The North Carolina Poetry Society holds its annual fall meeting Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities, in Southern Pines.

The event features readings by the Brockman-Campbell Book Award winners and the North Carolina Writers' Network Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition winners, as well as an interesting talk from poet Sarah Lindsay.

Registration begins at 9:15 a.m., and activities begin at 10 a.m. Box lunches will be available for sale ($10, cash or check) until 10:15 a.m.

The event is expected to conclude at 3 p.m.

For more information, visit http://www. ncpoetrysociety.org.

Gathering at Given

The next Gathering at Given will be held Thursday, Sept. 6, at 3:30 p.m. at the Given Memorial Library.

Tom Stewart will be speaking about golf around the world. This event is free and open to the public.

Gates' Book on Kindle

Greensboro writer Nancy Gotter Gates announces the release of her newest novel, "The State of Grace," now out on Amazon for Kindle only.

Gates' most recent mystery, "The Day the Parrot Died," is available both in paperback and on Kindle. Set in a retirement center in "Guilford City," two of the residents investigate a fellow resident's death and find the evidence needed to exonerate his widow, who was charged with his murder.

Sherer Named

John Sherer, formerly vice president and publisher of Basic Books, has been named the seventh director of the University of North Carolina Press.

Sherer, 45, succeeds Kate Douglas Torrey, who retired June 30 after 23 years at the publishing house. She had served as its director since 1992.

Sherer took over the publisher role of the Basic Books Group in 2006, with responsibility for managing all aspects of the nonfiction publishing house's operations, including editorial, marketing, publicity and design. Sherer previously held marketing positions in New York and Washington, D.C., at Basic Books, Brookings Institution Press and Henry Holt.

Under his leadership, Basic Books has won numerous awards, including the Bancroft Prize, the LA Times Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Award, the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize, and the Albert J. Beveridge Award. He has published best sellers by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Timothy Snyder, Diane Ravitch, Chris Hedges, Thomas Sowell, Eduardo Galeano, Jeremy Scahill and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Sherer has a longstanding connection with the University and UNC Press. He is a 1988 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in international relations. Sherer's publishing career began at UNC Press, where he held the position of assistant sales manager from 1989 to 1991.

Since 2011, Sherer has continued his association with UNC Press as a member of its Advancement Council.

"UNC Press is one of the most respected publishing programs in the country - not simply among university presses, but among all publishers," says Sherer. "The quality of its current program combined with a legacy whose influence is hard to overstate should make the people of the state of North Carolina extremely proud.

"It is my honor to continue the work of Kate Torrey, whom I've admired for more than two decades, and to join with the talented staff of the Press and its significant support system within the University of North Carolina community. Amidst the rapid changes occurring in publishing today, the mission of UNC Press is more vital than ever, and I look forward to participating in the next chapter of its illustrious history."

Founded in 1922, UNC Press is the oldest university press in the South and one of the oldest in the United States.

Wadesboro Connection

Greg Klein, of Cooperstown, N.Y., announces the publication of his book "The King of New Orleans," which relates the story of Sylvester Ritter, a Wadesboro native and former Fayetteville State University football player.

Ritter, better known as the Junkyard Dog, was a huge star who broke an important glass ceiling in the world of wrestling.

Ritter wasn't just the king of New Orleans. In the 1980s he was a huge star through the territory known as Mid South, the South itself and eventually nationally and internationally. He was the first African-American wrestler to be made the top star of a company at a time and in a place where the backlash from the civil rights movement was still active.

"My book is about more than wrestling," says Klein "It is about race and the South. It is about a shooting star and a forgotten hero. It is about the fans who remember him in their hearts. As odd as it sounds now, the Junkyard Dog was a bigger star in New Orleans at the time than even Archie Manning. He drew more than a million fans to the arenas during a five-year span and was a cross-over star appealing to all races and ages. He died tragically young and has mostly been forgotten, but I hope my book will change that."

Klein has been planning several charity campaigns in Ritter's memory.

"The first is currently running at www.indiegogo.com/junkyarddog," he says. "It is designed to raise money in his name for the GS Glory Church in Hickory, where a new church building has been/is being built by several friends of Ritter's. In the fall, I plan to run a similar campaign to raise money for the Fayetteville athletic program to help get Ritter inducted into their Ring of Honor. I also hope to raise money for a statue in New Orleans and a headstone to mark his grave."

Klein worked for Gannett as a sports editor for several years before turning to acting and writing.