An Evening with Beth M. Howard, Author of World Piece

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The Pat Conroy Literary Center and The Rhett House Inn will host an evening of pie and stories with Beth M. Howard, author of World Piece: A Pie Baker's Global Quest for Peace, Love, and Understanding. The $25 registration fee includes a copy of the book, a sampling of pies, and the author talk and pie-making demonstration. This special event will be held at The Rhett House Inn (1009 Craven St., Beaufort) on Tuesday, January 17, at 5:00-7:00 p.m.

“A book about pie? Yes, but Beth Howard’s delightful and delicious World Piece is much more than that. It is about being scared senseless by the thought of doing something—and doing it anyway. It is about the terrible persistence of grief, the transformative power of travel, and the love of a good dog. It is about leaving home in order to find it. Beth Howard is the Marco Polo of the baking world. With her trusty rolling pin in hand, she circles the globe in search of peace—the absence of war, yes, but also the more elusive peace of mind. She writes with a keen eye and open heart, leavening her tale with dollops of humor. World Piece is part travelogue, part culinary adventure, part love story—and wholly delightful. You don’t need to be a baker, or even a pie lover, to enjoy this delicious book. Read it slowly, though, savoring the humanity found on each page.”—Eric Weiner, NYT bestselling author of The Socrates Express and The Geography of Bliss

Beth M. Howard always dreamed of circumnavigating the planet; not to tick off a list of tourist sites, but to immerse herself in the culture of each country by making pie with local residents. Pie had healed her grief after her husband’s death, so why not use it to heal the world and promote peace? Hauling her rolling pin from New Zealand to Australia, Thailand to India, Lebanon to Greece, Switzerland to Germany and Hungary, Howard uses America’s iconic comfort food as a means for connecting with people in their homes, kitchens, and cafés. In each region, she offers pie lessons and, in turn, learns about the surprising origins of ingredients and traditional dishes—including pie in its myriad forms. During her demanding three-month journey, she meets charming characters, experiences uncanny coincidences, and finds kindness when she least expects it. She also encounters geopolitical unrest (past and present) that prompts the questions: Why is world peace so elusive? And what can we do to achieve it? She offers some answers in her feisty, often funny, always unflinching voice. Underlying her pie and peace mission is her personal story about overcoming fear, letting go of grief, searching for a new home, and making room for new love. A balanced blend of multi-cultural insight, world history, social commentary, immersive travel, and the comfort of pie, World Piece could be described as Waitress meets Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, as Howard takes the reader on a deeply intimate, delicious, and inspirational global adventure.

Beth M. Howard is the author of four books, including Making Piece: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Pie and the cookbook, Ms. American Pie. She has written for The New York Times, Real Simple, and Country Living, among many other publications. She is a regular commentator for Tri States Public Radio in Macomb, Illinois, and has given a TEDx Talk on the healing powers of pie. From 2010 to 2014, she lived in the iconic American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa, where she ran the Pitchfork Pie Stand. Her story has been featured on CBS This Morning, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, BBC, NPR, the Hallmark Channel, the History Channel, in the Los Angeles Times, Better Homes & Gardens, and more. She divides her time between Iowa and Los Angeles, and continues to write, bake pie, and advocate for peace. Her website is www.theworldneedsmorepie.com.

Learn more about the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center at www.patconroyliterarycenter.org.

Learn more about The Rhett House Inn at www.rhetthouseinn.com.