Author Talk with Liza Bennett: Georgia & Anita: The Lifelong Friendship of Georgia O?Keeffe and Anita Pollitzer

Hyde Collection, The
161 Warren St., Glens Falls, NY  12801

2:00 PM

https://www.hydecollection.org/event/author-talk-with-liza-bennett-georgia-anita-the-lifelong-friendship-of-georgia-okeeffe-and-anita-pollitzer/

Museum admission / free for members 

Join author Liza Bennett in conversation with Doreen Kelley, executive director of Wiawaka Center for Women, as they discuss events and themes explored in Bennett’s book, Georgia & Anita: The Lifelong Friendship of Georgia O’Keeffe and Anita Pollitzer.  

Liza Bennett, author of four novels set in the Berkshires, turns to creative nonfiction to tell the fascinating, little-known story of the enduring friendship between America’s first great woman artist and a charismatic leader of the suffragist movement. It was Anita Pollitzer who first showed Georgia O’Keeffe’s work to family friend and mentor Alfred Stieglitz, the world-famous photographer whose 291 gallery in New York City was the epicenter of the modern art world. While O’Keeffe, Stieglitz, and their circle of friends were at the forefront of American modernism, Pollitzer became a leader of the National Woman’s Party and was instrumental in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote. 

Of local interest, the book explores the many decades that O’Keeffe spent at Stieglitz’s home on Lake George, a period that started with great creative output for the artist and ended in personal turmoil. Based on extensive research, including their fifty-year correspondence, Georgia & Anita casts light on the friendship of these two women who, in different ways, helped to modernize the world and women’s roles in it.  

Liza Bennett is a full-time writer and former advertising executive. She has published ten novels, including four set in the Berkshires, under her maiden name Liza Gyllenhaal. Georgia & Anita is her first work of nonfiction. She is the past Board Chair and long-time board member of the Academy of American Poets, currently serving on the emeritus board, and is the Secretary of the West Stockbridge Historical Society. She divides her time between New York City and the Berkshire Hills in Massachusetts. 

 Doreen Kelley has had the incredible honor of leading Wiawaka since 2018. Wiawaka’s mission is to enrich, inspire and celebrate the growth of women through unique and relevant programming in a natural and peaceful setting. As a unique and honored location, Wiawaka provides proof of Georgia O’Keeffe’s early days on Lake George. Check out information on Georgia O’Keeffe Week July 13-17, 2026.  

Books will be for sale by the author following the event.