebrating The Mount’s Summer Lecture Series. Panels include discussions on Wharton’s longevity, women writers and war. All panels will take place in an outdoor, open-sided tent.

Who: Moderators ABC News Correspondent Kati Marton, Barnard professor Jennie Kassanoff and Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, former host of WAMC’s “The Book Show” and Guggenheim Fellow, host panel discussions with guests who are expertise in Wharton, women writers and war. 

Where: The Mount, 2 Plunkett St., Lenox

When: June 30 and July 1

Panels: 4 p.m. June 30, Wharton panel moderated by Jennie Kassanoff; 11 a.m July 1, Women Panel moderated by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina; 2 p.m. July 1, War Panel moderated by Kati Marton.

Tickets: $25, members; $30, general admission; free for graduate, undergraduate students and 18 and under.

Reservations and more information: 413-551-5100, edithwharton.org

2023 Summer Lecture Series

What: The Mount’s annual eight-part lecture series, featuring biographers and historians. All panels will take place in an outdoor, open-sided tent.

Who: Willard Spiegelman, Sally Bedell Smith, Gene Andrew Jarrett, Zhuqing Li, Paul Fischer, Michael Frank, Joseph Luzzi, David Kertzer and Gene Andrew Jarrett.

When: Mondays and Tuesdays, July 10-Aug. 29

Tickets: $25, members; $30, general admission; free for graduate, undergraduate students and 18 and under.

Reservations and more information: 413-551-5100, edithwharton.org

To mark the series’ anniversary, said Executive Director Susan Wissler, The Mount looked back at their 30-year run to identify the common themes across former speakers to inform the topics of the opening panels.

“The standouts were Edith Wharton, women of significance and war,” she said. “It was a natural distillation of 30 years of lectures.”

From there, Wissler reached out to former speakers with experience in each category — Marton, as well as Barnard professor Jennie Kassanoff and former host of WAMC’s “The Book Show” Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina — all of whom had the opportunity to pull together their own panel of peers for one of the three selected themes.

The result, Wissler said, will be a set of panels made entirely their own by their moderators. “What transpires for each of the panels will be as much of a surprise to me as to anyone else in the audience,” she said.

The two-day event kicks off with a panel of Wharton experts 4 p.m., June 30. Kassanoff moderates a discussion on why Wharton’s writings remain relevant today with Wharton specialists and literary experts Jennifer Haytock, Sheila Liming and Nathan Wolff.

The Women’s Panel, 11 a.m., July 1, moderated by Gerzina will focus on the challenge and pleasure of writing about the lives of women ahead of their time. The panel includes Sylvia Plath, Louisa May Alcott, and Gertrude Stein authorities Heather Clark, John T. Matteson and Barbara Will.

Marton, former ABC news bureau chief, moderates the War Panel, 2 p.m., July 1, which will feature Washington Post columnist Max Boot, international affairs correspondent Anne Nelson and New York Times contributor Ted Widmer, who will share their war-reporting experiences and observations on ongoing global conflicts, including the war in Ukraine.

Tickets are available to purchase at edithwharton.org.

After the series’ opening weekend, author Willard Spiegelman will take the stage to discuss his recently published biography of poet Amy Clampitt, “Nothing Stays Put.” The series will include talks by Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, Pulitzer-prize winning historian David Kertzer, and will conclude on August 29 with a lecture from author Michael Frank.

The list of speakers was developed by a committee that “scoured” book reviews from publications such as the New York Times, LA Times, and Washington Post, Wissler said. This means, she added, that they may not necessarily reflect contemporary issues.

However, The Mount’s engaged audience often finds ways to make even historical lectures relevant to the present day. “It is quite common that the audience themselves will somehow relate current affairs with whatever historical moment the lecturer was talking about,” Wissler said. “Often, the discussion does bring in the contemporary.”

Marton — who has lectured most recently at The Mount in 2022 after publishing, “The Chancellor,” a biography of German Chancellor Angela Merkel — also spoke highly of the crowd that attends every year. “This is a super smart and super informed audience,” she said. “These are people who are big readers, and they will keep us on our toes, so that makes it fun.”

Wissler also noted that, this year, The Mount is making a concerted effort to attract a younger audience. As a result, tickets for students of all ages are free.

3Oth Anniversary Celebration: Summer Lecture Series

What: Two-day event celebrating The Mount’s Summer Lecture Series. Panels include discussions on Wharton’s longevity, women writers and war. All panels will take place in an outdoor, open-sided tent.

Who: Moderators ABC News Correspondent Kati Marton, Barnard professor Jennie Kassanoff and Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, former host of WAMC’s “The Book Show” and Guggenheim Fellow, host panel discussions with guests who are expertise in Wharton, women writers and war. 

Where: The Mount, 2 Plunkett St., Lenox

When: June 30 and July 1

Panels: 4 p.m. June 30, Wharton panel moderated by Jennie Kassanoff; 11 a.m July 1, Women Panel moderated by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina; 2 p.m. July 1, War Panel moderated by Kati Marton.

Tickets: $25, members; $30, general admission; free for graduate, undergraduate students and 18 and under.

Reservations and more information: 413-551-5100, edithwharton.org

2023 Summer Lecture Series

What: The Mount’s annual eight-part lecture series, featuring biographers and historians. All panels will take place in an outdoor, open-sided tent.

Who: Willard Spiegelman, Sally Bedell Smith, Gene Andrew Jarrett, Zhuqing Li, Paul Fischer, Michael Frank, Joseph Luzzi, David Kertzer and Gene Andrew Jarrett.

When: Mondays and Tuesdays, July 10-Aug. 29

Tickets: $25, members; $30, general admission; free for graduate, undergraduate students and 18 and under.

Reservations and more information: 413-551-5100, edithwharton.org