S EPT . 24, 2016 • F LORENCE F ESTIVAL
OF
B OOKS
5
A Brief History
BOOK FAIR EVOLVES OVER THE YEARS
T
he Florence Festival of Books has evolved into more than a book
fair for authors and publishers. Here’s a little history.
Since the first year was such a steep learn-
ing curve, no major changes took place the
second year.
In response to several requests from
authors who wanted to read from their
books, we added a Reader’s Corner during
our third year. We located it within the dis-
play area, which turned out to be too noisy,
and we didn’t have microphones available.
We also didn’t publicize it enough, so there
were few people to listen to the authors read.
In the fourth year, we worked out those
problems, and the Featured Readers was a
grand success. We also added Friday evening
activities — a Meet and Greet and a
Keynote Speaker. We didn’t publicize the
Keynote Speaker enough and ended up with
a rather small audience for a really terrific
speaker. So the following years, we’ve
increased publicity and changed the Meet
and Greet to be only for the book fair partic-
ipants and their family members.
Following last year’s success of introducing
the Publisher’s Panel, we decided feature the
other end of the writing world by offering an
Authors’ Panel. It takes place on Friday,
Sept. 23, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
The panel is in response to the many
queries from attendees about how to become
published.
So plan to attend both the Author’s Panel
in the afternoon and the Keynote Speaker,
New York Times Best Selling author Phillip
Margolin, at 7 p.m.
We hope you attend both Friday and
Saturday events and let us know what you
think.
That’s how we evolve and improve.
—Judy Fleagle, Co-founder & Secretary
Florence Festival of Books
Florence author Burney Garelick offering her latest book at this year’s festival
The sixth annual Florence
Festival of Books will be providing
the stage for an eclectic array of
words when a plethora of authors
from near and far offers its works to
readers of all persuasions.
Local author and entertainment
writer Burney Garelick will be dis-
playing four books, including her
latest book, “Also Selected Short
Subjects,” which is a collection of
stories that includes a couple of
eccentric octogenarian sleuths,
four-legged friends, senior improvi-
sations, proportional choices, lep-
rechauns and the origin of a biblio-
phile.
Last year, Garelick published her
novel
“Big
Dunes,
Gold
Doubloons, Coffee Spoons and
Loony Tunes,” which she describes
as a “rollicking ride over the
Oregon dunes with Diva and her
reluctant Gallic spouse.”
Garelick’s first two books, “It’s
Not Over. . . Mornings at the Met”
and “Mew & Cry . . . Catcalls from
the Box,” include reviews of
Metropolitan Opera performances
from seasons 2013-14 and 2014-15
as seen live on a big screen in
Newport.
If you’ve ever wondered what’s
so grand about opera but have
been reluctant to take the first
step, you’re not alone.
“That’s how I felt,” Garelick
said, “until I took a deep breath,
plunged in and became so
entranced that I wanted to share
the experience. Even if you’ve
always loved opera, you’ll be
amused by the reviews.”
September in Florence is a time
for turning leaves and turning
pages.
“Come by my table and take a
gander,” said Garelick.