Library Laureates Dinner at San Francisco Public Library

On Friday night April 16, the San Francisco Public Library is going to hold its annual “Library Laureates” dinner to honor Bay Area authors.

The list of 30 authors is a wonderful reflection of the diversity of voices around the Bay Area. Kathryn Ma, Allison Hoover Bartlett, Ethan Watters, Terry Castle, Jack Boulware, Joshua Braff, Charlie Haas, Don Lattin, Kate Moses, Steven Zinn, Victoria Zackheim, Merla Zellerbach, Lewis Buzbee, Tom Dolby, Greg Marcus, Randall Mann, Gerald Nachman, Joel Paul, Frank Portman, George Smith, Jacqueline Sue, Elaine Elinson, Stan Yogi, Janet Fletcher, Beverly Gherman, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Blanche Richardson, Kate Williams, and Mike Sullivan, will all be there.  And yours truly.

We meet in the library for a group photo and small reception and then apparently we go to tables scattered around the building for dinner. (I hope I get to sit in the San Francisco History Room) The theme of the evening is Urban Legends, and since the indomitable Kathi Kamen Goldmark is helping organize this event, we are all encouraged to dress up in costume. I am contemplating going as Isaias Hellman.

A few days ago I got an email from Mary Ellen Hannibal who runs a wonderful new blog for the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. It’s writing-oriented, with interviews with authors, book reviews, and news that will interest collectors and booksellers. The blog is called The Readers Review and I highly recommend it.

Here is an interview I did with The Readers Review. It touches on Ghost Word, uncovering the story of Isaias Hellman, any my freelance work for the New York Times and Berkeleyside.