Renowned stage and screen actor Hal Holbrook visits the Kansas City Public Library on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 for a public conversation about his beautifully moving new memoir, Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain recounts Holbrook's troubled boyhood - and how he found a refuge onstage, eventually starring in the one-man Broadway show "Mark Twain Tonight." The role earned him a Tony Award in 1966 and opened the door to television and film stardom, including Emmy Awards for his roles as President Abraham Lincoln (in Lincoln) and Senator Hays Stowe (in The Bold Ones: The Senator) and an Oscar nomination for Into the Wild (2007).

This public conversation with Holbrook will be hosted by Library Director Crosby Kemper III.

This is the finale event for The Big Read celebration of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - coordinated by the Kansas City Public Library and Kansas City Ballet - which has been extended through Sunday, November 13, as a result of Holbrook's appearance.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. For more information about The Big Read in Kansas City, visit kcbigread.org.