2ND Act Series: Charles Monagan

Press release

Waterbury, CT –On Tuesday, April 1st at 7:00 p.m., author Charles Monagan shares his journey from award-winning editor to award-winning novelist. Charles Monagan’s career as a writer and editor began in 1972, after graduating from Dartmouth. As a journalist, his work appeared in many newspapers and magazines. From 1989 to 2013, he was the editor of Connecticut Magazine. In 1997, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Reporting from the National City and Regional Magazine Association. In 2012, he received the Connecticut Press Club’s Mark Twain Award for Distinguished Journalism, a lifetime award. This event is made possible through the support of Mary Ellen & Tim Rourke and The Village at East Farms.

Monagan eventually left editing and turned to writing full time. He is the author of ten books, including The Neurotic’s Handbook, The Reluctant Naturalist, and How to Get a Monkey into Harvard. Additionally, he penned the book and lyrics for the musical Mad Bomber, which was produced in 2011 and won first place in the Academy for New Musical Theatre’s 2012 International Search for New Musicals.

Growing up in Waterbury, Monagan often saw the Carrie Welton Fountain on the Waterbury Green and became intrigued by her story – her love of animals and her death while mountain climbing in Colorado. His first novel, Carrie Welton (2016), was a semifinalist for the M.M. Bennetts Award for historical fiction. Other books include Connecticut Icons (2017) and The Easter Confession (2020), called a "superior whodunit" by Publishers Weekly.

Tickets are $20 and are offered on a first-come, first-served basis as seating is limited. Tickets and more information are available at palacetheaterct.org or 203-346-2000.

About the 2nd Act series2ND ACT is a storytelling series featuring ordinary people sharing the extraordinary things they are doing in the 2ND (half) ACT of their lives! Inspirational, experiential, and comical, these after-50 life stories will ignite your own imagination to join the growing community of 2ND ACTers!

Stories will be 45–60 minutes in length followed by Q&A with the audience.