Cayuga’s Cultural Speaker Series to Feature Award-Winning Author

The final chapter in 2021 of Cayuga Community College’s Cultural Speaker Series will feature an award-winning local author who published the last novel in his acclaimed trilogy earlier this year.

Author Jeff Delbel, who completed the Jimmy Eagleson Series this spring with “Kate’s Gift,” will discuss his latest novel, read selections from the Eagleson trilogy and take questions from audience members at 4 p.m. Monday, October 18, in Room M214 on Cayuga’s Auburn Campus. The event is free, though registration is required and can be completed by calling 315-294-8841. 

Emily Cameron, Cayuga’s Assistant Director of Community Education and Workforce Development, said Delbel’s novels have left a strong impression with readers, and that she was looking forward to hearing more about the inspiration for his trilogy.

Author Jeff Delbel

Author Jeff Delbel

“Jeff’s novels feature complex characters with internal pressures who are also battling external conflicts. They are fascinating to read, and we’re excited to hear more from Jeff about how he created these memorable characters, the problems they face and the world they inhabit,” she said.

“Kate’s Gift” tells the story of a professional psychologist who is dying and decides to invite her friends together. Believing they’re arriving for a final celebration, the friends quickly realize the titular character has something else planned.

“She has a plan to do group psychology sessions to discover secrets they each have in their lives, and she has no idea the can of worms she’s opening up,” said Delbel. “Those secrets, and a major surprise from a character from one of the previous novels, are essential to the characters and the novel.”

The book builds off the previous two novels, “The Flight of Jimmy Eagleson” and “Salvatore,” but can also be read on its own. All three novels feature many of the same characters and focus on complex relationships between family members and friends, the dangers of inherent assumptions and how current events impact people’s lives.

Delbel started writing “Kate’s Gift” several years ago, and decided with his editor to write the novel in the present tense to enhance the immediacy of the novel’s message.

“The first two novels in the series are set in a specific time period. I didn’t want this one to be dated to any certain time, though. The message in this book can be any time, so that whenever someone reads it, it’s happening now,” he said.

“Kate’s Gift” was published in April and became a bestseller on Amazon’s Kindle list. The first two novels were also successful, with “The Flight of Jimmy Eagleson” and “Salvatore” both winning the People’s Choice Award in the Downtown Writers Center’s CNY Book Awards. All three novels are available online.

Delbel is a Professor Emeritus at Cayuga, where he served as a professor and dean of the College’s Telecommunications Program before becoming the Dean of Enrollment and Student Development. After returning to the classroom in 1996, he continued teaching until retiring in 2008.

Registration is required for the Cultural Speaker Series, and can be completed by calling 315-294-8841. Due to social distancing guidelines, registration is limited. Those who attend the event will be required to provide documentation of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine and must wear a facial covering.