Lake Erie College Welcomes Back Author and Actress Deborah Goodrich Royce '80
Lake Erie College is proud to welcome back to campus alumna Deborah Goodrich Royce `80 on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023 from 3-5 p.m. to talk about her latest thriller, Reef Road, written during the pandemic and inspired by her personal connection to a decades-old unsolved crime: the 1948 murder of a young girl who was best friends with Goodrich Royce’s mother.
Reef Road is the third book by Goodrich Royce. Her thrillers examine puzzles of identity. Reef Road hit Publishers Weekly’s Bestseller list, Good Morning America’s Top 15 list, and was an Indie Next pick by the American Bookseller’s Association for January 2023. Ruby Falls won the Zibby Award for Best Plot Twist in 2021 and Finding Mrs. Ford was hailed by Forbes, Book Riot, and Good Morning America’s “best of” lists in 2019.
She began as an actress on All My Children and in multiple films, before transitioning to the role of story editor at Miramax Films, developing Emma and early versions of Chicago and A Wrinkle in Time.
With her husband, Chuck, she restored the Avon Theatre, Ocean House Hotel, Deer Mountain Inn, United Theatre, Savoy Bookstore, and numerous Main Street revitalization projects in Rhode Island and the Catskills.
She serves on the governing and/or advisory boards of the American Film Institute, Avon Theatre, Greenwich International Film Festival, New York Botanical Garden, Greenwich Historical Society, the Preservation Society of Newport, the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, and the PRASAD Project.
The Ocean House Author Series—a salon style conversation that Goodrich Royce created in partnership with The Savoy Bookshop & Café—brings world-class authors to readers in the stunning seaside location of Watch Hill, RI. This year, she will talk there with two dozen writers ranging from Chris Bohjalian to Katie Couric. Past authors have included Zibby Owens, Emma Straub, Annabel Monaghan, Zain Asher, and many more.
Goodrich Royce holds a bachelor’s degree in modern foreign languages and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Lake Erie College.
The book chat and signing will take place on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023 from 3-5 p.m. in the CK Rickel Theatre at Royce Hall for the Fine and Performing Arts on Gillett Street in Painesville, Ohio. Free parking is available in the lot adjacent to the building. The lot entrance is off Gillett Street. This event is free and open to the public, but because seating is limited, advance reservations are requested here.