Literacy Partners’ eagerly anticipated annual gala, “An Evening of Readings,” once again had celebs, writers, and book lovers all on the same page at Lincoln Center’s New York State Theater for an inspiring cause. This year, the dynamic trio of gossip maven Liz Smith, Arnold Scaasi and Parker Ladd, who founded the organization 21 years ago to fght illiteracy in adults, a growing epidemic that plagues more than one million New Yorkers who cannot read above a fifth-grade level, raised an amazing $1.1 mil to support the group’s small classes and highly trained tutors.

This year’s quartet of prominent authors, reading excerpts from their original works, included: winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Edward P. Jones (for The Known World); Charleston author Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair); opera star Renée Fleming (reading from her memoir, The Inner Voice: the Making of a Singer); and legendary screen siren Lauren Bacall (reading from her updated autobiography, By Myself and Then Some).

Following the readings, over 600 guests dined and danced on the Promenade of the New York State Theater. An awards ceremony honored four notable New Yorkers for their commitment to education: NewsCorp deputy COO Lachlan Murdoch and his wife, Sarah, a former European/U.S. model and current international ambassador and advi-sor for creative development for the Australian brand Bonds; and Blackstone Group founder Stephen Schwarzman and his wife, Christine Hearst Schwarzman, an intellectual property attorney and former television writer/ producer.

Seen hanging on every word: Jane Friedman, Sirio Maccioni, Yoko Ono, Bob and Barbara Taylor Bradford, Dominick Dunne, Enid Nemy, Helen Gurley Brown and David Brown, Veronica Hearst, Iris Love, literary agent Mimi Strong, Daisy and Paul Soros, Jamee Gregory, Christopher Mason, Frances Hayward, Jackie Weld Drake, Toni Goodale, Billy Norwich, Cynthia McFadden, Elaine Sargent, Elizabeth Fondaras, and Chris Elliott. The message was clear: This annual event is always a success… literally speaking!