On May 10, Literacy Partners Annual "Evening of Readings" Gala met and exceeded fundraising goals.  Thanks to the generous support of New York Society and headliners from the worlds of fashion, design and media Literacy Partners raised substantial funds to help fight adult illiteracy.

Chaired by celebrated New Yorkers Liz Smith, Arnold Scaasi and Parker Ladd, this year's event featured best-selling authors Sara Gruen (author of Water for Elephants), David Finkel (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Good Soldiers), Mary Karr (author of two bestsellers, Liar?s Club and Lit) and Norris Church Mailer (author of Windchill Summer and Cheap Diamonds).  All read aloud from their most recent works.

Literacy Partners, New York's only accredited adult literacy organization, honored philanthropists Barbara Taylor Bradford, OBE, and her husband, Robert Bradford for their leadership and dedication in support of adult literacy. 

Literacy Partners students Princeton Hall and Sylvia Valazquez also joined these headliners on stage, reading personal essays explaining the tremendous impact that the organization has had on their lives.

Other Gala attendees include:  Kathie Lee Gifford and Frank Gifford, Peter Brown, Joni Evans, Leslie Stahl, Mary Higgins Clark, Nina Rennert Davidson and Mitchell Davidson, Yanna Avis, Robert Zimmerman, Les Hinton and Katherine Raymond, Lee Eastman, Carolyn Reidy, Gina Centrello, Michael Morrison, Elizabeth Peabody, Jacqueline Weld Drake, Susan Magrino, Mark Jackson, Cherie Blair and Jane Friedman.