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Book Fair Blog
Sunday,
Nov. 11, 11:43 PM
I have to admit, at first I wasn't feeling the book fair this year. I looked at the program about a week or so before
book fair week and I just wasn't really into anyone who scheduled to read. And then the Friday of the fair, I went
online and read one of my favorite local bloggers, Critical Miami and his anti-book fair rant. (To summarize: the book fair is not for literary-minded people, it is a get-together for
book fetishists and autograph hounds). What was amazing was the reaction he got from locals who wanted to defend what
they saw as a local institution. One defense that seemed to be repeated several times among those commenting on the
blog was that the book fair was a great place to go to serendipitously discover books and authors one hadn't really known
about before. I had never thought about the the fair that way and I decided to take that approach before my Sunday excursion.
I was greatly rewarded. One reading
I HAD been looking forward to was Edwidge Danticat's. The excerpt she read from her memoir Brother, I'm
Dying recounts her 81-year-old uncle's death at the hands of Krome detention center officials. While her reading
was moving, I have to say that my find of the day was writer Francisco Goldman. Instead of reading from his work of
nonfiction, The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?, he spoke extemporaneously about his experience with
the subject, the murdered Guatemalan bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera. (I love it when writers do that!! And do it
well). He originally pitched the story to the New Yorker in 1998 but, as he tells it, it became an almost decade-long
investigation into a cover-up that seems to read like a great whodunit. (I guess I'll find out when I can read the
book during Christmas vacation). When asked by
an audience member if he thought writing could "really get at the truth," Goldman said he kept his focus on "the
case, the case, the case. I let the case be a metaphor for everything that's happening there." Other serendipitous finds:
1. According to Lynne Barrett,
the French liking for noir dates back to Jean Racine's Phaedre.
2. Ultra hip literary couple T Cooper
and Felicia Luna Lemus are as nice and funny as can be. They too are writing about the immigrant experience--but with
the added gender-bending layer provided by their main characters. As a writer, I think it's great to see how someone
else does it. So, in the end, the Miami
International Book Fair did not disappoint. I have another stack of books I won't really read until I graduate.
I am in hog heaven. —Yaddyra Peralta Sunday, Nov. 11, 8:30 PM During today's wanderings, I spoke with some of the people running
around in Medieval garb, and they told me they were characters from literature. I forgot to ask which characters they
were. Don Quixote? The Wife of Bath? I then got cornered by a couple of people who were trying to convert
me. I'll look over the literature they gave me but--no promises. I wandered by the Big Read booth and spoke
to Tara Zimmerman of Florida Center for the Book. Afterwards, I walked around looking for discounted books as the various booths tried to unload their stock so they
wouldn't have to haul it all home at the end of the fair. I picked up a few half-priced books for Christmas gifts
and a handy book bag from the fair's booth. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the Gulf Stream booth. It
was nice to meet all of you who stopped by. See you next year. —Susan Parsons
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| Tara Zimmerman at The Big Read Booth |
Sunday, Nov. 11, 4:55 PM
On my way out of the fair, I went over to the Council of Literary Magazines & Presses booth to collect a sampling of good
lit mags. I do this every year; it gives me a sense of what's out there and also gives me some good ideas for new places
to submit poems. When I walked in, I thought I was in the wrong place. Every table, normally occupied by such titles as The
Greensboro Review, The Southwest Review, The Georgia Review, etc., was covered in Barnes and Noble-style bargain bin junk:
bad cook books, bad children's books, bad gardening books, etc., but I glanced up at the sign, and sure enough, I was
in the right place. I asked the woman tending the booth where the literary magazines were--I had been here yesterday after
all!--and she pointed to a cardboard box underneath one of the back tables where all of the remaining lit mags were thrown
in together. Lest you mistake my diction for embellishment, they were not "stacked" in the boxes, but indeed "thrown
in," with covers bent back on many, pages folded over, and spines damaged. I picked out two, the newest issue of AGNI
and a journal of work in translation called "Osiris", and asked the dealer if they were further discounted from
yesterday's price of $2. All the other books were half off, and of course, the lit mags were damaged. She refused, however,
and said she couldn't discount them because she'd already purchased them herself. I bought them anyway, maybe just
because they were the discarded orphans rotting in the corner. So, what's the lesson for those of you young writers (like
me) who have always fancied yourself as the editor of a small, but important literary publication? No one can throw your website
into a box... —P. Scott Cunningham
Sunday, Nov. 11, 4:28 PM
I've
had a very Irish series of book purchases. Yesterday morning, I stopped by Leedy's, the best source for all sorts of non-fiction
books at the Book Fair, and found Teach Yourself Irish - a fun surprise! Then, today, Lynne Barrett bought Dublin
Noir, one of the books in the excellent Noir series from Akashic Books. And I found The Epics of Celtic Ireland
by Jean Markale at Dungeon Books, great for all kinds of gently used eclectic books (I passed by Housebuilding: A Do-It-Yourself
Guide and The Big Book of Fish in favor of my newfound Irish tales). So now I've got some Irish reading
to do! — James Barrett-Morison
Sunday, Nov. 11, 4:14 PM
Here are
two more Blogging Gator tidbits:
"I really enjoyed this year's Book Fair because I
got to meet two of my favorite authors: Chris Abani and Anthony C. Winkler." —Geoffrey Philp,
geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com
"Writers, readers,
editors, publishers, collectors, sellers, and agents; a Thunder Dome of books and books. Check your weapons @ the door!"
— Dave Ash
Sunday, Nov. 11, 3:54 PM
Dispatch from the VIP tent - The
Book Fair venue not on the map. You love the Book Fair, right? Yes / Yes (circle one). In that case, you have little excuse
not to become a "friend". For your tax-deductible contribution of $75, you are officially a "Reader" and
entitled to free admission, seats up front, a bookbag, and permission to crash the authors' party. Not to mention a proprietary
sense of anticipation as Book Fair time rolls around.
And if you're getting friend-ly, consider
coughing up an extra $50 to be designated a "Writer". That gets you entry into the Tent (and free parking) over
the weekend. Safe haven, A/C as needed, coffee, water, soft drinks, free lunch and snacks (some jostling), closed-circuit
proceedings from Chapman, for a good view without the crowds. And a very welcoming and helpful staff of volunteers.
The Tent can get crowded during prime time (lunch). But if enough Friends sign up, I'm sure they'd be happy to expand
it. -- Bob Morison
Sunday, Nov. 11, 3:10 PM
Poets Jim Daniels and Peter
Schmitt at 2:00 PM in Centre Gallery.
Both gave very entertaining, narrative-based readings
that incorporated personal memoir and humor, and both were very accessible to every listener, whether trained in prosody or
otherwise. Interestingly enough then, the Q&A centered on issues of the relevance of poetry. Do people still read it for
pleasure? Are MFA programs a good thing? It seemed strange to me at a book fair, where people come specifically to hear authors
and rejoice in the written word, that we would feel bad for very good, published poets, who are doing exactly what they want
to be doing in life: writing and sharing it with like-minded readers. When are the rest of you going to stop feeling bad for
us poets? — P. Scott Cunningham
Sunday, Nov. 11, 2:45 PM
People keep feeding our Blogging Gator! "The give-away glasses at the 'Harry Potter'
castle were the best. Baby Noah will grow into them in no time." -- Oscar Musibay, after touring Children's
Alley
"Highlight: Listening to the wonderful panelists on the Noir Fiction panel reading
scenes of sex and violence at 12:30 on a Sunday before a crowd but no children (thankfully)." -- Name withheld
"Favorites: Jim Shepard, Ben Fountain, Andrea Barrett, Denise Duhamel, Ha Jin. Disappointments:
$10 rice, $5 lemonade, cell phones ringing in the middle of readings. New discovery: Stewart O'Nan." -- Tom
DeMarchi
"FloridaBookReview.com rocks! Read A Hell
of a Woman, M. Abbott, ed." -- John Bond
"Best 'Worst Question'
of the weekend - the airhead who asked Erica Jong and Sena Naslund how to market her self-published novel." --
Bob Morison "The Book Fair is awesome! So many types of books to choose from! Leedy's Books
had the best selection. The only downside: below-average Pad Thai from the food court. . ." -- David Gellman
Sunday, Nov. 11, 2:00 PM
David Gonzalez had this to say about the Book Fair:
"Reading
is often such a solitary act that coming out to the Fair each and every year reminds you of just how many people love a good
book."
Sunday, Nov. 11, 1:00 PM
Michael Ondaatje, of English Patient fame,
read with his wife, fellow author Linda Spalding. Ondaatje's soft English accent seemed to accentuate (ha!) the timelessness
of the passage's narrative structure. Spalding's nonfiction crime memoir is written much more straightforwardly, but
I could hear a similar approach to metaphor. Perhaps they have internal competitions? -- P. Scott Cunningham
Sunday, Nov.
11, 10:00 AM
Bob Morison wanted to let us know about a reading gone awry:
"Double no show (triple if you count me). The Book Fair is at the mercy of authors with last-minute travel problems or
head colds. Saturday at 4:30 in the Auditorium was originally announced as Amy Bloom, David Leavitt, and Carol Muske-Dukes.
The weekend Fairgoer's Guide Update had already eliminated Muske-Dukes. The whispered rumor as we passed start time had
Bloom a no-show, too. Time to roll with the punches. I was largely interested in Leavitt's book and had no objection to
a short session. I was overdue my daily arepa. The meeting room captain skipped the standard litany of announcements and thank-yous,
substituting a less than entirely coherent paean to the Book Fair for encouraging reading. Bad start. Then the introducer
apologized for Amy's absence and, instead of introducing Leavitt and proceeding with at least part of the original program,
introduced T. Cooper (Sunday at 3:30) to read for her friend Amy. Cooper started by announcing that, given Bloom's absence,
nobody would be offended if we got up and left (Hello! There was a scheduled author waiting in the wings), and then launched
into what promised to be a long-winded account of how she knows Amy. Sorry, David, but I took the cue. Against a reading once
removed, the arepa stand prevailed."
On a similar note, Christopher Hitchens is not
going to be at Chapman for the 11:00 reading today of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Rumor
is that the "rock star of the Atheist world" was raptured. — James Barrett-Morison
Sunday,
Nov. 11, 8:45 AM
Bob Morison had this to say about Roy Blount Jr. and S.L. Price's reading yesterday:
"With
Roy Blount, Jr., you really had to be there. That "aw, shucks" avuncular delivery makes the very funny very funnier.
Roy is an erstwhile sportswriter, a prolific author, now billed as a "professional humorist," and best known to
many as a regular on Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me! on NPR. He was paired with S.L. (Scott) Price of Pitching Around
Fidel fame, a sportswriter of sufficient stature or con-artistry to have gotten his employer (Sports Illustrated) to move
him to the south of France, the better to cover the international sports scene.
What did you have
to be there to learn?
From Roy: About how the "Old Testament God" image of Bear Bryant was
taken down a notch or three by his choice of reading material. About Wilt Chamberlain's uncomfortable upholstery, very
emphatic yes-men, and precision in word choice – and the one woman he couldn't handle. About the irresistible happy
hour deal at the Ho Ho Bar. And the scenario for the reverse-Rapture.
From Scott: About the true purpose
of the modern Olympics. The only thing about contemporary Pakistan that isn't a grotesque contradiction. And how the mother
of all sports clichés ("this game is going to be a war") can be disturbingly close to the truth when India
goes a-cricketing in Pakistan.
As is customary at the Book Fair, talk turned to writing. How you have
to write a lot to get better at it, and sportswriting does give you plenty of practice, with deadlines even. The value of
reading a lot of literature, including poetry, the "tightest" form (excepting possibly the punchline). How sportswriting
can be a valid entry to more serious matters like politics and culture because in their passion for sports people don't
lie. And why if you can't (sports)write in South Florida, you probably can't do it anywhere – because our internationality
enlivens everything.
Both books are about displacement. Scott's Far
Afield: A Sportswriting Odyssey is about living and covering sports far from the familiar American scene. Roy's
Long Time Leaving: Dispatches from Up South is about being a Southerner who strayed
and stayed north.
Scott read a bit too long, depriving us a of a Roy story or two. But this session
reminded me of what I like best about the Book Fair. Not the biggest names (usually solo in Chapman), impressive though they
are. But the pairs (occasionally trios) of accomplished authors who start with something in common and then play off each
other with spontaneity, wit and humor, who are not only delivering quips, but perhaps stealing them as well." -- Bob
Morison
Sunday, Nov. 11, 8:30 AM
Here are two more tidbits fed to our Blogging Gator:
"The best booth by far. . .
Pennyworth Books. All books are $5.00. I buy all my Christmas teacher gifts here." — Name withheld because
she doesn't want the recipients to know
"Nick & Denise & Tom & Jessie & Richard & Malena & Campbell & Lyn & other poets, suspects
sighted. A sea of words." — Thomas Neil Garcia, L.M.T
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| The Blogging Gator |
Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007 8:56 PM
I wound up my day at the Book Fair listening
to the Rock Bottom Remainders, standing on the outskirts of a happy crowd all bopping in place, just as delighted with the
good licks (they have some ringers in that band) as with the author-musicians having fun. Scott Turow may be no Dion,
but then again, he's Scott Turow. Frontman Dave Barry is generous at showcasing all the participants.
And speaking of merry bands, today was FBR's first ever live-blogging and I want to thank everyone on our team who dealt
resourcefully with the disappearance of the advertised wireless portal at Chapman, which vanished before noon. After
sending some items up to Susan Parsons in Broward, we wound up posting from an MDC library computer, and still have some audience
blog notes which we'll put up early tomorrow. Check back then for another great day at the Book Fair. —Lynne
Barrett
Saturday Nov. 10, 2007 6:57 PM
As I wandered among
the booths of the book fair this afternoon, one booth was so crowded I could hardly get past. It was the Impeach Bush/Cheney
booth and people were lined up around the corner to buy t-shirts.
I then visited the Spanish
Pavilion in the International Village and met Federica at the book table, who oddly is not Spanish but Italian.
She said they’ve had tons of visitors this weekend and she gave me a copy of the Essential
Guide to Spanish Reading: Librarians’ Selections for free.
I attended the Saints of Hysteria reading, where several poets read, including Denise Duhamel (who
compiled the collection of collaborative poetry with Maureen Seaton and David Trinidad), Michael Hettich, George Tucker, Richard
Ryal and Nick Carbo. Hettich and Tucker, posing as Allen Ginsberg and Kenneth Koch, concluded the event with a wonderful
reading of Ginsberg and Koch’s poems “Today the Nuclear Bombs” and “A Hilarious Sestina.” These
two poems were, according to Saints of Hysteria, “composed live during
a reading at St. Mark’s church in May 1979.” Not an easy feat composing a sestina live, but it was definitely
hilarious! –Susan Parsons
(Note--you can read an interview with Michael Hettich on our Poetry page)
Saturday, Nov. 10 5:36 PM 3pm - 4pm, Bldg. 2, Walter
Isaacson talks about his new biography of Albert Einstein
The room was full and I enlisted a volunteer
to secure me a media seat. I'm glad I did because Isaacson is an excellent public speaker. A former Rhodes scholar at
Oxford and seated on more advisory boards than he could possibly keep track of, Isaacson understands the compressed environment
of a reading. Rather than picking one section of his biography to read aloud, he grabbed a wireless microphone and related
the whole of Einstein's life to us in bits and anecdotes, choosing the most interesting ones and weaving the whole thing
into a bedroom story of sorts. Although Einstein died trying to unify his theory of relativity, he can rest assured knowing
that Isaacson has unified the theory of his life for him. The whole story tied neatly back into itself and presented the great
scientist much like a fictional character who "wants" one thing: in this case, to figure out a way to visualize
the invisible forces working around us. Did he over-simplify Einstein for us? Yes, but that's what we wanted. —P.
Scott Cunningham
Saturday, Nov. 10 4:00 PM
Author Vicki Hendricks fed our Blogging Gator and said this about her experience:
"The most fabulous session I've attended so far was with Preston Allen and Pat MacEnulty - both readings draw you
in immediately. All or Nothing, Allen's gambling book, is sharp and hilarious.
MacEnulty's dark characters breathe down your neck in From May to September."
(FBR Eds: And don't miss our review of Hendricks's Cruel
Poetry on our Crime Writing page!)
Saturday,
Nov. 10 3:30 PM
Author Preston L. Allen fed our Blogging Gator at the Gulf Stream Magazine booth and had this to say about his experience:
"Everything
went like clockwork. Pat [MacEnulty] and I gave a good reading, a good Q & A, and we began a good signing. . .
but then our books disappeared. They had packed up before we finished signing. No problem - they unpacked, and we signed a
few more books."
Saturday, 3:30 PM
I attended the "Mermaids
Panel": Lu Vickers used a slide show to intro the audience to The Mermaids of Weeki Wachee (review on our nonfiction page) although this was delayed for a little while until Book Fair staff set up the connections between
screen and Vickers' laptop. (Her desktop is as cluttered with files as mine!) Then Betsy Carter read from her novel
Swim to Me, whose protagonist is a Weeki Wachee mermaid in the 70s. The two books, written with neither author
knowing the other was exploring this Florida phenomenon, enhanced and amplified each other, making a great session.
One former W. W. mermaid was in the audience, adding to our appreciation of these women (the authors AND the mermaids).
—Lynne Barrett
Saturday, Nov. 10 2:00 PM
The
Pitt Poetry Series reading, one of the few chances at the book fair to hear poets, truly represented the plurality of voices
in American Poetry today. Hearing Peter Meinke's tightly controlled pantoums and villanelles right after Barbara Hamby's
abecedarian ode to American English was a linguistic treat you won't find in many fiction readings. I also heard that
Barbara's husband and Florida Poet-King David Kirby didn't get an invitation this year to the Book Fair, despite the
fact that he has a book out this year. Perhaps because poetry's not perceived as a crowd pleaser (economically speaking)?
But the room was full and several people, during the Q&A, expressed their delight at having wandered in and caught a listen.
-- P. Scott Cunningham
Saturday, Nov. 10 1:09 PM
I just got out of a very interesting
session in room 3315, in Building 3. It featured Cynthia Barnett, author of Mirage: Florida
and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S. (University of Michigan Press, $24.95). Ms. Barnett is an award-winning
environmental reporter, who currently writes for Florida Trend magazine covering
the environment and business.
Her presentation started with a discussion of the introducer's use
of the word "commodity" in reference to water. This ability to think on her feet was evident in her speech and her
informative answers in the question-and-answer session after the presentation. Her presentation alternated, as her book does,
between fun and science - she segued from a hilarious tidbit on a family whose house was built right in the middle of one
of Florida's many notorious sinkholes into a scientific discussion of the impact of water mismanagement on the increasing
prevalence of sinkholes in northern and western Florida. She also discussed how pressing it is, especially during the ongoing
drought in the Southeastern US, for work to be done to improve water conservation and management not just in Florida but in
the entire United States.
It's obvious that I'm pleased to report that The Florida Book
Review has a review of Ms. Barnett's Mirage in the works.
-- James Barrett-Morison
Saturday, Nov. 10 12:20 PM
Kathy Curtin from the Gulf Stream staff just called to report that there's
a bad accident on I-95 South in the South Broward/North Dade area and you may wish to take US1 to avoid it, at least
for the next hour or two. --Susan Parsons
Saturday,
Nov. 10 12:02 PM
10 am Panel in Bldg 2 with Chef/Authors Govind Armstrong of Table
8 and Padma Lakshmi of the Bravo show Top Chef.
The trio of old ladies behind me are obsessed with
Padma's good looks as soon as she walks in the door. "Gorgeous," they say. "Impressive." Govind is
impressive himself, and as Padma points out, actually has longer hair. I was suprised to learn that he apprenticed with Wolfgang
Puck when he was only thirteen years old, right around the time Puck opened his famous L.A. restaurant Spago. Armstrong
gained access to the chef through a family friend who was the head waiter, but clearly distinguished himself, as he stayed
on with Puck for three years. His first cook book is titled Small Bites, Big Nights and, as the title suggests,
focuses on tapas-style meals that mix flavors and textures through several small dishes as opposed to one or two large ones.
He professed his love of barbequing and also revealed that, in addition to the new Table 8 opening up in New York City next
year, he has plans for a restaurant in Chicago and in Nevis.
Lakshmi's public persona is much
less relaxed than Armstrong's, but still a lot looser than her Top Chef persona. I know this because she made a point
of talking about how fans of the show are surprised to learn she is "friendly." I wouldn't exactly call
her friendly; she has the same austere composure you see on Top Chef, and her reading was actually very structured. She made
some initial comments and then read an essay from her new book, "Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet" called "In Praise
of Bacon." If there is a single food that doesn't need a essay in praise of it to shed light on its culinary
appeal, it is bacon. I suspect that some of the novelty of the essay, and her choosing to read it live, is the fact
that Lakshmi has a figure that no one in the audience could even aspire towards, a figure that certainly does not say, "Bacon."
The essay itself was littered with cliches like "times of trouble" and "my one true love" but the audience
didn't seem to mind. I have this new theory that people actually enjoy cliches in writing, sort of how people enjoy
hearing annoying pop song refrains over and over. There's something comforting about them, much like bacon, I guess.
The first question in the Q&A was exactly the one we all wanted to hear. A white-haired man got up
and asked a very safe, starter question (No one else had worked up the courage yet to approach the microphone) and then said,
"Padma, can you please ask me to 'Pack my knives and go'?" To her credit, she responded, "No, you have
to earn that, too." --P. Scott Cunningham
Saturday, Nov. 10 11:47 AM
I
just had my first arepa of the book fair. For those who have not yet experienced the wonder that is the arepa, it's
a pair of corn bread pancakes with white cheese (queso blanco) in between, cooked to perfection on a griddle. A number
of locations around the fair offer arepas. Most of these are affiliated with Arepa Queen, and they have distinctive
red stands which also sell limeade; an arepa costs $4. Doña Arepa also sells arepas in the Food Court in the Yellow
Wing for $3. I got my arepa at the Arepa Queen between Chapman and the main intersection, and it was fresh, tasty, and cooked
to perfection! —James Barrett-Morison
Saturday, Nov. 10 11:37 AM
Big News in the Literary World--
Author Norman Mailer died last night at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New
York at the age of 84. The summer after my freshman year of college, I lived in Mailer’s Brooklyn Heights apartment.
His youngest son John was one of my closest friends at the time, and when I couldn’t find a sublet in the city, he put
me up for a month while his parents were in Provincetown. The apartment is designed to resemble the hull of a wooden ship,
with places on the top two floors only accessible by mast-like riggings. After work, John and I sat on the roof or the balcony
and watched the sun set over Manhattan and the statue of Liberty. The building was directly on the Promanade, on the top floor,
so the view was completely unobstructed. Norman himself didn’t stop by much, but the few times I met him he didn’t
seem to be the holy terror who stabbed his second wife. Norris, John’s mom, led him around by the arm much of the time,
and he was very soft-spoken and polite.
Three years later, on a boat on the Connecticut River, the
night before John and I graduated, Mailer sat quietly while the rest of us and our families drank and socialized. At one point,
I went downstairs to where the bar was and I found my grandmother and Mailer talking by themselves in the corner, or rather,
she had cornered him and was talking his ear off, probably about the only subject she could hold forth on with any authority:
the gossip of Lewes, Delaware. He took it well, but was grateful when I rescued him and brought him back upstairs. I know
my grandmother had no idea who Mailer was; she just saw a little old man by himself with no one to talk to. --
P. Scott Cunningham
Saturday, Nov. 10 11:34 AM
FYI: Krisitin Gore
is NOT coming for her reading. Just overheard it from an employee. -- P Scott Cunningham
Saturday, Nov.
10 10:45 AM
At 10:45am, I went up to the Starbucks "Pass the Cheer" booth where
they were giving away free Peppermint Mocha hot chocolates and Peppermint Mocha Latte's. I asked for the latte and was
told it was too early for coffee!? -- P. Scott Cunningham
Friday Nov. 9, 9:30 A.M. Remind me why I decided to go to downtown
Miami during rush hour. I sat for a half hour scrunched between trucks headed to the Port of Miami and BMWs headed to Brickell.
But it won’t be so bad for folks going to the Book Fair Saturday and Sunday. I easily found a parking spot for three
bucks on the corner of NE 2nd Avenue and NE 8th Street.
I found the Gulf Stream Magazine booth from which we are live-blogging this weekend. It’s just across
from the Antiquarian Annex right by the “Red” entrance. Corey Ginsberg, Kathy Curtin and Yaddyra Peralta
from the Gulf Stream staff
were setting up the booth.
Buses full of school children began to unload, and the kids, all wearing matching colored t-shirts, began their scramble for
free stuff. The Gulf Stream booth quickly unloaded last year’s supply of squishy baseballs.
I took a walk around and saw the staff of University Press of Florida and Pineapple Press setting up their booths. Books and Books and Murder on the Beach were already in business. I stopped and chatted a moment with Christine Caya from Writers in Paradise. The food court was setting
up too, and I watched as huge packages of frozen sausages were loaded onto the grills, and as lemonade was being prepared.
At Childrens’ Alley,
I got a hug from Clifford, the Big Red Dog, and ran into Madeleine, and Raggedy Ann and Andy. To my disappointment,
though, the line for the Harry Potter tent was too long for me. So much for making my own wand today. Anyhow, the Charlotte’s Web tent was open, and I heard a young woman reading the book to
the visiting students.
I wandered back to the Gulf Stream booth to find the “parade”
was about to begin. I put the word parade in quotes because, well, it was only one marching band from Mater Academy
in Hialeah, Florida. But they were pretty damn good and would have been a hard act to follow anyhow. Stay tuned . . .--Susan Parsons
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