Authors Thad Carhart & Leonard Pitt

Café opens at noon.

Two seasoned travelers and writers look back to times living in France to discuss how history, philosophy and the power of place influence their work and lives today.

Finding Fontainbleau: An American Boy in France (Viking) by Thad Carhart

This charming memoir recounts the adventures of Carhart, his parents and siblings, in the provincial town of Fontainebleau, France, in the 1950s. With warmth and humor, Carhart takes readers along as he and his family experience the pleasures of French life, from the parks of Paris to the quieter joys of a town like Fontainebleau, where citizens have lived since the 12^th century and continue to care for their lieux de mémoire—places of memory.

My Brain on Fire: Paris and Other Obsessions (Soft Skull Press) by Leonard Pitt

In 1962, after a misguided foray towards a career in advertising, Leonard Pitt took the ultimate cure— a trip to Paris. He stayed seven years. While performing and teaching, he studied the origins of the ballet, the history of early American popular music, the pre-Socratic philosophers, the European witch hunt, the history of Paris, and more. Who would see a historical arc between Louis XIV and Elvis Presley? Leonard. And he'll tell you about it.

The son of an Air Force officer, Thad Carhart grew up in a variety of places, including Washington, D.C.; Fontainebleau, France, Minneapolis; Amherst, Massachusetts; and Tokyo. His first book, The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, appeared in 2000, published by Random House. Across the Endless River, a historical novel, came out in 2009 with Doubleday. Finding Fontainbleau is published by Viking Penguin. He lives in Paris.

Leonard Pitt is an actor and author. He has written two books on Paris, Walks Through Lost Paris and Paris Postcards: The Golden Age, as well as A Small Moment of Great Illumination—a book about the life of 17th century healer, Valentine Greatrakes. He currently teaches classes in physical theater. He has performed and taught around the world and lives in Berkeley, California.