GUILDERLAND — Peter Golden of Guilderland is one of three authors recently named a “Literary Legend” by the Albany Public Library Foundation.

“The nice thing about it is you do stuff in the community,” said Golden who likes talking at schools.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Golden studied at the University at Albany. He had worked as a journalist and written histories and biographies, then turned to fiction.

Golden recently published his third novel, “Nothing Is Forgotten,” a thriller about the connection between the Holocaust and the Cold War that is also a love story. He discussed his book in an Enterprise podcast.

Currently, he working on a novel about John F. Kennedy in the 1950s. “I’ve always been curious about his emotional life,” said Golden. “We know about his compulsive sexual behavior but not about what drove that.”

This is the sixth year the foundation has named Literary Legends, with earlier honorees including William Kennedy and Gregory Maguire.

The other authors honored this year are:

— Lyn Lifshin, a poet called “The Queen of the Lit Mags.” Over 120 books and chapbooks of her work have been published. She hails from Vermont and currently divides her time between Niskayuna and Virginia; and

— Dan Wilcox, a poet and peace activist who lives in Albany and hosts the monthly Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center, and the annual Poets in the Park series. He has photographed thousands of poetry readings and claims to have the “world’s largest collection of photos of unknown poets.”

The Library Foundation will celebrate the three authors’ contributions to literature and the city of Albany at the sixth annual Literary Legends Gala to be held on Oct. 19 at the Albany Public Library’s Washington Avenue Branch.

“I keep telling my wife I’m a Literary Legend, so I don’t have to take out the garbage anymore,” quipped Golden.

He and his wife, a college teacher, have a grown son.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer