Note: The date of this program was originally Oct. 27, but it is now Oct. 29.
Milford Public Library will host Cynthia Wolfe Boynton, author of Connecticut Witch Trials: The First Panic in the New World, presenting readings from her book, on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.
Connecticut's witch hunt was the first and most ferocious in New England, occurring almost 50 years before the infamous Salem witch trials.
Between 1647 and 1697, at least thirty-four men and women from across the state were formally charged with witchcraft. Eleven were hanged. In New Haven, William Meeker was accused of cutting off and burning his pig's ears and tail as he cast a bewitching spell. After the hanging of Fairfield's Goody Knapp, magistrates cut down and searched her body for the marks of the devil. Through newspaper clippings, court records, letters and diaries, author Boynton uncovers the dark history of the Connecticut witch trials.
An award-winning journalist, playwright and poet, Boynton is a freelance writer whose background includes more than 15 years as a regular correspondent for the New York Times and nine years as editor and publishing director of Better Health magazine. Her two most recent plays, Right Time to Say I Love You and Dear Prudence, both made their premieres in New York City, just steps off Broadway, at the 2011 and 2013 United Solo Theatre Festival, and were recognized for being top scripts. Right Time continued with performances that took her to Brighton, England, and one of the largest theater festivals in the world.
A Milford resident, Boynton is also an English and communications instructor at the Yale School of Medicine and Housatonic Community College, as well as host of the weekly Literary New England Radio Show podcast.
Fascinated by history and drawn to telling stories that connect the past and present, Boynton has also written Remarkable Women of Hartford, published in March 2014.
Copies of her book will be available for sale at the event. This event is free and open to the public. No reservations are necessary. Light refreshments will be served.
The presentation is funded by the History Press, and the Friends of Milford Library.