Judy Benson

Donations and book sales at this event will benefit the
New London Homeless Hospitality Center and NL Community Orchestra.

Join us for an evening with local author and journalist Judy Benson for a reading and signing of her book The Book of Todd written posthumously with her husband Thomas K Clark, who founded the NL Community Orchestra and the Music City Strings program.

Hors d’oeuvres and cash bar

The premise of The Book of Todd is so unusual that it drew me right in. At the end of his life, a man asks his writer wife to finish his novella. The story about an old friend from childhood brings up some uncomfortable feelings about how society sometimes fails to help people in need. Not many spouses could step up and finish an unfinished project when the co-author can’t help. Judy Benson’s handling of the story as a fictional double narrative brings alive the husband’s motives in writing. And it shows how a couple in a long marriage find their way through tough and good times. The outcome of the story fulfills the husband’s wish and adds a new dimension to all of the characters.

—Christine Woodside, author of Going Over the Mountain and editor of Appalachia journal.

The Book of Todd is a tender story of love, loss and forgiveness. The story within the story is about a childhood friendship. It took me back in time to one of my own. The central story—about the author and her recently deceased husband—reminds us how little we know about the life experiences that shaped those closest to us. And yet, we do know their hearts and values and that is what draws us to each other. I was touched by the journey this novella offered—a road filled with empathy and curiosity towards understanding and acceptance.

—Maryam Elahi, president and CEO, Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, a longtime supporter of the New London Homeless Hospitality Center and the New London Community Orchestra and its Music City Strings program.

Authors’ Bio

Thomas K. Clark and Judy Benson were married for 38 years when Tom died in 2022, just five months after being diagnosed with a very aggressive form a cancer. In his last days, he asked Judy to finish a novella he had been working on. In fulfilling that request, Judy shares the story of her grief journey as a fictionalized memoir wrapped around Tom’s fictional tale. All proceeds from sales of this book will be donated to the two groups to which Tom devoted much of his talents and energy: the New London Homeless Hospitality Center and the New London Community Orchestra and its affiliate, the Music City Strings program of free instrument lessons for New London youth.