New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Spinner Publications celebrates its new book, BLUE COLLARS, a novel written by local author, Catherine McLaughlin. On Thursday, June 14 a book launch party will be held at Gallery X, 169 William Street, New Bedford. Spinner will introduce BLUE COLLARS to the public for the first time at a “Meet the Author” Book Launch Party and author signing from 5 to 9 PM. The public is invited to attend free of charge and enjoy light fare and refreshments. Guests will also be treated to a photograph exhibition by Spinner of 50’s and 60’s archival photographs of New Bedford’s South End and paintings by Blue Collars author, Catherine McLaughlin.
BLUE COLLARS is a compelling story about growing up during the late 1950s and 1960s in New Bedford and details the triumphs and tragedies of the close-knit working-class Kilroy family. Told through the eyes of young Fiona “Finn” Kilroy, her story unfolds in the city’s South End. Finn’s father worked long hours as a loomfixer at the Berkshire Hathaway textile mill along the city’s waterfront and her mother struggled to keep the children healthy, well fed, and well dressed.
Catherine McLaughlin grew up in New Bedford and now lives nearby in Padanaram. She received her undergraduate degree from UMass Dartmouth, formerly Southeastern Massachusetts University, and her graduate degrees from the University College Dublin and Bowling Green State University. A published poet and an accomplished artist, McLaughlin has taught English and writing for 40 years and is a professor emerita of Framingham State University.
