Nov 29, 2013 2 min read

Visitors to the Senator John Heinz History Center can mingle with nearly 60 local authors and purchase signed books as part of its 12th Annual “Books in the ‘Burgh” holiday book fair, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 7.

This year’s event will feature a special appearance by Augusten Burroughs, the Pittsburgh-born author of the best-selling memoir “Running with Scissors,” which spent more than three years atop the New York Times Best Seller list and was eventually made into a movie starring Annette Bening and Alec Baldwin.

Burroughs’ subsequent works, including “Dry,” “Magical Thinking,” “Possible Side Effects,” and his most recent book, “This is How,” were also instant New York Times Best Sellers.

Burroughs will give a special talk for visitors at noon in the History Center’s Detre Library & Archives before signing copies of his books.

Other authors with Pittsburgh ties scheduled to attend the event, include Steelers owner Dan Rooney, forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht and broadcast media legend Eleanor Schano.

The “Books in the ‘Burgh” event will also help launch the History Center’s newest publication, “The Civil War in Pennsylvania: The African American Experience,” a 240-page book featuring essays written by national experts on African American life during the Civil War with topics ranging from the Fugitive Slave Law to Camp William Penn to the service of the United States Colored Troops. The book was developed in partnership with Pennsylvania Civil War 150, the statewide initiative to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and complements the History Center’s new Pennsylvania’s Civil War exhibition.

For a complete and updated list of authors, visit www.heinzhistorycenter.org.