S EPTEMBER 27 & 28, 2019 | F LORENCE F ESTIVAL OF BOOKS | 3
F LORENCE F ESTIVAL OF B OOKS
W
elcome to the ninth
annu a l F l orenc e
Festival of Books —
a book fair for authors, pub-
lishers and readers.
Here books are celebrated;
real books with pages that you
turn. We are proud to be wel-
coming a number of authors
who have not previously at-
tended the festival this year.
Altogether, 2019 brings more
than 70 authors whose writ-
ing covers a variety of genres
and several publishers ready to
talk about their writers’ books.
Th is is also an opportunity to
discuss publishing your own
manuscript.
Th is free event takes place
on Saturday, Sept. 28, from 10
a.m. to 4 p.m. and is your op-
portunity to meet and speak
with the authors of great books:
non-fi ction, poetry, mystery,
memoirs, fantasy and environ-
mental writing, along with fi c-
tion for children, young adults
and adults.
Each book you purchase can
be personalized just for you or
as a gift for your favorite reader.
In addition, the Florence Fes-
tival of Books begins on Friday,
Sept. 27. Friday events include
a panel of representatives from
four Oregon publishers dis-
cussing “Th e Ins and Outs of
Publishing.” Answer all your
questions about the process of
moving from manuscript to
book. Th e panel discussion is
from 3 p.m. to 4:30
p.m. and is free
to the public.
At 7 p.m. on
Friday, award-
winning Reg-
ister-Guard col-
umnist and popular
Oregon author Bob Welch will
give this year’s keynote address.
He will also be featured at a
book signing aft er the event.
Welch is a speaker and writ-
ing teacher who has served as
an adjunct professor of journal-
ism at the University of Oregon
in Eugene. He is the author of
more than 20 books, his latest
being “Th e Wizard of Foz: Dick
Fosbury’s One-Man High-Jump
Revolution.” Tickets for this
event are just $8 in advance
or $10 at the door.
All Florence Festival of
Books events take place
at the Florence Events
Center, 715 Quince St.
Food is available for pur-
chase during the event.
A special thank you to our
sponsors for making this year’s
event better than ever before.
We hope you will come and en-
joy.
— Co-Chairs Judy Fleagle
& Meg Spencer
Florence Festival of Books is
presented by the Friends of the
Florence Events Center and the
Florence Festival of Books
Planning Committee.
2019 SPONSORS
— TITLE —
– Banner Bank
– BPOE Elks Lodge #1858
– Maire Testa
— CHAPTER —
– Ladies of Elks
– Oregon Pacific Bank
– Rotary
Club of
Florence
– Siuslaw
Public Library
– Harriet & Dick Smith
— VERSE —
– Bodega Wines/
Marianne Brisbane
– Chad Clement DDS
– Jim & Sally Rash
— BETWEEN THE LINES —
– R.W. Hogeland & N.R. Archer
— LINE —
– Central Coast Disposal
– Florence Regional Arts Alliance
– The Jolly Egret
– Bonnie and Bob MacDuffee
– Kevin Mittge
– Karen D. Nichols
– Pacific Publishing/
Jon Thompson
– Port Hole Publishing
– Lynn & Shelley Taylor
— IN-KIND —
– Coast Radio
– River House Inn
– Siuslaw News
Festival of Books 2019
Siuslaw News, September 21, 2019
4 | F LORENCE F ESTIVAL OF BOOKS | S EPTEMBER 27 & 28, 2019
Keynote Speaker and Best Seller
A UTHOR B OB W ELCH
T
he Florence Festival of Books is excited to present best-
selling author Bob Welch as the Friday night keynote
speaker. Welch is the author of over 20 books, as well as an
inspirational speaker, award-winning columnist and writing
teacher. He served as an adjunct professor of journalism at
the University of Oregon.
Welch will speak at 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 at the
Florence Events Center, 715 Quince St. Tick-
ets for this event are $8 in advance, available at
eventcenter.org or 541-997-1994, or $10 at the
door.
His latest book is “Th e Wizard of Foz: Dick
Fosbury’s One-Man High-Jump Revolution,”
which was named the Track and Field Writ-
ers 2018 Book of the Year. Fosbury was known
worldwide as the inventor of the Fosbury Flop
high-jump style, with which he won the Olym-
pic medal in 1968.
San Diego author Mike Yorkey calls Welch
“the most eclectic writer in America” because
the Oregon author has written World War II
and children’s books, hiking books and collec-
tions of columns, books inspired by his favorite
movies and plays and books about fathers and
sons, sports and military nurses.
His book about a heroic World War II nurse,
“American Nightingale” (2004), was featured on
ABC’s “Good Morning America” and was a fi -
nalist for the Oregon Book Award. A follow-up
book, “Pebble in the Water” (2008), amplifi es
the author’s “American Nightingale” experience
from an idea written on a Wendy’s napkin to
the four years it took before the book was pub-
lished.
In 2012, his book “Cascade Summer” chroni-
cled his 452-mile hike on the Oregon portion of
the Pacifi c Crest Trail.
Articles of Welch’s have been published in
more than a dozen books, including seven in
the popular “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series.
In addition, he has had articles published in
such magazines as Los Angeles Times, Reader’s
Digest, Sports Illustrated and Runner’s World.
Welch and his wife, Sally, live in Eugene. Th ey
are the parents of two adult sons and grandpar-
ents of fi ve. Welch enjoys sailing, backpacking
(he’s walked 1,244 miles of the 2,650-mile Pa-
cifi c Crest Trail), used-bookstore browsing and
University of Oregon sports spectating.
For more information, visit bobwelch.net.
— Kevin Mittge,
FFOB Committee Member
Meet author Bob Welch at the
Florence Festival of Books this week-
end at the Florence Events Center.
Welch often attends this festival since
he lives just one hour away in Eugene.