Journalist Mark Di Ionno Has Book Talk, Signing at Springfield Public Library

On Thursday, December 6 at 7:00 p.m., the Springfield Free Public Library will host Star-Ledger columnist Mark Di Ionno speaking about his highly anticipated first novel, The Last Newspaperman. The novel centers on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping case that rocked 1930s New Jersey - and the nation.

The Last Newspaperman is a story about tabloid journalism in the 1920s and 30s, and how it created the crime-saturated and celebrity-obsessed media we have today.

"While much of the action is set in New Jersey in the 1930s, The Last Newspaperman is not strictly a historical novel," Di Ionno said. "My goal was to connect the past with the contemporary, sensationalist media that dominates the airwaves, newsstands, and internet."

Mark Di Ionno is a lifetime newspaperman and a four-time winner of the New Jersey Press Association's first place award for column writing. In addition to his twice-weekly column in The Star-Ledger, his "Mark in the Morning" column appears daily on NJ.com. Di Ionno is the author of three award-winning nonfiction books: New Jersey's Coastal Heritage, A Guide to New Jersey's Revolutionary War Trail, and Backroads, New Jersey. Born and raised in Summit, he is the father of six children, who reside with him in Mountain lakes, New Jersey.

The program will be held in the Donald B. Palmer Museum at the library. It is free and open to all. Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing.

No pre-registration is required for the program, but seating is limited. First come, first seated. The library is located at 66 Mountain Avenue, Springfield, New Jersey. For more information, go to www.sfplnj.org.