The 1999 Theatre Library Association Book Awards will be presented by Arthur Miller, Richard Maltby, Jr., Eileen Bowser and Richard Koszarski on May 28th, at the Rose Building in NY's Lincoln Center.

Books receiving honors:
Meryle Secrest's "Stephen Sondheim: A Life," published by Alfred A. Knopf, has won the George Freedley Memorial Award for 1999, representing excellence in writing about live theatre. Director and lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr. (director of Fosse) will be on-hand to present the award.

The Freedley Honorable Mention citation will go to Don B. Wilmeth and Christopher Bigsby, the editors of "The Cambridge History of American Theatre: Volume One, Beginnings to 1870," published by Cambridge University Press. Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman, All My Sons) will present the award.

"Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America" by Steven J. Ross (and published by Princeton University Press) is the winner of the 1999 Theatre Library Association Award for excellence in writing about film, television, radio, or video. His award will be presented by noted film historian Richard Koszarski. Honorable mention for that award will be presented to Charles Musser, editor of "Edison Motion Pictures, 1890-1900: An Annotated Filmography" published by the Smithsonian Institution Press. Eileen Bowser, curator emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art's Department of Film and Video, will present the award.

The Freedley Award is named for George Freedley, the first Curator of the New York Public Library's Theatre Collection, and first President of the Theatre Library Association. It is presented annually for the best book about live theater published in the United States in the previous year. The Theatre Library Association Award is given annually for the best book published the previous year in the area of recorded performance. A cash prize accompanies each award. -- By Sean McGrath