UKIAH, Calif. – Friends of the Mendocino College Library, an affiliate of the Mendocino College Foundation, will host mystery author Waights Taylor Jr. for its third reading in the fall reading series.

He will be reading from his new novel, “Kiss of Salvation” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, in Room 4210, upstairs in the new college library. The college is located at 1000 Hensley Creek Road in Ukiah.

Admission to the event is free.

The setting of 1947 Birmingham, Alabama, cloaks many mysteries under its segregated shroud: glittering social soirées, secret sexual parties, a Machiavellian civic leader, and multiple murders prostitutes in dark alleys.

New York Times best selling author Sheldon Siegel said this about Kiss of Salvation: “'The Kiss of Salvation' takes us back to the dawn of the Civil rights movement in 1947 Birmingham. It’s a murder mystery, a history, and an in-depth study of evolving times in the American South. Deftly written and immensely readable, Taylor paints a picture of a complex era in American culture. Highly recommended.”

Taylor was born in Birmingham and spent his young, formative years growing up in the segregated South.

After graduation from the University of Alabama in 1959 with a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering, his professional career included 24 years in the aviation industry and then 22 years in management consulting.

When his professional career was coming to an end, he turned to writing. He is an author, a poet and a playwright.

His first book, “Alfons Mucha's Slav Epic: An Artist's History of the Slavic People,” was published in 2008.

His first chapbook of poetry and short stories, “Literary Ramblings,” was published in 2010.

His second book, “Our Southern Home: Scottsboro to Montgomery to Birmingham – The Transformation of the South in the Twentieth Century,” was published in October 2011. “Kiss of Salvation” was released in August.

Waights now lives in Santa Rosa.

For more information about the reading or the author, please check the college Web site at www.mendocino.edu or call 707-468-3051.

Jessica Silva is Mendocino College's director of community relations and communication.