Founder and Chair Jud Ashman outlines some of the many reasons to visit the third annual Book Festival, on the Gaithersburg City Hall grounds, Saturday, May 19th.
Saturday, May 19th from 10am-6pm
by Jud Ashman
The truth is, I could give you 100+ reasons. (After all, that’s how many authors we have this year.) But in the interest of keeping your attention for the entire article, I’ll only give you 5½ for now…
1) You’re going to see and meet some of your favorite authors, including:
- Steve Coll – Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power.
- Buzz Bissinger, famous for Friday Night Lights – Father’s Day: A Journey Into the Mind and Heart of My Extraordinary Son.
- Jenny Lawson, aka “the Bloggess” – current New York Times bestseller Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir.
- John Feinstein, legendary sports writer – One on One: Behind the Scenes with the Greats in the Game.
- Adam Hochschild, acclaimed historian – To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918.
- Clint Hill, former JFK Secret Service agent – Mrs. Kennedy and Me.
- Jen Lancaster — Jeneration X.
- L.E. Modesitt, Jr., legendary science fiction author – Princeps.
- Diana Abu-Jaber, novelist — Birds of Paradise.
- Madeline Miller, novelist – The Song of Achilles, which is a finalist for the Orange Prize for Fiction
- and, of course, David O. Stewart, founder of The Independent – American Emperor: Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America.
2) You’re going to see and meet some of your children’s favorite authors, including:
- Andrew Clements – best known for Frindle and many others
- Michael Buckley –The Sisters Grimm series, currently on the New York Times best–seller list
- Tom Angleberger, one of the most entertaining writers, and origami experts, you’ll ever see – Fake Mustache
- Fred Bowen, best known for his weekly Washington Post KidsPost stories – Quarterback Season.
3) You’ll discover some great writers, including:
- Chris Pavone, novelist – The Expats.
- Alex George, novelist – A Good American.
- Baratunde Thurston, humorist and director of digital at The Onion – How to Be Black.
- Gary Krist – City of Scoundrels.
- Sarah McCoy, novelist – The Baker’s Daughter.
And for the teen/young adult Crowd:
- Matthew Quick – Boy21.
- John “Corey” Whaley – Where Things Come Back.
- Mary Downing Hahn — Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls.
4) You’ll love our programming, even beyond the author talks and book signings!
- Hands-on Workshops for aspiring writers of all ages
- A Children’s Village full of activities and crafts for the little ones
- Our Coffee House, where you can sit back, relax, and enjoy poetry and song
- Dozens of literary-themed exhibitors
5) You’ll be enticed by what the literary community and media are saying about the Festival.
“[T]he festival continues to grow in size and quality. Last year, some 14,000 people attended. This year, the line-up of authors is dazzling.” — Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine, Owners, Politics & Prose Bookstore, May 3, 2012
“The Gaithersburg Book Festival is not only a local literary event, but it also is one of the top literary events in the United States.” — Serena Agusto-Cox, Examiner.com, May 3, 2012
“On May 19, if there were a special mechanism enabling global satellites to detect creativity hot spots, the grounds at City Hall in Gaithersburg, Md., would glow from Earth’s surface like planet Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.” —Karen O’Keefe, The Town Courier, May 3, 2012
5.5) It’s free to attend, free to park and fun for absolutely everyone!
I’ll let you discover the other 95+ reasons for yourself on May 19.
Visit www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org for all of the details.
Jud Ashman is a member of the Gaithersburg City Council and the Founder and Chair of the Gaithersburg Book Festival.
