Star Lit

This weekend we spent in Georgetown and Plano. Friday, Cyn spoke at the Annual Meeting of TLA District III. The audience was receptive and enthusiastic, and we got the chance to tour the new Georgetown Public Library. Very impressive facility.

After that, we drove up to Dallas for the Star Lit Festival, a fund-raiser for the Dallas Bethlehem Center. We stayed arrived in late afternoon at the Hotel Adolphus and spent the evening at a welcome reception at the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

Next day got up early to attend the "Breakfst with the Authors" event, then spoke to two packed sessions at the St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Plano. Other authors/illustrators/advocates in attendance included Kimberly Willis Holt, Will Hillenbrand, Laura Numeroff, Dee Scallon and Daniel Myers, Bryan Collier, Kim Brown, and Tracy Dockray. It's a terrific event - highly recommended, especially for families with children.

Many thanks to the folks at Star Lit, especially our escort par excellence, Hope, and Star Lit chair Jeff Morton.

The World in 1908

The last time the Cubs won a World Series:

Mark Twain was still alive.
Leo Tolstoy was still alive.
Geronimo was still alive.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were still alive.

Edward Teller was born in January.
Rex Harrison was born in March.
Lyndon Johnson was born in August.
Simon Wiesenthal was born in December.

Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States.
Nicholas II was Czar of Russia.
Wilhelm II was Kaiser of Germany.
Edward VII was King of Britain and Emperor of India.

It was the first year of production for the Model T.
The following year, Bleriot would be the first to fly a heavier-than-air aircraft across the English Channel.
In three years, IBM would be founded as the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation and the New York Public Library would be dedicated.
In four years, RMS Titanic had its maiden voyage.
In six years, Wrigley Field opened.

Wait 'til next year.

Kansas Book Festival

Cyn and I are just back from Wichita, where we spoke at the second annual Kansas Book Festival. We arrived on Friday afternoon, and stayed at the Hotel at Old Town, a restored turn-of-the-century warehouse (highly recommended!). That evening, we had the pleasure of dining at Larkspur (also highly recommended!) with Kimberly Willis Holt and Pulpwood Queen Kathy Patrick (who, alas, was not wearing her tiara).

Saturday we gave a reading of Santa Knows to a group of brownies and then spoke on a panel called "All in the Family," about our writing for older audiences. We weren't able to attend a lot of the talks, but we caught part of Richard Uhlig and J.B. Cheaney's talks. Other author sightings included Roderick Townley and Lois Ruby. Later that afternoon, Cyn spoke on a panel moderated by Cyndi Hughes called "Kansas on the Literary Map."

Our book signings were hosted by the lovely, vibrant, and entertaining proprietors of Emporia's own Town Crier Bookstore. We also had the chance to speak again with the scintillating folks from the Kansas Center for the Book (see photo above).

Many thanks to all for organizing a terrific event. May it be merely the second of many!