Literary Favorites
Where classic authors come to life
Expertise:
• Literary Biography and Cultural History
• Classic, Modern, and Contemporary Literature
• Author-Centered Storytelling
• Performance-Based Literary Interpretation
• Lifelong Learning Instruction
• Curated Lecture Series Design
Email: LRadick10@gmail.com
I’m Lauren Radick, a passionate literature instructor dedicated to more than just summarizing great books—I bring their authors to life. My lectures explore the personal histories, creative battles, friendships, rivalries, and cultural forces that shaped the world’s most iconic literary voices.
Through rich storytelling and insightful analysis, I guide lifelong learners beyond the page to truly discover the authors behind the classics—who they were, how they lived, and why their voices still echo today.
Available for in-person lectures in South Florida, and via Zoom.
All lectures offered individually, as a complete series, or customized to meet the unique interests of your community.
Background:
Before turning to teaching literature, I spent many years as an early childhood center administrator—an experience that fostered my lasting appreciation for curiosity and learning at every stage of life.
Today, I lead dynamic lectures for adult learners, bringing classic authors to life through their personal histories, relationships, and cultural moments. My signature series, The Life and Times of Literary Favorites, explores the real people behind the books we love.
My academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Literature from Emerson College and a master’s in Education from The George Washington University.
The Life and Times of Literary Favorites Collection:
The Legends
- Agatha Christie: The Real-Life Gone Girl
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Beyond Sherlock Holmes
- Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group
- Oscar Wilde: The Art of Being Outrageous
- Edgar Allan Poe: America’s First Master of the Dark Side
- The Hoax Execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Walt Whitman: America’s Original Rebel Poet
The Brits
- Jane Austen: The Reigning Queen of Sass
- Charles Dickens: The Original Superstar of Literature
- George Eliot: The Woman Behind the Man’s Name
- Elizabeth Gaskell: Society’s Storyteller and Charlotte Brontë’s Best Friend
- Thomas Hardy: Love, Desire and the Rules We Break
The Americans
- Why Mark Twain is America’s Greatest Storyteller
- F. Scott Fitzgerald: Glamour, Gold and the Great American Dream
- Nathaniel Hawthorne: Secrets Behind The Scarlett Letter
- Louisa May Alcott: What Little Women Doesn’t Tell You
More Women Breaking Boundaries
- Mary Shelley: She Ran with Literary Legends-And Invented a Monster
- The Brontë Sisters: The Sisters Who Shocked the Victorian World
- Sylvia Plath: Poet, Painter and Fashionista
- Harriet Beecher Stowe: Her Novel Shook the Nation
- Gertrude Stein: Paris, Picasso, and the Making of Modern Culture
Literary Movements and Cultural Rebels
- The Lost Generation: Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Stein
- The Beat Generation: Rebels, Roads and Revolutions
- Emerson, Thoreau and Alcott: Writers Who Dared to Live Differently
- Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball at 60: The Party of the Century
- The Factory: Inside Andy Warhol’s Wild World of Art and Celebrity
Anniversaries and Special Celebrations
- Gone with the Wind at 90: The Story That Still Sweeps Us Away
- Toni Morrison’s Beloved at 40: The Novel That Still Speaks to America
- Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: The Dream that Never Dies (at 100)
- Harper Lee: The Woman Behind To Kill a Mockingbird (at 65)
The Unclassifiables
- True Crime: How Real Lives Become Stories
- The Book Matchmaker: Finding Your Next Great Read
- Twain, Washington and Hamilton: The Art of the Biography with Ron Chernow
- Beyond Tradition: Contemporary Jewish Woman Novelists
- Voices of Today: Women in Writing
- Gertrude Stein: The Jewish Queen of Paris
Where I teach:
- Nova Southeastern University Life Learning Institute, Fort Lauderdale
- Florida Atlantic University OLLI, at Boca Raton and Jupiter Campus
- Florida International University OLLI, Biscayne Bay Campus, Miami
- University of Miami OLLI, Coral Gables
- Brockway Memorial Library, Miami Shores
- Rochester Technical/Community College, Learning Is ForEver (LIFE) (via Zoom)
- Pembroke Pines Jewish Center, Pembroke Pines
- The Barclay at ParkSquare, Aventura
- Jewish Museum of Florida
- William Island Club, Aventura
- The Waterford Senior Living, Juno Beach
- The Palace, Weston
- Vi Living, Aventura
- Broward County’s Stirling Library
- University of Pittsburgh OLLI (via Zoom)
- Florida State University OLLI, Tallahassee (via Zoom)
- JCC Chicago (via Zoom)
- Washington University at St. Louis OLLI (via Zoom)
Upcoming and Recent Presentations:
Gone with the Wind at Pembroke Pines Jewish Center on August 18: Calendar | PPJC
The Bronte Sisters at FAU on August 26: The Brontë Sisters: The Legacy of Three Remarkable Writers – Bundle Eligible
America at 250: Mark Twain at Broward’s Stirling Library on August 23, and then Ron Chernow on August 30: https://broward.libnet.info/event/16927983
The Bronte Sisters at The Palace, Weston on August 28: 6a68c7795aba026c1255f1e7_Palace-Weston-Activities-Calendar-IL.pdf
Five-week series at U of Pittsburgh OLLI begins September 3 The Life and Times of Literary Favorites, Part 2
Truman Capote at NSU LLI on September 15: Truman Capote, the Swans and the 60th Anniversary of the Black and White Ball – LibCal – Nova Southeastern University
Three-week series at Florida State University OLLI begins October 5 https://www.campusce.net/fsu/course/course.aspx?C=2123&pc=121&mc=144&sc=0
Four-week series at Brockway Memorial Library begins October 2. www.eventbrite.com/e/life-and-times-of-literary-favorites-american-movements-4-week-series-tickets-1993936322215
Four-week series at OLLI at California State University Channel Islands begins October 22
Gone With the Wind NSU LLI on October 20: Gone with the Wind at 90: The Story that Still Sweeps Us Off our Feet – LibCal – Nova Southeastern University
The Beat Generation at OLLI at FAU on November 30: The Beat Generation: Rebels, Roads, and Revolution – Bundle Eligible
NSU LLI on December 1: American Icons at 250: Ron Chernow and the Art of Biography – LibCal – Nova Southeastern University
Mark Twain at the Pembroke Pines Jewish Center on December 15: Calendar | PPJC
Gone With the Wind at 90 at OLLI at FAU on December 7 & 8: https://olli.fau.edu/ollifau/course/course.aspx?C=986&pc=10&mc=13&sc=0
The Bronte Sisters: Three Remarkable Writers – LibCal – Nova Southeastern University
The Beat Generation: Kerouac, Ginsberg and Burroughs – LibCal – Nova Southeastern University
Seminar: Writers of The Lost Generation: Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Stein
All lectures offered individually, as a complete series, or customized to meet the unique interests of your community.
Please contact Lauren Radick at LRadick10@gmail.com.
