CANCELED

Diana Serra Cary, born Peggy-Jean Montgomery, was the general book buyer at the UC San Diego Bookstore in the 1980s. In the 1920s, she was known as ''Baby Peggy,'' the wunderkind of celluloid with a $1.5 million annual film contract. More recently, she was heralded as ''the last living silent film star'' and she still holds claim to that title, despite having passed away at 101 on Monday, February 24.

''Baby Peggy'' had to pretend to sign her film contract in 1923, as she wasn’t old enough to read or write. When her film career was over, it was a revelation to many that she still did not know how to read or write as she was too busy making movies to go to school. Overcoming her educational dilemma and the unfortunate mishandling of her film fortune, she became a proud literacy advocate, a child-rights champion, and even a best-selling author.

While at the Bookstore, she supervised by example, always ready to help any visitor and maintaining impeccable book displays. Everything around her glowed, partly because of her own luminescence, but mostly because she was constantly dusting, such that everything around her sparkled.

Join us for an hour-long screening of Baby Peggy’s best 1920s silent classics with live music from the Library’s very own Teeny-Tiny Pit Orchestra. The Library will also be hosting a month-long exhibit in April 2020 titled Diana Serra Cary: The Last Living Silent Film Star at Geisel West, 1st Floor.